Global Ganja Report

The Obama administration opposes legalizing marijuana and views medical marijuana dubiously as well, said Kevin Sabet, special adviser for policy at the Office of National Drug Control Policy. "Marijuana cannot be the one exception in history of the world that doesn’t go through a scientific process to be approved as medicine," Sabet told the Montana Supreme Court Administrator's annual drug court conference in Helena. “It doesn’t make any sense. “How can we imagine that a dangerous, illegal drug like marijuana should be voted on by the people? That’s not how we do medicine in this country.”

Sabet said last year's Justice Department memo outlining a new more tolerant policy on medical marijuana has been "widely misinterpreted" by the media and legalization proponents. "If you actually read the memo, it’s very sensible," he said. But "it didn’t take more than a week for us to put out our own clarifying statement: That people cannot hide behind medical marijuana as a guise for legalization."

The memo, penned by Deputy Attorney General David Ogden last October, says federal prosecutors shouldn't focus on medical marijuana patients or caregivers who are "in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law." However, it also says this recommendation does not legalize marijuana in these states, provide any legal defense to violation of federal drug laws, or protect those using medical marijuana statutes "as a pretext for the production or distribution of marijuana for purposes not authorized by state law."

Sabet said the Obama administration is staunchly opposed to legalization. "Our two legal drugs, tobacco and alcohol, serve as frightening examples of legalization," he said. "Look at the alcohol industry. It does not make money off the 10 people who drink one drink a week. It makes money off of the one person who drinks 50 drinks a week. Addiction is incentivized in this business." (Helena Independent Record, Sept. 25)

Does this mean Sabet proposes a return to alcohol prohibition?

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