# NORMAL calls on next AG to end Medi-Pot Raids



## triprey (Aug 31, 2007)

C&P from NORMAL site.

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]*NORML Calls On Next Attorney General To End Medi-Pot  Raids*[/FONT]
 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]*August 30, 2007 -  Washington, DC, USA*

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[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]*Washington, DC: *Americas  next Attorney General should stop using federal justice powers and spending  taxpayers dollars to arrest and prosecute individuals who are in compliance  with state medical marijuana laws, NORML Legal Counsel Keith Stroup said  today.[/FONT]
 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who announced  his resignation on Monday, oversaw a record number of raids and federal  prosecutions against state-authorized medical marijuana patients and providers.  In July, federal agents raided more than a dozen locally authorized  cannabis dispensaries in California and moved forward with separate federal  prosecutions against several additional medi-pot providers.[/FONT]
 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"The resignation of Attorney General Gonzales provides the  Bush Administration with an opportunity to rethink and revise their misguided  policy against medical marijuana patients and providers in California and other  states that have legalized the medical use of cannabis under state law," Stroup  said. [/FONT]
 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]He added: "Eighty percent of the American public now  support the rights of patients to use marijuana as a medicine when a physician  recommends it, and a total of 12 states have now adopted medical use laws. It is  time for President Bush and his next attorney general to accept the will of the  American public, and to stop harassing seriously ill patients who use medical  marijuana and those who care for them."[/FONT]
 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Gonzales resignation will become effective September 17.  Solicitor General Paul D. Clement will serve as acting attorney general until a  successor is confirmed. [/FONT]
 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]In contrast to Gonzales, all of the candidates for the  Democratic nomination for President have pledged, if elected, to cease federal  actions against state-sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries and  cooperatives.[/FONT]
 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Nationally, total arrests for marijuana violations  also rose dramatically under Gonzales tenure  hitting a record high of  786,545 in 2005, the last year for which data is available. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]_ For more information, please contact Keith Stroup, NORML  Legal Counsel, or Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500.  
_ [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]    updated: Aug 30, 2007 [/FONT]​


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