Medical Marijuana: Will Colorado's "green rush" last?

Boulder County District attorney Stan Garnett says it's virtually impossible to impanel a jury on a marijuana case here, let alone get a conviction.

Stan Garnett: What we deal with is what prosecutors call jury nullification, where juries say, "I know what the law is, but I'm not going to follow it." This community has made it very clear that criminal enforcement of marijuana is not something they want me to spend any time on.

Steve Kroft: It is really an issue here?

Stan Garnett: It's really not an issue.

And that is more or less the position of Justice Department in Washington. Deputy Attorney General James Cole has told U.S. attorneys not to waste resources prosecuting patients or caregivers that are in clear compliance with state medical marijuana laws.

James Cole: Our focus is really on keeping it away from children. Our focus is keeping it out of the hands of organized crime. Our focus is making sure that people aren't, through marijuana dispensaries, using it as a pretext to do large-scale interstate drug dealing. These are the areas where we're really trying to focus.

Steve Kroft: So the message is, if you're licensed in the state of Colorado and you follow the law, then you should be okay.

James Cole: Each case is going to rise and fall on its own unique facts. Any of that is still in violation of the Controlled Substances Act of the federal law. We're not interested in bothering people who are sick and are using it in the recommendation of a doctor. We are concerned with people who are using it as a pretext to become large-scale drug dealers.

Steve Kroft: So it sounds like the federal government is tolerating it.

Sam Kamin: It is tolerating it. And at the same time is below the surface, trying to make it very difficult for these folks. It's doing it through banking regulations. If you talk to dispensary owners, one of the things that they will lament is, no one will do business with us.

The Justice Department has let it be known if financial institutions do business with medical marijuana centers, they could be at risk for civil or criminal prosecution under the Controlled Substances Act or federal money laundering statutes. It's made it difficult, if not impossible for dispensaries to get loans, open company bank accounts or process patients' credit cards.

Sam Kamin: It can't stay like this. Either we have to have settled expectations that this is a federal crime, the federal government's not going to tolerate it. Or the federal government is going to let states like Colorado regulate it, tax it, experiment with it. To have it exist in both worlds simultaneously is unsustainable. We can't have a multimillion dollar industry built on criminal conduct.

A federal appeals court in Washington D.C. is currently hearing a case that could remove marijuana from the list of the most dangerous drugs, and into a category that would allow it to be prescribed by doctors. On the political front, the referendums in Colorado and Washington state to legalize marijuana for recreational use are considered too close to call.

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[joanieatc3]

Great Segment! But... How did you miss IDRASIL? Idrasil.info
Medical cannabis in a pill that is a consistent dose of 25 mg. Doctors are thrilled and say they have been waiting for this forever. Made in a lab, sterile, bacteria free and a dose that can be actually prescribed, altered and recorded. Something that a bud or brownie can not. What Dr. is going to tell you to smoke or ingest more calories? Idrasil gives you 100% phytocannabinoids in a pill something that Dixie-Elixer pills do not have as they are only hemp based. You need all of the phytocannabinoids to get the results you need. When the medical cannabis community is wondering why the hemp pill is not meeting their needs, they will be very disappointed.

[Hemporer]

We're beyond little pills... we've voted to legalize recreational use. Idrasil is about 10 years too late to market to make any headway.

[lanvo99]

Voters Watch and Pass it on :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YbAohJNr2Y&feature=g-vrec

-Learn document :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MESZh-_uyUQ

[Hemporer]

If you are seeking an opportunity to get into this industry be warned, you cannot unless you already have two years residency in Colorado. BUT, there is an exciting way for you to make some money by lending to the industry. As they said in the report there are no banks who will lend to dispensaries, no matter how much profit they generate. That's where you come in... if you can lend $5,000 to $250,000 for a short time and you want to earn an interest rate from 10% to 30% then please contact me today at: mmjviceroy at g mail.com

Then you can tell all your friends you are "in" the medical marijuana industry and more importantly you can help sick patients get access to the same high potency cannabis they purchase now for less money than they pay today.

[devildoc68]

The states need to stand up to the feds....if this is what the people in a state want...then arrest the federal agents who show up to force their will...lock em' up and toss away the key. The federal government is way too big and too controlling of states.

[420LegalizeIt420]

It makes no god damn sense. It is still classified as a drug just as addictive and dangerous and heroin/meth/crack/cocaine. That is outrageous. There is the Big Pharm industry, harmful and addictive pills, pain opiates and synthetics which are even worse, which people go to a doctor, are recommended and given a script, and then go to the store and pick up their medicine. The pills they get are very unhealthy and addictive, and a lot of the people who get these scripts, don't even need them, they get them to abuse them and get high, get them to sell them and put them in the street drug market, eventually winding up into a fiends hands or a childs hands in school.

Marijuana is a safe working non addictive medicine! It should be just like pills, you see a doctor, he recommends you pot and you get a script, you go to the shop and pick up what you feel best suits you. You go home, smoke and relax, eat it and relax, drink it and relax. You're not conducting shady illegal activity on the street, you know your getting 100% pure bud, not pissed on bud, or crushed glass on bud, or other things crazy people do to make it weigh more or make it addictive.

Not only would this help hundreds of thousands of peoples lives, it would generate BILLIONS in tax revenue, GREATLY, helping our country. I do not take any other drugs, I don't even take tylenol or advil or anything. ****, legalize it for recreational use to, it's harmless unless smoked, the high is harmless, it doesn't make you dangerous and incoherent like almost every other drug especially alcohol.

The most you're going to do is chill on the couch open up the fridge and never end up leaving your crib. Getting high is not morally wrong or bad, I am so sick of reading this from ignorant mother *******.

At the end of the day

[GomerPopeye]

According to government studies, kids get the pills from a family member .

[420LegalizeIt420]

It makes no god damn sense. It is still classified as a drug just as addictive and dangerous and heroin/meth/crack/cocaine. That is outrageous. There is the Big Pharm industry, harmful and addictive pills, pain opiates and synthetics which are even worse, which people go to a doctor, are recommended and given a script, and then go to the store and pick up their medicine. The pills they get are very unhealthy and addictive, and a lot of the people who get these scripts, don't even need them, they get them to abuse them and get high, get them to sell them and put them in the street drug market, eventually winding up into a fiends hands or a childs hands in school.

Marijuana is a safe working non addictive medicine! It should be just like pills, you see a doctor, he recommends you pot and you get a script, you go to the shop and pick up what you feel best suits you. You go home, smoke and relax, eat it and relax, drink it and relax. You're not conducting shady illegal activity on the street, you know your getting 100% pure bud, not pissed on bud, or crushed glass on bud, or other things crazy people do to make it weigh more or make it addictive.

Not only would this help hundreds of thousands of peoples lives, it would generate BILLIONS in tax revenue, GREATLY, helping our country. I do not take any other drugs, I don't even take tylenol or advil or anything. ****, legalize it for recreational use to, it's harmless unless smoked, the high is harmless, it doesn't make you dangerous and incoherent like almost every other drug especially alcohol.

The most you're going to do is chill on the couch open up the fridge and never end up leaving your crib. Getting high is not morally wrong or bad, I am so sick of reading this from ignorant mother *******.

At the end of the day

[indigoshelly]

In response to the comment that cannabis is not mentioned in the Bible. The holy annointing oil used by Jesus contained high amounts of cannabis oil, it is called kaneh Bosem. Cannabis has been used as medicine for over 5,000 years, yet still ZERO DEATHS. The toxicity of cannabis is 40,000 to 1. The lethal dose is 1500 lbs. consumed in under 15 min, still ZERO DEATHS or OD's. The US govt. has a patent awarded in 2003 for cannabis as a neuroprotectant, it protects the brain and prevents alzheimers, google it! The US govt has Known cannabis CURES CANCER since 1974, google it! PUBMED.com the US govt medical library now has over 600 peer reivewed medical studies on cannabinoids curing cancer. Recently there was a study that proved the non psychoactive CBD cannabinoid will stop metastisis in aggressive breast cancer. The endo cannabinoid system controls all systems of the body and maintains balance or homeostasis in the immune, skeletal, cardiac, digestive, excretory, reproductive, nervous system. Google Rick Simpson hemp oil cancer cure and you will see the big picture. People can cure their cancer with a plant they can grow in the backyard for free, each cancer patient is worth $300,000 to the cancer industry, this is the real reason it is illegal. It is proven cannabis does not impair driving, google it! It is proven cannabis does not cause lung cancer, it prevents it google it! The truth will prevail. The DEA is being sued right now for changing the schedule 1 status. People see thru all the lies! What has been done in darkness is now coming out in the light. Why do I care? Because it will also cure my interstial cystisis chronic pain incurable disease I have had for 15 yrs. Just juicing the raw leaves provides 60 time more medicine than smoking and raw juice is non psychoactive. I live in Oklahoma, that state that voted last year to make hash oil, the cure to cancer a crime w/ life in prison. OK also sent a young mother to prison for 12 yrs. for selling $31 of pot. Time to listen to reason and the TRUTH!!! Nov. 30th 2012 I will be participating in Shout it Out Loud!! Cannabis Cures Cancer to honor Rick Simpson's Birthday :)

[A_E_G]

Okay, so the government is making a bunch of laws that are bending our rights right now, if they think you're a terrorist, they'll put you in jail without a trial. There's stories about them thinking of taking away our right to bare arms. The government is always changing our constitutional rights. There is not anything wrong with weed, so why is it so hard that the people of this country want to change the rules a little bit? What the hell is wrong with that?

[No_Absolutes]

Who has been put in jail without a trial? Where are the stories about them repealing the 2nd amendment? When was the last time the government changed our constitutionally protected rights?

[jhimelick]

Weed smokers don't want it legalized...we can grow our own just fine. We will not ever pay a tax on it! Have a nice day!:-)

[jhimelick]

The green is not going anywhere...legal or not...