I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder indicated Wednesday that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) will only target marijuana distributors who violate both federal and state law, which will end raids on medical marijuana dispensaries, The Associated Press reports.
Thirteen states allow the medicinal use of marijuana, New Mexico among them. According to the AP, California is the only one that allows actual “dispensaries” to operate as businesses that advertise their services.
In recent years, the Bush administration targeted such dispensaries, saying that medical marijuana isn’t legal at the federal level and therefore not allowed at the state level.
The new policy would effectively end federal raids in states that have legalized medical marijuana.
“The policy is to go after those people who violate both federal and state law,” Holder is quoted as having said at the Justice Department.
He added a caveat, though, that anyone who tried to “use medical marijuana laws as a shield” for the otherwise illegal use of marijuana would still be targeted.
“Given the limited resources that we have, our focus will be on people — organizations that are growing, cultivating substantial amounts of marijuana and doing so in a way that’s inconsistent with federal and state law,” Holder said.
During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama said he supported the right of states to legalize medical marijunana and indicated he’d end the raids on dispensaries.
