Four Colorado state lawmakers have sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to stop raids on the state’s medical marijuana industry, The Denver Post reports.

In October 2009, the Justice Department said medical marijuana prosecutions against seriously ill people are not a Justice Department priority, although federal law still prohibits all marijuana use.

In the letter, the lawmakers — state Sens. Chris Romer (D) and Nancy Spence (R) and state Reps. Beth McCann (D) and Tom Massey (R) — asked the Attorney General to halt the raids while they draft legislation that would govern the state’s medical marijuana industry. The four lawmakers also wrote that they continue to support federal prosecution of illicit drug operations.

The full text is available via a Denver blog:

Dear Attorney General Holder, As you know, the Colorado General Assembly is currently considering several bills designed to establish a legal framework to effectively regulate medical marijuana. Federal DEA raids of medical marijuana businesses, however, are complicating our legislative efforts.

While we realize it is unrealistic — and frankly unwise — to ask the Justice Department to suspend investigation or prosecution of those engaged in the trafficking and distribution of “recreational” marijuana, we hope you will consider imposing a moratorium on medical marijuana sector raids. These raids discourage dispensary operators, caregivers, growers and patients from providing testimony or recommendations to state lawmakers, hampering our ability to develop a workable and realistic regulatory arrangement for medical marijuana.

Again, we strongly support the efforts of state and federal law enforcement as they investigate, arrest, and prosecute the violent gangs and other criminal enterprises engaged in the illegitimate importation, production, and distribution of black market drugs. However, we believe it is a mistake to put the activities of the legitimate medical marijuana community in the same category as these criminal conglomerates.

We appreciate the Administration’s recognition of the very complex waters we are attempting to navigate between the Colorado Constitution and federal drug policy, and ask for your patience as we attempt to find that rational middle ground.

Thank you in advance for your assistance, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Chris Romer
State Senator

Tom Massey
State Representative

Nance Spence
State Senator

Beth McCann
State Representative

Cc: President Barack Obama
Governor Bill Ritter, Jr.
Attorney General John Suthers
US Attorney David M. Gaouette
Resident Agent in Charge Tom Gorman, DEA
Special Agent Jeffrey Sweetin, DEA
Senate President Brandon Shaffer
Senator Joshua Penry
Senator John Morse
Speaker Terrance Carroll
Representative Paul Weissmann
Representative Mike May

A former prosecutor, who was one of eight U.S. Attorneys fired in a 2006 purge, said there needs to be another look at federal marijuana laws, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported yesterday.

John McKay (Seattle University)

During a panel discussion in Seattle on pot regulations, John McKay, former U.S. Attorney  for the Western District of Washington, said he is “against stupid laws,” according to The Post-Intelligencer.

“I think there has to be a shift in the paradigm,” McKay said, according to the newspaper. “The correct policy change would be a top-to-bottom review of the nation’s drug laws.”

The Justice Department said last month that prosecuting seriously ill people for using medical marijuana is not a priority, but all use of marijuana is still a violation of federal law.

McKay, a law professor at Seattle University, said it is “just bad policy” that government agencies ignore federal law, according to the newspaper. The former U.S. Attorney said Congress should step in to address the conflict, according to The Post-Intelligencer. He added that pot laws “should look a lot more like alcohol [regulations] and a lot less like cocaine and methamphetamine [laws].”

Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) last month introduced a billthat could strengthen DOJ’s medical marijuana policy. The legislation would let medical pot users and suppliers raise the defense in federal court that their actions are legal under state law.

A California Democrat introduced a bill yesterday that would buttress the Justice Department’s decision to put medical marijuana prosecutions on the back burner.

The Truth in Trials Act sponsored by Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) would let medical pot users and suppliers raise the defense in federal court that their actions are legal under state law.

Although the Justice Department said last week medical marijuana prosecutions for seriously ill people are not a priority, federal law still prohibits all marijuana use. It also does not allow federal courts to consider state laws.

Fourteen states — including Farr’s state of California — have laws that allow very sick patients to light up. The bill has 23 co-sponsors including two Republicans, Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (Calif.) and Ron Paul (Texas), a libertarian.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) (gov)

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is denouncing the Justice Department’s new medical marijuana prosecution policy, The Iowa Independent reported.

“I think that marijuana is a gateway to harder drug use,” Grassley told The Independent. “Medical marijuana brings a certain amount of legitimacy to an illegal drug, even though it attempts to do it in a legal way. We have a federal law that is intended to outlaw its use. That federal law ought to be enforced.  It was enforced in the previous administration and I think having a national program against drug use is very, very important.”

Grassely said the Justice Department’s policy change is a step towards legitimizing drug use. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday announced that the DOJ will not make it a priority to prosecute seriously ill people who smoke marijuana in states where medicinal use is legal, reversing Bush administration policy.

Holder said the new policy stems from an assessment of how best to deploy scare law enforcement resources. However, the policy does not “legalize” pot, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden said in a memo to the 93 U.S. Attorneys.

Grassley countered that while some marijuana producers and distributors might not be breaking the law according to their state governments, people should not forget that “most of the marijuana that flows into the United States comes from the drug lords.”

The federal government isn’t likely to prosecute seriously ill people who smoke marijuana in states where medicinal use is legal, Attorney General Eric Holder officially announced today. But it doesn’t mean pot is now legal, Holder’s deputy said in a follow-up memo to U.S. Attorney offices.

Fourteen states have laws that allow very sick patients to light up. Since January, the Obama Justice Department has taken an informal position against medical marijuana prosecutions, reversing Bush administration policy.

Now, here’s the official word from Holder:

“It will not be a priority to use federal resources to prosecute patients with serious illnesses or their caregivers who are complying with state laws on medical marijuana, but we will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law to mask activities that are clearly illegal,” Holder said in a statement.

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Lamar Smith (R-Texas) criticized the policy. “By directing federal law enforcement officers to ignore federal drug laws, the Administration is tacitly condoning the use of marijuana in the U.S.,” Smith said in a statement. “If we want to win the war on drugs, federal prosecutors have a responsibility to investigate and prosecute all medical marijuana dispensaries and not just those that are merely fronts for illegal marijuana distribution.”

Deputy Attorney General David Ogden said in a memo to the 93 U.S. Attorneys that the DOJ marijuana policy does not “legalize” pot. ”(T)his memorandum is intended solely as a guide to the exercise of investigative and prosecutorial discretion,” Ogden wrote.

According to the memo, the Justice Department will continue to prosecute cases that meet these criteria:

• unlawful possession or unlawful use of firearms.
• violence
• sales to minors.
• financial and marketing activities inconsistent with the terms, conditions, or purposes of state law, including evidence of money laundering activity and/or financial gains or excessive amounts of cash inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law
• amounts of marijuana inconsistent with purported compliance with state or local law
• illegal possession or sale of other controlled substances.
• ties to other criminal enterprises.

Central District of California U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien will step down from his post Sept. 1 to join the Paul Hastings law firm, The Los Angeles Times reported last night.

The Senate confirmed the Bush appointee in October 2007. We previously reported on a couple of controversies surrounding the former Navy Top Gun instructor and gang prosecutor.

Thomas P. O'Brien (DOJ)

O’Brien issued a secret memo in February that directed prosecutors to cease filing charges against clinics that distributed medical marijuana. The ban came shortly after Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department would not raid medicinal marijuana facilities that are legal under state law.

The U.S. Attorney dropped the embargo in March and then went on to win the case against California pot dispensary owner Charles Lynch in June. Medical marijuana supporters said the successful prosecution would have a chilling effect on efforts to protect medicinal pot.

O’Brien was also criticized when he lost the bulk of his case against Democratic donor Pierce O’Donnell, who was accused of illegally reimbursing employees for contributions to John Edwards’s 2004 presidential campaign. U.S. District Judge S. James Otero threw out the majority of the charges against O’Donnell in June.

O’Donnell lawyer George Terwilliger said O’Brien “overreached” in his prosecution. The defense team had questioned whether Bush-appointed O’Brien targeted O’Donnell for his representation of Hurricane Katrina victims in a lawsuit against the U.S., and because he’d criticized Bush’s civil rights policies after the 9/11 attacks. Read our previous report here.

The U.S. Attorney, however, was lauded for fighting gang crime. He received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service – the highest award given by the Attorney General — for his efforts in probing and prosecuting gang members.

California pot dispensary owner Charles Lynch received a one year and one day prison term from U.S. District Court Judge George H. Wu this afternoon, The Associated Press reported today.

The case which we previously reported on here has garnered national media attention because of Attorney General Eric Holder’s stated policy of not raiding medicinal marijuana facilities that are legal under state law. The sheriff of Kern County, Calif. and the Drug Enforcement Administration raided Lynch’s facility in Bakersfield last month after the Attorney General’s announcement.

Central District of California U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien told The New York Times that Lynch broke state laws because Lynch was not his users’ primary caregiver and he didn’t provide any medical care beyond selling the marijuana. DOJ spokesperson Matthew Miller told The Times that the Justice Department is “not prioritizing federal resources to go after individuals or organizations unless there is a violation of both federal and state law.”

Federal law forbids the cultivation, sale and use of pot for medical reasons. Authorities have raided more than 100 pot dispensaries – many in California – since California sanctioned medical marijuana in 1996, according to The Times.

Wu decided not to give Lynch the mandatory five-year minimum sentence for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute marijuana, using a federal provision that allowed him to lower the prison term, according to The AP. Lynch, however, must still serve two one-year sentences for selling marijuana to a person under age 21, The AP said.

“It’s not really a victory,” Lynch told The AP. “In a way it’s a loss, but not a bad loss.”

Medical marijuana supporters told The Times that this decision will have a chilling effect on efforts to protect medicinal pot.

“That Attorney General Holder changed federal policy three months ago only makes this miscarriage of justice all the more disturbing,” Stephen Gutwillig of the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for a change in drug policy, told The Times. “Charlie is like a forgotten prisoner of war, abandoned after a truce was declared.”

We previously reported that the House Appropriations Committee added an amendment to the Justice Department budget bill Tuesday that would require the DOJ to clarify its policies on the enforcement of federal laws regarding the use of medical marijuana.

The House Appropriations Committee passed the fiscal 2010 Commerce, Justice and science subcommittee spending bill today by a voice vote, with $27.7 billion for the Justice Department. As expected, the panel eliminated $60 million requested for closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, with lawmakers complaining about a lack of a plan for transferring the detainees.

The DOJ budget as approved by the committee is 3 percent more than President Obama’s fiscal 2010 budget request and 6 percent more than fiscal 2009 budget. The bill  — which also covers funding for science and the Commerce Department — is expected to be considered by the full House next week.

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), chair of the Commerce, Justice and science subcommittee, touted the funding increases to several key DOJ programs including grants for state and local law enforcement agencies. Local and state law enforcement agencies are slated to receive $3.4 billion in grants  — $671 million more than Obama’s request and $197 million more than last year — to help hire thousands of police officers and improve crime prevention programs, Mollohan  said.

“It is a good bill and it is a balanced bill,” Mollohan said at the markup today.

Here’s a summary from the House Appropriation Committee on the slated allocations (in millions of dollars):

Republicans objected to the increase in funds slated for the Justice Department.  Appropriations Ranking Member Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.) proposed an amendment that would have decreased the funds slated for the Justice Department, Commerce Department and science programs by 14 percent. The amendment failed 21-31.

“This generous allocation allows every agency a significant increase,” said Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), Commerce, Justice and science subcommittee ranking member. He added: “This level of spending is unsustainable in the light of the growing deficit.”

Only a handful of DOJ programs are slated to receive less money than last year or no funds at all. Among those initiatives is Obama’s executive order to close down the Guantanamo Bay military prison. Like the wartime spending bill, the Appropriations bill calls for a plan before money can be allocated for its closure. Here’s a summary from the House Appropriations Committee on these initiatives:

The committee also approved an amendment to the bill by Mollohan that calls on the Justice Department to clarify its policies on the enforcement of federal laws regarding the use of medical marijuana.

Attorney General Eric Holder has said that he does not support the raiding of medical marijuana facilities, but the DOJ’s Drug Enforcement Administration has continued to conduct raids. You can read our previous post on this issue here.

Ron Weich, whose nomination to head the Justice Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs is slated to come before the Senate this week, will recuse himself from all matters involving mandatory sentencing policies, according to an answer Weich gave to written questions by then-Republican Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.)

Specter, who switched his party affiliation to Democratic on Tuesday, had asked Weich to explain his views on mandatory sentencing in a follow-up to his April 2 confirmation hearing. Weich, an aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, responded that he opposes mandatory sentences, but added:

At the outset, please note that if confirmed I intend to recuse myself from legislation concerning mandatory minimums because my wife ….  is president of an organization that advocates against mandatory sentencing. I have already consulted with Department of Justice ethics officials to establish a recusal protocol for such matters.

Weich’s wife is Julie Stewart, president and founder of Families Against Mandatory Minimums. Stewart started FAMM in 1991, according to her biography on its Web site, after her brother was sentenced to five years in prison for growing marijuana in his garage in Washington state.

That gives Weich a personal connection to an issue he could be dealing with as the DOJ’s liaison to Congress. Social conservatives remain opposed to legalizing pot, but support for changing laws that are now widely flouted appears to be gaining momentum, especially with U.S. demand for the leaf driving a bloody Mexican drug war on our doorstep. Holder said in February the DOJ would no longer raid medical marijuana dispensers in states where such use is legal.

UPDATE: Criminal Division head Lanny Breuer testified on Capitol Hill on Wednesday in favor of ending sentencing disparities for crack and power cocaine offenses. Weich’s wife’s organization put out a press release hailing the initiative. Read it here.