Is Obama’s crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries the right idea?

We say: Prosecuting medical marijuana dispensaries is wasteful, politically questionable and pointless.

Last week, the Barack Obama administration and the DEA announced to the California medical marijuana dispensaries that they would be cracking down and enforcing federal law by evicting and prosecuting marijuana vendors if they do not cease business within the next 45 days.  

This is one further step in an about-face from the original Obama administration stance, which was to refrain from prosecuting medical marijuana dispensaries so long as they were following state law.

So let’s talk about why we think this is a bad idea.

First and foremost, at a time when budgets are tight and all spending is facing serious scrutiny, why is it that we’re using taxpayer money to prosecute individuals who are operating legally, according to the rules of their home state?

Couldn’t this money be used to finance infrastructure projects, repairs on schools or, really, anything more productive?

Maybe the Obama administration feels that it has come across as too lenient on drugs, and it will  garner support among a different demographic if it pursues this line of action. After all, the Republican presidential nominees have begun talking about Mexican drug cartels off and on during the past few weeks.

If that’s true, then this still doesn’t make much sense. Rather than allowing legal growing and distribution to occur, we’re going to kill jobs and state-legalized commerce by prosecuting it out of business. Moreover, the administration would be further criminalizing and alienating a segment of its traditional liberal base.  

And here’s the thing: If individuals are desperate enough or have incentive enough to pursue marijuana, legality or illegality is irrelevant. If an individual sees marijuana as a vital part of his treatment, he might purchase the drug on the illegal market. Where can illegal marijuana come from if it isn’t grown in the United States? Oh, right, Mexican cartels.

So by prosecuting — perhaps persecuting would be a more appropriate word — legal medical marijuana facilities in California, the administration might be forcing cash flow into the hands of individuals it’s actively trying to battle.

We already gave the cartels guns. Why not cash as well, right?

In the end, we’re left scratching our heads. What positive end could this action really serve?