Gary Johnson On Fed Crackdown On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries: DOJ Has Better Things To Do

October 7, 2011

October 7, 2011, Santa Fe, NM — Responding to an announced Department of Justice “crackdown” on California medical marijuana dispensaries, former New Mexico Governor and presidential candidate Gary Johnson today warned that Americans who believe in states rights should be “extremely disturbed” by what he calls an “assault” on businesses operating legally under state law.

In a statement released Friday morning, Johnson said, “With weapons being allowed to ‘walk’ to drug cartels in Mexico and Solyndra walking with $500 million of taxpayers’ money, I would think DOJ and the Administration have better things to do than mount an assault on medical marijuana dispensaries in California that are legal under state law. Regardless of one’s view of medical marijuana, Americans who believe in states’ rights should be extremely disturbed that the federal government is in the process of shutting down businesses, threatening criminal charges, and confiscating the property of small businesses operating under good faith according to state law.

“We have a drug war along the border that has taken tens of thousands of lives, and the federal government is spending its time and resources declaring war on small businesses whose only ‘crime’ is trying to dispense medical relief in a regulated, taxed, and legal manner. If there is a conflict between state law and federal law, maybe it’s time for the feds to just admit that their law is just wrong, and let the states decide for themselves how they want to handle the issue of medical marijuana.”

According to news reports, the Department of Justice has issued warnings to medicinal marijuana dispensaries, operating under California law, demanding that they shut down within 45 days or face not only confiscation of their property, but also criminal charges.