SACRAMENTO, July 18 (UPI) -- The medical marijuana industry is encountering mixed signals from the federal government about federal prosecution of those dispensing the drug, analysts say.
In October 2009, a Department of Justice memo declaring that federal authorities wouldn't target the legal use of medicinal pot in states where it is permitted encouraged medical marijuana advocates -- and kick-started a boom in dispensaries in California that currently handle more than $1 billion in pot transactions, The Sacramento Bee reported Monday.
But a new memo last month is now creating industry worry of federal raids on dispensaries and crackdowns on large-scale medical pot cultivation.
In the new memo, Deputy Attorney General James Cole said state laws "are not a defense" from federal prosecution.
"Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug" and that distributing it "is a serious crime," Cole said.
Justice Department officials denied the memo represented a harsher shift in federal policy, saying it was offering "guidance" for states where medical marijuana is permitted by law.
But one medical marijuana advocate says President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder are breaking a promise to medical users and threatening the distribution of marijuana as medicine.
"I can't imagine why the Obama administration wants patients to obtain their medicine from a criminal market rather from a licensed and regulated system of distribution," said Steve DeAngelo, whose Harborside Health Center in Oakland is California's largest medical marijuana provider, with 50,000 clients and more than $22 million in annual transactions.
"I just can't imagine them following through on their position," he said.
