DOVER -- With the state Senate poised to give final passage today to legalizing marijuana possession and distribution for medicinal purposes, Delaware could be headed into a national debate over the federal government's role in regulating the drug.
Even though it could soon be legal for ill patients in Delaware with a qualifying disease to obtain marijuana from a state-licensed dispensary, the drug remains a Schedule I controlled substance and illegal under federal law.
The architects of Delaware's bill say it has been crafted to comply with a directive from U.S. Department of Justice that urges federal prosecutors to go after only medical-marijuana suppliers that operate outside a state's medical-marijuana law.
In October 2009, the Obama administration issued a memo to prosecutors instructing them not to expend resources prosecuting patients or their caregivers who obtain marijuana in one of 15 states that have decriminalized cannabis for medical treatment.
U.S. Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden said at the time that prosecutors should not investigate medical-marijuana distribution that is in "clear and unambiguous compliance" with a state's law.
Charles Oberly, the U.S. attorney for Delaware, said he has not read the Delaware bill yet and his study of the issue is limited to the Ogden memo.
"They're not looking to prosecute people who are seriously ill," Oberly said Monday.
But recent raids on marijuana dispensaries and rhetoric from a federal prosecutor in Washington state have raised questions about how the Obama administration is treating marijuana farms and distribution in states with medical-marijuana laws.
Oberly said he does see the potential conflict of having a state law that makes marijuana for medical use legal and a federal law that strictly prohibits cultivation, possession and distribution of the drug.
"State law can't preempt federal law," he said.
Senate Majority Whip Margaret Rose Henry, D-Wilmington East, sees no problems on the horizon if Gov. Jack Markell decides to sign the bill.
Contact Chad Livengood at 324-2832 orclivengood@delawareonline.com.
Visit http://Cannabis4ALL.com for a list of Doctors and Publish PostDispensaries in your local area. All States not legal are listed with penalties.
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