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Marijuana[/caption]Marsha Hunt---“Why has the Department of Justice decided to trust Colorado to effectively regulate recreational marijuana when they haven’t regulated medical marijuana?”
This admonition from Kenneth Cole, Deputy Attorney General underlines the importance of ensuring juveniles do not take marijuana, that money is handled in a satisfactory way and that distribution follows specific guidelines.
In a memo to the states, Cole has outlined the importance of the states providing guidelines that will adequately meet the needs of citizens while protecting the community from the criminal elements that have been involved at times in the drug distribution and young people from taking a drug that may reduce inhibitions at a time of life when there are already issues in making good judgments.
The Department of Justice has already decided it is not a good idea to enforce criminal laws that can hurt medically ill people and their caregivers. However, in a memo to the states, authorities are reminded about the need for regulatory guidelines that can protect patients and provide for oversight.
One of those needed areas is in the banking area, as banks are forbidden by the FDIC to manage funds from drug distribution. Many distributors therefore operate on a cash-only basis. The problem, however, is that opens the distribution centers to theft and other crimes.
21 states have now legalized marijuana, while only Colorado and Washington allow recreational use of the drug. Getting regulations in place that can properly administer the drug is still the task of the states in both medical and recreational use of the drug.
