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This jurisdictional pissing match just makes me wanna’ burn a J
Last October, Shashon Jenkins was arrested in Santa Rosa, California for possession of 18 pounds of pot. His lawyer eventually had the charges dropped because the prosecutor accepted that Jenkins was both a medical marijuana user and caregiver. Afterwards, Jenkins got a judge to order the return of his pot but the cops aren’t playing along.
See, while California state law has legalized medical marijuana, weed is still illegal under federal law. So the cops say they would be violating federal law by returning Jenkins’ pot, and the Judge has set a March court date where the cops will have to plead their case to avoid getting hit with a contempt of court ruling.
I really hate this kind of shit. Like most of America, I turn to Hollywood for my opinions. And if I’ve learned anything, “The Wire” and Traffic have taught me that the drug war is a lost and broken cause. The Feds’ absolute immobility in situations like this shows one reason why. The people of California have absolutely approved medical marijuana, yet the Feds are unwilling to accept this. Worse yet, they actively pursue California folks who avail themselves of the state’s medical marijuana laws (and while I’m sure there are some illegitimate uses going on, you gotta’ figure the majority is on the up-and-up). Money and resources that could be better spent in a number of ways is basically pissed away for nothing.
Our federal government in action.
