Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 (The Medical Marijuana Program) is a poorly written initiative. A properly written law may have avoided the conflicts with the Obama Administration. There are at least two better ways to go about legalizing marijuana for medicinal use. 1 – Treat it like any other medication. Prescriptions are written by physicians, someone with MD or DO after their name. The prescriptions specify the monthly or weekly. The physicians must renew the prescriptions periodically. Licensed pharmacists at a licensed pharmacy fill the prescriptions. 2 - Legalize marijuana and save law enforcement a lot of time and trouble and the taxpayers a lot of dollars.

"California voters intended that patients should have safe and affordable access to medical marijuana," Exactly, Mark Leno! How presumptuous of the DOJ to tell California voters what they did and did not intend. Well, one thing we certainly didn't intend when we voted for prop 215 was to be constantly harassed by federal agents. Please understand our vote reflects our intention exactly, and when we intend something different, we will vote for that.

"...they don't plan to target individual patients, but said they won't allow large, for-profit enterprises to operate in the guise of providing medical marijuana."

...so what about the (legal) drug industry?
Obviously entirely non-profit.

You know...it's interesting that of all people Senator Mark Leno and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano would have the nerve to ask the feds to do anything. These two men could care less what we the people want. They could care less that medical marijuana is the largest scam ever to be perpetrated against the people of California. They could care less that marijuana is the number one reason for teens entering drug rehabilitation. Senator Mark Leno has a long and sordid history with drug legalization adocates dating back to the 1980's. Leno and Ammiano are responsible for perpetuating this scam. I demand Mark Leno to answer MY questions...

1. Isn't it true Mr. Leno that your friend Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance and Mr. George Soros have direct connections to the Cali Colombian drug cartel.

2. Isn't it true Mr. Leno that the Drug Policy Alliance which is set up as a non profit has illegally donated thousands of dollars to your campaigns over the years. It is illegal for a non profit to be politically active.

3. Isn't it true Mr. Leno that the goal of marijuana legalization is to set precedent for the legalization of all illicit drugs, including heroin, meth, and cocaine. The argument will be that you can't leglaize one illicit drug and not the other.

4. Isn't it also true Mr. Leno that you have personally attended multiple functions at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Embarcadero Center, where the Drug Policy Alliance was able to use the premises free of charge.

5. Isn't it true Mr. Leno that the Embarcadero center is the hub of drug legalization. Isn't it also true that their are allegations that the Embarcadero center is a port for laundering Colombian drug money. Is it true Mr. Leno that you are fully aware of it.

6. Isn't it true Mr. Leno that the laundered money entering the Embarcadero center is being washed right there and used to purchase large quantites of properties in California and New York.

6. Isn't it true Mr. Leno that George Soros and his right hand man Ethan Nadelmenn are set to take over the illicit drug market if marijuana were to be legalized.

I think Senator Merk Leno and Assemblyman Tom Ammiano have some explaining to do...they are certainly NOT in a position to demand anything from the feds.

Here are a few more question for the good Senator.

7. Isn't it true that the international law firm of Baker McKenzie are the family attorneys for Jaime and Isaac Gilinski-the cali Colombian cartel.

8. Isn't it true Mr. Leno that Baker McKenzie has their main office in the Embarcadero center.

9. Isn't it true Mr. Leno That George Soros has invested heavily in several Banks owned by Jaime and Isaac Gilinski, including Banco Colombia.

10. Isn't it true Mr. Leno that George Soros was the primary funder of Prop 215. He also paid 1.3 million to pass Proposition 36, along with his friends Peter Lewis and John Sperling. Soros also gave over 1 million dollars to pass Prop 19, which would have legalized marijuana outright.

11. Isn't it true Mr. leno that Soros has invested huge amounts of money buying up agricultural land in Colombia and Brazil.

12. Isn't it also true Mr. Leno that George Soros has invested in packaging companies in Colombia. What do you think he's planning on growing on that land, and what do you suppose he's planning on packaging?

I only asked 13 questions, 13 is suppose to be a lucky number...go ahead Mr. Leno answer them...you're going to need all the luck you can get!

Since all things political are viewed through the lens of money these days, let's consider one economic inevitability of closing down all or most of the medical marijuana providers. These are providers who obey California law, pay income and business taxes (making their activities significantly publicly transparent) and in some locales cooperate directly with local law enforcement to maintain the legal status of their operations (mainly growers). This structure of accountability and enforcement is more transparent than not and places the practices of the suppliers under the scrutiny of state and local government.

The market for marijuana, both medical and illicit, has had time to mature to the point where municipalities seek to include the dispensaries in their local tax base and the businesses actually welcome the taxes in order to be fully integrated as businesses within their communities. There is a significant desire to legalize and tax marijuana. This state of cooperation has lead to greater consistency of the product; safe, rational and transparent transactions involving the product; security from organized criminal involvement for sellers and clients/patients. And if authorities are allowed by Federal policy to fully engage with the industry, the safety and purity of the product will be regulated.

Now imagine this market under the well-armed control of Los Zetas and the Sinaloa drug cartels of Mexico. Imagine bodies hanging from over-passes or dumped headless within 100 yards of a school. Imagine traveling to Prom Night in small convoys of armored SUVs. Do NOT imagine that any police department in California could counter an experienced, trained, well-armed (with weapons purchased in the US) urban guerrilla force, which is the model the Mexican cartels have successfully followed. Not even LAPD can match their firepower and mobility. These groups already have a cross-border culture: their members revolve through prisons on both sides of the border; they have gang representation and alliances within the US; weapons are consistently and easily purchased in the US (especially when incompetence is multiplied by Fast and Furious career-building within the Justice Dept.); they grow marijuana on US public lands to keep their supply chain close to the customer base. I do not know if the cartels offshore their assets in US financial institutions, but it would make sense for them to hedge against currency fluctuations and minimize cross-border transfers of cash.

The Mexican cartels are preparing right now to capture completely the market for marijuana in the US. One could grow cynical watching the misguided actions of the Justice and Treasury Departments pave the way for their unimpeded entry. The most professionally run dispensaries are the core model upon which we can rationally and in a controlled manner, legalize marijuana. And legalization with regulation and taxation is the only way we can establish a market that excludes the hyper-violent drug cartels from colonizing our communities and spreading social and political chaos hundreds of miles north of the border.