Stop Federal Raids, Los Angeles Times Opines

The Los Angeles Times is siding with advocates of medical marijuana and is calling on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to stop the current federal crackdown on dispensaries in the city.

The newspaper also points a finger at the lack of legal guidance from Sacramento. The murky legal climate in Los Angeles surrounding dispensaries, with the city council attempting to ban all facilities in the city and the subsequent petition to keep them open, is a direct result of that absence of leadership. The state legislature and the state's attorney general, Kamala Harris, have failed to put in place regulations for the cities to follow.

While the L.A. Times recognizes that federal law enforcement agencies are under no obligation to follow state or city laws — and they've demonstrated that they consider medical pot to be illegal, despite the will of the states — the situation in the state's capital isn't helping either.

"...the raids are likely to drive away businesspeople who want to run clean, safe storefronts serving sick people, sending the trade further underground and into the hands of a more criminal element," the paper's editorial board wrote. "That's why we urge Holder to rein in the four California U.S. attorneys spearheading the aggressive new stance, at least until we have some clarity on what's allowable and what isn't."