Obama's heavily publicized and widely praised promise to respect state medical marijuana laws has recently been shattered into more pieces than the campaign can count.
In only a few short months, the Obama administration has presided over a vicious series of political assaults on medical marijuana patients and providers across the nation, carried out by numerous federal agencies. The situation just continues to get more ugly and insane from one week to the next:
Federal prosecutors have threatened to arrest state employees for administering state laws, resulting in stalled programs and reduced patient access.
U.S. Attorneys in California recently revived the Bush era tactic of threatening to seize property from landlords who rent to medical marijuana facilities.
After 9 years of failing to respond, the DEA recently denied a petition to reschedule marijuana, ignoring a vast body of scientific evidence proving the drug's medical efficacy.
Federal threats have caused numerous banks to close the accounts of businesses that provide medical marijuana to qualified patients.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms issued a surprising statement that medical marijuana patients may not purchase firearms.
The IRS is shaking down medical marijuana providers for millions of dollars based on an obscure tax provision aimed at drug traffickers.
A federal prosecutor even threatened to target newspapers that run ads for medical marijuana services.
And, of course, the DEA continues to raid tax-paying businesses that are legal under state law.