SF Supervisors Call On Obama to Defend Marijuana

City elected officials demand president lay off the pot.

His fellow Democrats and supporters for his reelection bid have a message for Barack Obama on his visit to cannabis-friendly San Francisco: keep your promise, and lay off the marijuana.

The president was called out in the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday by three members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Christina Olague, David Campos and Scott Wiener -- who, coincidentally, are the Board's three LGBT members -- "want the president to keep the commitment he made to stop the federal government's attacks on medical cannabis," they wrote.

Obama is in San Francisco for a fundraiser. He is also scheduled to raise cash in Los Angeles.

The president failed to keep his campaign promise "not... to... us[e] Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on" medical marijuana, the supervisors wrote. Instead, the four federal prosecutors in California began a coordinated crackdown in October, which led five of San Francisco's dispensaries to close. Four more may close, after receiving threatening letters from the local United States attorney, Melinda Haag.

"We call on all citizens who support the use of medical cannabis to raise their voices with ours in telling President Obama to honor our laws for safe access," the supervisors wrote.

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