New DEA chief puts marijuana users on notice

By Karen Gullo
The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Va. - The new chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration said yesterday he would strive to enforce the federal ban on medical marijuana.

Speaking to reporters on his first official day on the job, Asa Hutchinson - an Arkansas Republican who gave up a House seat to take the DEA job - said he would try to "send the right signal."

Federal law prohibits the sale of marijuana for medical uses. Some states, however, let patients use marijuana for such purposes.

"The question is how do you address that from an enforcement standpoint," he said. "You're not going to tolerate a violation of law, but at the same time there are a lot of different relationships, a lot of different aspects."

Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Oregon and Washington allow sick people to receive, possess, grow or smoke marijuana for medical purposes without fear of state prosecution. Those states have done little to change their statutes since the Supreme Court ruled federal law prohibits people from dispensing marijuana to the ill, saying it's up to federal authorities to enforce the court's decision.

Hutchinson, a former federal prosecutor who served as a House prosecutor in former President Clinton's impeachment trial, said the scientific and medical communities have thus far determined there is no legitimate medical use for marijuana.

"If they continue to study it, we will listen to them," he said.