California’s top cops: “If you don’t like the law, circumvent it”

Apparently the adage “if you don’t like the law, change it” isn't that simple – not in California, anyway.

Despite a tough opposition campaign by the law enforcement lobby, California voters approved Proposition 215, enacting the nation’s first effective state-level medical marijuana law, in November 1996. But that didn’t stop some law enforcement officials from trying to circumvent the very law they campaigned against, 12 years after its passage.

Frustrated with the fact that medical marijuana is legal in their state, the California Police Chiefs Association asked the DEA to use federal law to arrest and prosecute medical marijuana providers.

Read more on the topic from our friend Jacob Sullum over at Reason Magazine’s blog.