There is breaking news today that the DEA, along with local law enforcement (LEOs), are raiding medical marijuana dispensaries in California[see here and here], and in Arizona [see here]. It is only a matter of time before these raids spread into other states who have chosen to leave behind the bigoted, anti-science moral crusade to pass compassionate care laws, like my new home state of Colorado.
more over the fold...
First, a little about myself.
I graduated with a PhD in analytical chemistry a couple of years ago. My matriculation was at the most inopportune time in a generation, shortly after the burst of the housing bubble and the tanking of the economy by the 1%. I am well qualified, with my advisor's lineage tracking to scientists on a short list for the Nobel prize, and another editor in chief for a leading ACS journal (these things are deemed important in academic circles). My Alma-mater is consistently in the top 20 research institutions in the country, and I was a Post-doctoral Fellow at a university constantly ranked in the top 5 (and in some lists at #1) for my specialty. As a result of going through grad school with two young children (who required child care), I now have ~$150,000 in student loan debt.
At the time I graduated, I had to stay on with my advisor as a post-doc for 6 months until I found a formal post-doc position. Funding was getting scarce, and even academic jobs were not immune. As usual, I began to apply for jobs a few months into my post-doc (in both academia and industry), and after nearly a year I could count on both hands the serious replies I got. A lot of the postings were 'place holders', where they were looking to keep resumes on file for future potential positions. The academic ones were 'in-house' hires. You see, it is illegal to just hire someone you know. You have to post the job and then pretend to interview a lot of people, then announce you want to hire the person you know. It happens all the time.
As my post-doc wound down, I moved to Colorado to be near my kids (I am divorced), and was fortunate enough to find work running a medical marijuana analytical lab here. This was a few months ago. The pay is about 2/3 of what I would have expected for a large industry gig, and I have no benefits, but I am glad to have the job. I believe in medical marijuana, and my recent experiences with local dispensaries and the patients they serve have only made that more certain in my mind.
Prior to their direct-action approach using the DEA, they began their recent crusade by using the Treasury Department to issue an opinion stating any bank who serves a legally licensed medical marijuana business was essentially conducting money laundering. As a result, all accounts at FDIC accredited institutions now refuse to serve the MMJ industry. Next, they used the IRS to disallow standard business deductions for dispensaries, sending one a tax bill for $2.5 million.
So now, just as I have begun to start to pay down my student loan debt, the Obama administration has declared war on my industry, and indirectly on myself. In a time of dire recession, they are targeting one of the fastest growing industries in the country as well as the patients we serve. Obama wants to put me out of a job, and on top of that he wants me to vote for him come next year. What complete and utter bullshit.
After years of heckling at Republicans for voting against their own self interest, now I am faced with the prospect of doing exactly that. What a fucking joke.
hat tip to pot for this: