Even though we know there will be setbacks, this still hurts.  A federal judge in Sacramento dismissed a lawsuit claiming that the Obama administration broke its promise to leave the pot industry alone when it began an aggressive crackdown against California dispensaries last fall.  Proponents of the suit cited President Obama’s 2009 Ogden Memo, which told federal prosecutors to concentrate their efforts on large drug trafficking networks and “not focus federal resources” on medical marijuana operations in states that have legalized cannabis for medicinal purposes.

In a sharp reversal of the memo federal authorities announced a renewed effort to target pot dispensaries throughout California last October, claiming the industry had ballooned to unprecedented proportions. Success is bad?  The Sacramento lawsuit was one of a handful filed in November by cannabis suppliers and patients, who cited the Ogden Memo as the basis for their action. U.S. District Judge Garland Burrell, who reviewed the case in the capitol, justified his dismissal by claiming the memo was not a “binding commitment,” simply a statement of priorities.

Matthew Kumin, a lawyer representing one of the dispensaries in the Sacramento case, said,  “The judges know we’re in the right, [t]hey just don’t want to admit it.”  More at Huffington Post.