Going to Pot

The Obama administration deserves credit for backing away from one of the Bush administration's more ill-considered policies: the pursuit of medical-marijuana sellers.

A number of states have passed laws permitting the medicinal use of pot. But the Bush administration would have none of it. It zealously used federal law to go after dispensaries -- in contravention of common sense, right reason, and the principles of federalism conservatives generally hold dear.

The policy does not grant dispensaries license to sell meth, crack, or 9mm pistols with the serial numbers filed off, any more than a regular pharmacy's ability to sell controlled substances grants it a license to trade in heroin or PCP. But it does recognize that federal prosecutorial resources are limited -- and going after state-sanctioned hash clinics probably isn't the best use of them.