The DEA and a regional narcotics taskforce raided the home of a paraplegic medical marijuana patient in what appears to be a cruel publicity stunt designed to intimidate New Mexico patients and policymakers.

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With the help of supporters like you, the Drug Policy Alliance passed legislation earlier this year in New Mexico that legalized marijuana for medical use. Since the law took effect, 38 patients have been approved by the state's Department of Health to possess and use marijuana to alleviate their conditions. The day after our medical marijuana legislation was signed into law, however, U.S. Drug Czar John Walters publicly expressed his disappointment with state policymakers. While we expected then that federal agencies would try to interfere with New Mexico's efforts to fully implement the medical marijuana law, we didn't believe they would go after those most vulnerable in the state - the patients.

On Tuesday, agents of the Pecos Valley Drug Taskforce in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration searched the home of a registered medical marijuana patient who has lost the use of his legs and suffers chronic pain and muscle spasms due to a spinal cord injury. They seized his medicine and are now threatening to prosecute him in federal court where there are no legal protections for medical marijuana patients. This intimidating raid comes at the very time New Mexico officials are debating the best way to develop a state-licensed production and distribution system for medical marijuana.

A press release issued by the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force illustrates the political nature of the raid, reading in part, "Citizens of New Mexico need to be aware that they can still be prosecuted on the federal level even though New Mexico has a law permitting marijuana for medicinal use." The Pecos Valley Drug Task Force is part of the Southwest Border HIDTA, a local, state, and federal law enforcement partnership financed and managed by the drug czar's office.

This cruel misuse of law enforcement resources is only the latest scandal to be connected to regional narcotics taskforces. DPA has been trying to cut off federal funding to these corruption-prone taskforces for years. From the wrongful conviction of dozens of people in Tulia, Texas to the harassment of electronic music lovers in Flint, Michigan, these taskforces are at the center of some of our country's worst civil rights abuses.

Please take a minute today to email your members of Congress and ask them to protect medical marijuana patients and reform federal law enforcement grant programs.

More Information:

• DPA-NM Director Reena Szczepanski's blog post on the Huffington Post
• La Cruces Sun-News article on the raid
• Associated Press article on the debate within New Mexico on a state-licensed production and distribution system for medical marijuana.