Obama’s DOJ Cracks Down on Medical Marijuana: California vs. The Feds
httpvh://youtu.be/WYANybQlaUc
State Drops Charges Against DEA-Busted Operators of a Tempe Medical Marijuana Clinic
Phoenix New Times: “All charges have been dropped from September’s high-profile bust by the Drug Enforcement Agency of a Tempe medical marijuana clinic. The DEA arrested James Chaney and Rachel Beeder of Arizona Go Green Co-Op on September 29 following a morning raid on the clinic and Chaney’s Phoenix home. . . . The DEA turned over prosecution of the case to the office of Tom Horne, state Attorney General. But Horne, despite his previous legal action against the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act, dropped the charges last month against Beeder and Chaney. . . . Nor were charges ever filed in two high-profile busts in June by Gilbert PD: Garry Ferguson and the Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group in Tempe, and the raid of a Gilbert patient’s home over two ounces of weed.
Chicago May Decriminalize Marijuana
Breitbart: “Chicago pot smokers may soon be able to light up without fear of jail time. Several Windy City councilmen said Thursday they plan to introduce a local law that would decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana in order to cut costs and free up police to handle more serious crimes.”
Feds Target Leader of Marijuana Legalization Movement
The Bay Citizen: “As the federal government’s crackdown on the state’s medical marijuana industry expands, the Department of Justice has targeted Richard Lee, the leader of the movement to legalize pot in California, The Bay Citizen has learned. U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag sent a letter to the landlord of Lee’s medical marijuana dispensary, Coffeeshop Blue Sky, ordering its eviction, according to people familiar with the situation.”
James Chaney, Owner of Tempe Pot Club Raided by DEA, Also Suspected of Possessing Meth
Phoenix New Times: “The owner of a Tempe medical marijuana club raided by the DEA last week was already being sought by cops for possession of methamphetamine, records show. James Chaney, 37, was arrested along with co-worker Rachel Beeder, 25, on September 29 during the morning raid of the Arizona Go Green Compassion Club at 426 East Southern Avenue. . . . Allan Sobol, the medical pot marketer who opened a compassion club in June, says he agrees with the DEA’s decision.”
DEA Raids Medical Marijuana Club in Tempe, Accuses Owners of Running Illegal Dispensary
Phoenix New Times: “the DEA has gone after a . . . medical marijuana club in Tempe. Agents began showing up at the AZ Go Green Co-Op at 426 East Southern Avenue around 8 a.m., according to a news report by Channel 10 (KSAZ-TV). The owners’ of the club, says the report, are Rachael Beeder and James Chaney. A doctor at the clinic, James Eisenberg, left a note on the door saying he’ll be out till October 1st.”
See “Jailed Medical Marijuana Clinic Worker Speaks Out.” “FOX 10’s cameras were the only ones there when the DEA raided a medical marijuana clinic in Tempe. In another exclusive, the woman that ran the Arizona Go Green Compassion Club talks to us from behind bars.”
For more about whether an Arizona cannabis club is legal under Arizona’s medical marijuana laws see “Are Arizona Cannabis Clubs Legal Under Arizona’s Medical Marijuana Laws?“
Confusion Surrounds California’s Medical Marijuana Laws
Digital Journal: “The former owner of a Los Angeles County marijuana dispensary will learn of his sentence in the coming month in a case (LACBA368181-01, Los Angeles County Superior Court) that brings to light the confusion still surrounding California’s medical marijuana laws . . . . Under California state law, marijuana dispensaries must be operated on a non-profit basis. In many cases, however, authorities have raided dispensaries and charged them with operating on a “for profit” basis. According to the Culver City Patch, prosecutors alleged that the Organica Collective dispensary near the Culver City-Los Angeles border had earned an average of $400,000 per month.”
Newark Pot Dispensary, Fremont Businesses Raided and Searched
MercuryNews.com: “Authorities arrested two men Tuesday after raiding and searching three Tri-City area businesses — a Newark cannabis club and the offices of two Fremont psychics — and a Salinas storefront, each of which are suspected sites of drug-related crimes, a state Department of Justice spokeswoman said. Police believe each of the businesses is tied to NBD Collective”
Oregon County says so Long to Short-lived Marijuana Dispensaries
South County Spotlight: “Just after opening earlier this year, the sole remaining medical marijuana dispensary in Columbia County voluntarily shut down late last week, closing the door on what was largely becoming a growing illegal industry in Oregon, according to federal justice officials. Early this month, U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton sent letters to area marijuana dispensaries saying their operations were illegal and owners would be prosecuted if they remained open”
The Drug War’s Einsatzgruppen
Lew Rockwell.com: “Einsatzgruppen (German) – ‘Special task forces’ composed of police, military, and intelligence personnel deployed to target and eliminate people identified as ‘anti-German elements’ by the National Socialist regime; also referred to as ‘mobile killing squads.’ . . . Arizona’s coercive sector has benefited tremendously from ‘the overwhelming success of the asset forfeiture [program] in Arizona,’ boasts the Commission. In the year following creation of the sixteen state counter-narcotics task forces, revenue from asset forfeitures more than doubled – from $19,576,626 in 2006 to $40,297,456 in 2007. . . . What this means, of course, is that ‘local’ police agencies are essentially support systems for a plundering army that is literally waging war against the people in the guise of narcotics enforcement.”
Beaumont, Montana, Marijuana Dispensary Raided, Closed Down
Record Gazette: “Law enforcement officials raided a medical marijuana dispensary in Beaumont on Tuesday, serving search warrants at its nondescript location on 6th Street and four other locations, and arresting five people, including its owner. Members of the Allied Riverside Cities Narcotic Enforcement Team (ARCNET) concluded a seven-month long criminal investigation of Oak Tree Alternative Care. The business had been operating there under the guise of a medicinal marijuana collective“
Can a Person Who Holds an Arizona Medical Marijuana Patient Card Sell Marijuana to Another Arizona Licensed Patient or Caregiver?
The arrest of Gary Ferguson and others by the Gilbert Police Department raises the question of whether an Arizona medical marijuana patient cardholder can sell marijuana to another person who is licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services as a medical marijuana patient or caregiver. Several people have been or will be arrested as a result of Mr. Ferguson’s operation of the Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group where card-holding Arizona medical marijuana patients were able to gather to smoke pot and sell marijuana to other licensed patients. Mr. Ferguson told a reporter that he believes that Arizona Revised Statutes Section 36-2815 authorizes Arizona licensed patients sell marijuana to other Arizona licensed patients. For more on this arrest, see “Gilbert police raid of medical-marijuana group raises questions.”
Arizona Revised Statutes Section 36-2815.C states:
“Any cardholder who sells marijuana to a person who is not allowed to possess marijuana for medical purposes under this chapter shall have his registry identification card revoked, and shall be subject to other penalties for the unauthorized sale of marijuana and other applicable offenses.”
Unfortunately for those arrested in the Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group raid, this statute does not say that Arizona medical marijuana patients may sell marijuana to other licensed Arizona medical marijuana patients. Nor does this statute authorize caregivers to sell marijuana to other caregivers or patients.
The issue of a licensed patient or caregiver supplying marijuana to a third party is addressed in Arizona Revised Statutes Section 36-2811.B, which states:
“A registered qualifying patient or registered designated caregiver is not subject to arrest, prosecution or penalty in any manner, or denial of any right or privilege, including any civil penalty or disciplinary action by a court or occupational or professional licensing board or bureau . . . For offering or providing marijuana to a registered qualifying patient or a registered designated caregiver for the registered qualifying patient’s medical use or to a registered nonprofit medical marijuana dispensary if nothing of value is transferred in return and the person giving the marijuana does not knowingly cause the recipient to possess more than the allowable amount of marijuana.”
This statute is a safe harbor for licensed Arizona medical marijuana patients who supply marijuana to other licensed Arizona medical marijuana patients ONLY IF THE SUPPLIER GETS NOTHING OF VALUE from the receipient. If the supplier receives any money or any property of value, Arizona’s medical marijuana laws do not protect the supplier from prosecution for violating Arizona state or local marijuana laws. Nor will the supplier avoid prosecution under federal law because the U.S. Attorney and many of the state U.S. Attorneys including Arizona’s Dennis Burke have said the U.S. will not generally spend U.S. resources prosecuting patients and caregivers who comply with the laws of a state like Arizona that have legalized medical marijuana. An Arizona licensed medical marijuana patient who sells marijuana to another Arizona licensed patient is not complying with Arizona’s medical marijuana laws and could therefor be prosecuted for violating federal marijuana laws.
Police Raid Michigan Medical Marijuana Dispensary for a Second Time
Livington Daily.com: “Police this afternoon again raided the Marshall Alternatives medical marijuana dispensary”
Beaumont, California, Pot Dispensary Owner Arrested
The Redlands Daily Facts: “A Riverside County multi-agency task force has arrested the owner of a medical marijuana dispensary who authorities say weathered a ban for more than two years by paying a $1,000-a-day fine. . . . Oak Tree Alternative Care was skirting Proposition 215 and was selling marijuana for profit”
Sacramento Marijuana Hospital Raided; 2 Operators Arrested
Sacramento Bee: “Authorities raided a south Sacramento marijuana dispensary Thursday and arrested its operator and his father, alleging the pot shop has been operating illegally as a for-profit organization. Elk Grove police, along with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, served a search warrant at the R&R Wellness Center on Quinta Court”
Gilbert Police Raid Tempe Medical-Marijuana Shop; Officers Seize Pot, Make No Arrests
Phoenix New Times: “Gilbert police made another medical-marijuana raid last week — this one at the office of a Tempe advocacy group where patients sold pot to other patients. About 4 p.m. last Thursday, cops — some in masks — entered the small office of the Medical Marijuana Advocacy Group, in an industrial complex at 2011 East Fifth Street. They placed the founder, an employee, and several customers in handcuffs for more than an hour and searched the place. Several ounces of weed, including live plants, were seized.”
Direct TV Installer Rats Out Medical Marijuana Patient to Cops
Memo to Arizona Medical Marijuana Patients Who Grow Their Own Pot – Don’t ever let a Direct TV installer near your plants! East Valley Tribune: “A couple hours after a DirecTV worker saw marijuana and hashish inside a bedroom closet of Ross Taylor’s Gilbert home during the installation process of a satellite dish, 12 Gilbert police officers wearing masks and toting guns busted into his house and took his pot. Taylor, 35, is a card-carrying medical marijuana patient under Arizona’s new voter-approved law”
For more on this story that is outrageous in several ways, read Ray Stern’s story in the Phoenix New Times called “Gilbert Police Storm Home, Seize Two Ounces of Marijuana From Card-Holding Medical Pot Patient. Really,” which states:
“Sergeant Bill Balafas, Gilbert PD spokesman, tells New Times that because Taylor bought the pot from another person, as opposed to growing it himself, the possession wasn’t legal despite his status as a patient.”
If Sargeant Balafas is correct, then every person in Arizona who obtains a medical marijuana patient or caregiver card and who acquires marijuana from a source not authorized by Arizona’s medical marijuana law such as from a licensed Arizona medical marijuana dispensary (of which there are none) can be charged with a crime. Arizona’s medical marijuana law is written in such a way that the only way for an Arizona medical marijuana dispensary to get any marijuana to grow when the industry begins is from patients and caregivers who give the plants or seeds to the dispensary for free.
Seven Arrested in Raid on San Bernardino County Pot Dispensary, Homes
The Press Enterprise: “Seven people were arrested Wednesday and an eighth is being sought after San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators raided a medical marijuana dispensary in Bloomington that authorities said operated illegally. The arrests followed a three-month investigation into the Cognoscente Patients Collective . . . which investigators say was selling marijuana for profit in violation of the state’s medical marijuana law.”
Sacramento Marijuana Dispenary Raided & Operators Arrested
Sacramento Bee: “Authorities raided a south Sacramento marijuana dispensary Thursday and arrested its operator and his father, alleging the pot shop has been operating illegally as a for-profit organization. . . . Police believe the dispensary has not been adhering to provisions of the state’s Compassionate Use Act, Trim said, instead operating as a for-profit organization and ‘essentially acting as illegal marijuana dealers.’ Under state law, dispensaries must operate as nonprofit patient organizations.”
Sheriff Gives Oregon Marijuana Dispensary Notice
The Daily Astorian: “When Nature’s Choice Alternative Medicine opened in Astoria in April and provided patients, care givers and growers with Oregon Medical Marijuana Program cards access to marijuana and supplies, law enforcement called it a potentially illegal operation. They said that Nature’s Choice – as well as dozens of similar locations across Oregon – was taking advantage of a loophole in Oregon’s unclear law. Wednesday, Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin served Nature’s Choice owner Nick Clark a notice stating that the sale of marijuana for any purpose, including medicine, would not be tolerated.”
Fresno County Sheriff: Med-pot Stores Operating Illegally
The Fresno Bee: “Attorneys for medical marijuana collectives on Thursday disputed Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims’ claim that the collectives are “money-making drug operations” and are illegal. ‘The Board of Supervisors made it clear in December that instead of regulating [the collectives] they wanted to ban them all,’ said attorney Brenda Linder of Fresno, a spokesman for EarthSource, one of five collectives raided Wednesday. ‘I assume they set about doing it any way they could’.”
See “Fresno Co. Deputies Bust Medical Marijuana Dispensaries.”
US Attorney: Oregon Marijuana Dispensaries “Will Not Be Tolerated”
Willamette Week: “Two days after WW published a story exposing rifts between law enforcement and some medical-marijuana operations, U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton and many Oregon district attorneys have issued a stern warning to this booming local industry.
“The sale of marijuana for any purpose—including as medicine—violates both federal and Oregon law and will not be tolerated,” says the warning from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “People and businesses that conduct sales of marijuana face the risk of prosecution, civil enforcement action and seizure of assets.”
Read the full text of U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton’s June 3, 2011, letter. See also “Medical pot sellers will be prosecuted in Ore.”
Medical Pot Advocate Vows to Grow more Weed after Case Dismissed
Los Angeles Wave: “The founder of the longest serving medical marijuana dispensary in the Southland has publicly vowed to cultivate pot for seriously ill HIV/AIDS patients in his backyard, after the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office recently dropped a criminal case against him days before it was due to go to trial. According to Paul Scott, executive director of the Inglewood Wellness Center, which opened in February 2000, and the Los Angeles Wellness Center, located at 312 Olympic Blvd., he was arrested and charged last June for cultivation of marijuana and the possession of marijuana for sale.”
Three Men from Dryden, MI, Medical Marijuana Dispensary Charged with Delivering & Manufacturing Marijuana
mlive.com: “Three men were charged today with delivery and manufacturing marijuana for their association with the Dryden medical marijuana dispensary, according to the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Department. Randy Crowel, the 54-year-old owner of the facility, Mark Carter, 49, of Romeo and Patrick Salas, 53, of Romeo, face up to four years in prison if convicted. ‘The investigation supports that the Compassion Care Center of Michigan was non-compliant to the Michigan Medical Marijuana Law,’ said Lapeer County Sheriff Ron Kalanquin.”
See “Sheriff: Dryden medical marijuana dispensary was ‘turning quick dollar’.”
Whittier, California, Police Crack Down on Unlicensed Pot Dispensaries
Whitter Daily News: “Culminating a three-month investigation, police brought a hammer down Wednesday on unlicensed medical marijuana dispensaries, shutting down two underground clinics, including one operating across from East Whittier Middle School. They also served a search warrant at a medical office in the 7200 block of Greenleaf Avenue, where they arrested a physician on suspicion of aiding and abetting an unlicensed medical marijuana dispensary.”
See “Four people arrested in police crackdown on illegal pot dispensaries could face charges.”
Home-grown Marijuana Challenges Arizona Police
Arizona Republic: “More than 2,300 Arizona residents have state permits to grow marijuana in their homes – for now. That will end in a few months when medical-marijuana dispensaries start opening and household gardeners must pull the plug on their grow lights or face criminal charges if they live within 25 miles of a dispensary. But it’s unclear who will enforce the shutdown, and spokesmen for local law-enforcement agencies say they expect that will be a challenge.”
ACLU Sends Letter to U.S. Attorney General Asking Feds to Backoff on State Legal Medical Marijuana Dispensaries
In a letter to the United States Attorney Eric Holder dated May 9, 2011, the American Civil Liberties Association (ACLU) expressed “deep concerns about recent threatening letters from several United States Attorneys from across the country regarding the potential initiation of federal prosecutions against persons who are complying with state medical marijuana laws.” The letter says in part:
“We further assume that the low priority status extends not only to patients, but also those who license and distribute medical marijuana in full compliance with state laws that are designed to protect public safety by ensuring an orderly and appropriately circumscribed distribution process for medical marijuana.
The recent U.S. Attorneys’ letters also reflect a policy of obstructionism in the face of the complex and evolving issue of medical marijuana, which nearly one-third of the states have now decriminalized in recognition of the unique and substantive benefit this drug provides to patients with certain serious conditions. The states to which the recent U.S. Attorneys’ letters have been directed have wisely recognized not only the needs of patients and the value of marijuana as a medicine, but also the need for a rational distribution scheme that channels this drug to humanitarian uses without contributing to a black market. As a policy matter, the same protections that extend to patients should also be extended to state-licensed distributors or state employees who are in clear compliance with state law. The laws of the affected states further recognize that it is not enough to permit patients to use the medicine; there must be a mechanism for growing and distributing medicine that provides a safe method of access. The state laws and detailed regulations implementing distribution promote both public health and public safety. The U.S. Attorneys’ implied threats of prosecution against those who are merely following state law are thus inconsistent with the administration’s announced intention to end the “war” on drugs and adopt a public health approach to drug policy.”
DEA and Spokane Police Raid More Medical-Marijuana Dispensaries
Spokane Weekly: “Jessica Nuna says she was standing behind the counter talking with a patient when the first agents came in. ‘I’m with the DEA,’ she says that one of them calmly told her–he was the only Drug Enforcement Administration member out of a team of about a dozen Spokane Police officers. By the time the team had left Nuna’s work–the Medical Herb Providers pot dispensary on Frea Street in Spokane–they had taken around 32 pot plants, $1,400 in cash, several ounces of ready-to-smoke marijuana and a several laptops, cells phones and other electronic devices.”
Owners of Two Montana Raided Dispensaries Sue U.S. & Eric Holder
Associated Press: “Two medical marijuana providers have accused the U.S. government of civil rights violations in what may be the first lawsuit of its kind in response to a federal crackdown on pot operations across the nation.”