San Diego Reader: “The District Attorney’s office has shut down yet another medical marijuana dispensary in the City of San Diego. Yesterday [October 24, 2012] agents and police officers raided the Next Generation Cannabis Club on San Ysidro Boulevard.”
mlive.com: “John Clemens Marcinkewciz II had pleaded guilty to conspiracy and manufacture of 100 or more marijuana plants. . . . U.S. District Judge Robert Holmes Bell, who denied Marcinkewciz’s request to use Michigan’s medical marijuana law as a defense, will sentence Marcinkewciz.”
USA Today: “Three states will vote Nov. 6 on whether to allow recreational use of marijuana. There’s still a federal prohibition, and approval would surely bring court challenges. Now that medical marijuana is permitted in about one-third of the nation, advocates hope to move beyond therapeutic uses with ballot questions in three states that could legalize pot for recreational use. Voters in Colorado, Washington state and Oregon face proposals to change state laws to permit possession and regulate the sale of marijuana — though the plant with psychoactive properties remains an illegal substance under federal law.
Associated Press: ” Across New Jersey, most communities approached about hosting one of the state’s first legal medical marijuana dispensaries in out-of-the-way industrial zones have just said no, after outpourings of public opposition. Montclair is a different story.”
Will Humble, Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services wrote the following on October 22, 2012, on his blog:
“There seems to be some confusion going on right now about the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act and products made with marijuana. Patients and caregivers can make edibles and things like tinctures with usable marijuana from the patient or caregiver’s allowable amount of marijuana. However, there’s really no legal way for a patient or caregiver to sell these edibles or tinctures, to anybody. A patient or caregiver may be able to purchase these products from a dispensary, once the dispensary is licensed to operate.”
The Jefferson County, Colorado, court system issued the following October 17, 2012, press release:
“(Golden, CO – October 16, 2012) The owner of a medical marijuana dispensary and two men associated with him have entered guilty pleas for their roles in the sale of almost $400,000 worth of marijuana following a drug bust by the West Metro Drug Task Force (WMDTF) in December, 2011.
Dmitriy Genzer, DOB: 12/11/80, owner of Cannabis and Company, a medical marijuana dispensary at 4379 Tejon Street, Denver, was arrested for attempting to sell 200 pounds of marijuana to someone he believed to be a bulk purchaser from Pennsylvania, but who was actually an undercover WMDTF officer.
Joseph Alejo, DOB: 1-5-83 and Aaron Garcia, DOB: 2/20/87 were also arrested as participants in the illegal drug transaction. Both men were on probation for prior marijuana distribution convictions.
Following a sting operation on December 7, 2011, Genzer, Alejo and Garcia were arrested by the WMDTF. Part of the transaction took place at a hotel at 10101 S. I-70 Frontage Road in Wheat Ridge. The three men delivered 160 lbs. as part of the transaction and officers seized another 23 lbs. at a storage facility. On November 30 the men had provided three pounds of marijuana to undercover officers as a sample. A total of 187 pounds of high grade marijuana was seized.
All three men pled guilty on October 12, 2012.
Genzer pled guilty on to Distribution of 100 lbs. or more of Marijuana (F3) and Distribution of less than 5 lbs. of Marijuana. He faces up to 15 years in prison. Alejo pled guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute 100 lbs. or more of Marijuana (F4) and Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana (F5). He faces up to 18 years in prison.
Garcia pled guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana (F5). He faces up to six years in prison.
Sentencing has been set for January 7 at 1:00 p.m.”
East Valley Tribune: “Prosecutors urged a judge Friday to declare medical marijuana dispensaries and growing facilities as preempted by federal law. Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery said there’s no question but that marijuana remains illegal under federal law. And he told Judge Michael Gordon that law classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug for which there is no legitimate medical use. 
What that means, Montgomery argued, is the state is powerless to do anything that ultimately results in the state issuing a license to someone to sell marijuana. If nothing else, he said the requirements of the 2010 voter-approved law for public officials to act put them in the position where they could be prosecuted under federal law for aiding someone else in obtaining the drug.”
See “Judge doesn’t rule following two-hour marijuana hearing” which says “Lawyers for Arizona and the state’s most populous county argued in court Friday that federal drug laws pre-empt Arizona’s voter-approved medical marijuana law.” See also “Arizona Medical-Marijuana Law Debated in Court; Judge Criticizes Wording of 2010 Law” which says the judge in the case said “‘Ultimate irony is that Arizona could have decriminalized pot and said it’s not going to be prosecuted under state law’.”
Forbes: “The medical marijuana industry is under siege. Legal in 17 States and the District of Columbia, the marijuana dispensaries are not recognized as legal operations under federal law. Aside from the constant threat of raids and civil asset forfeiture, medical marijuana dispensaries also have to contend with payment blockades and outright refusal of banking services. This state law-federal law dichotomy has led the major payment associations and large credit card processors to shun the entire merchant category. American Express and Discover announced separately that they would follow federal law on the matter. Decisions regarding VISA and Mastercard transactions are mostly in the hands of the large acquiring processors which tend to interpret the law from the federal perspective rather than the state perspective.”
Arizona Republic: “The top lawyers for the state and county, strong opponents of Arizona’s medical-marijuana laws, will argue in court today that federal drug laws pre-empt the voter-approved law. Attorneys arguing on behalf of White Mountain Health Center of Sun City, meanwhile, charge that state law does not require anyone to violate federal laws by issuing permits for medical-marijuana activities since the state has decriminalized those acts. In their lawsuit, they also allege that Maricopa County illegally rejected the center’s registration certificate, which is among the state requirements to become a medical-marijuana dispensary applicant. At stake is the future of medical marijuana in Arizona.”
Arizona Republic: “A southeast Tucson medical-marijuana dispensary is the first in Arizona to request a state inspection, the final step before it could open. The Green Halo dispensary is one of 37 in Arizona, including 11 in the Valley, that have so far been awarded dispensary registration certificates by the Arizona Department of Health Services.”
PhillyBurbs: “Ed ‘NJWeedman’ Forchion hopes the not-guilty verdict a Burlington County jury rendered in his pot distribution trial plants a seed for other medical marijuana patients and sparks a change in the law. ‘I think other patients should argue the same points. They can call it the ‘Weedman defense,’ he said after a jury of 10 women and two men returned the verdict Thursday following an hourlong deliberation that ended the three-day trial. ‘The law is wrong. My jury heard that and understood that’.”
The Daily Californian: “The city of Oakland has filed a lawsuit against U.S. authorities [U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California] Melinda Haag that claims the federal government has overstepped its jurisdiction in the attempted closure of a local medical marijuana dispensary [Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in California]. The suit, filed on Oct. 10 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, could affect all dispensaries in California — including the three medical cannabis dispensaries in Berkeley — after a federal crackdown on cannabis dispensaries began last fall. The crackdown negates a promise by the Obama administration not to raid dispensaries in compliance with state law and guidelines.”
Arizona Republic: “A woman is suing the state, claiming police violated Arizona’s medical-marijuana laws when they seized a marijuana-infused oil during a raid of her home last spring. Charise Voss Arfa, a medical-marijuana patient, claims police wrongfully considered the oil labeled ‘Soccer Moms Tincture’ a narcotic instead of marijuana.”
Seattle Weekly: “The DEA sent three more letters to medical marijuana dispensaries last week, agency spokesperson Jodie Underwood confirms. The letters “strongly advised” the dispensaries to pay “prompt attention” to the fact that they were breaking federal law and directed them to shut down within 30 days. That makes 29 dispensaries the feds have so warned, including 23 facilities that got letters in late August and three a few weeks later.”
Read ” DEA Sends Threatening Letter to 23 Area Medical Pot Dispensaries Determined to Be Too Close to Kids.”
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin: “G3 Holistic owner and Rancho Cucamonga resident Aaron Sandusky, 41, was convicted of two counts of violating federal marijuana laws Friday by a jury which could not reach a decision on four other counts. Conviction on the two counts could still net him a prison term of 10 years to life . . . . Sandusky, who ran G3 Holistic, Inc. in Upland, Colton and Moreno Valley, was found guilty of conspiracy to manufacture marijuana plants, to possess with intent to distribute marijuana plants, and to maintain a drug-involved premises; and one count of possession with intent to distribute marijuana plants, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.”
httpvh://youtu.be/sJ2YkCpb9o0
CBS Seattle: “Washington state is on the verge of becoming the first in the nation to let adults over 21 buy taxed, inspected marijuana at state-licensed shops.”
89.3 KPCC: “Long Beach police and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided seven medical marijuana dispensaries Wednesday in what officials said was the beginning of a crackdown on pot shops in the city. ‘We started with this first seven, and it is our intent to continue targeting each of these locations until we reach every single one of them,’ said police spokeswoman Nancy Pratt. . . . Police arrested 40 people in Wednesday’s raid”
Los Angeles Times: “In an unprecedented civil complaint, the city of Oakland is suing federal prosecutors to stop them from seizing property leased by the nation’s largest medical marijuana dispensary. The complaint seeks to ‘restrain and declare unlawful’ a July federal forfeiture action against Harborside Health Center’s landlords in Oakland and San Jose.”
The Daily Courier: “When officers with the multi-agency Partners Against Narcotics Trafficking (PANT) task force arrested four people in connection with selling pot-laced candy bars last month, it was the culmination of an investigation that began in April and led them to Phoenix and back to Prescott. Christopher Lee Martin, 37, and Andrea Lyn Martin, 33, both of Prescott, were arrested along with Todd James, 40, and Christopher Goodrich, 39, both of Phoenix. They face various drug-related charges”
Arizona real estate attorney William A. Kozub wrote an article called “Civil & Criminal Issues with Commercial Leases in the Medical Marijuana Industry” published on the Arizona School of Real Estate & Business website. It’s recommended reading for landlords, real estate brokers, realtors and others who are involved with or considering becoming involved with a lease of Arizona land to a medical marijuana dispensary or a medical marijuana grow facility. Here are some statements made in the article:
“all owners, agents and property managers who have sought to reap the benefits of the medical marijuana industry must also be aware of the significant civil and criminal risks inherent in this industry, risks that arise from the fact that federal law does not recognize the medical use of marijuana. . . . While a criminal prosecution of the landlord may not occur, the landlord’s building may find that it is a named defendant in a forfeiture proceeding. Federal law clearly provides for the seizure of ‘all real property, including any right, title, and interest (including any leasehold interest) in the whole of any lot or tract of land and any appurtenances or improvements, which is used, or intended to be used, in any manner or part, to commit, or to facilitate the commission of, a violation of this subchapter punishable by more than one year’s imprisonment’.”
High Desert Daily Press: “The doors to one of the last remaining medical marijuana dispensaries in Hesperia are permanently locked, after owners of the High Desert Compassionate Collective were evicted. . . . Since 2005, 20 collectives have been closed, as the city began citing property owners for allowing collectives to operate without a business permit, certificate of occupancy or other city required documents.
Tahoe Daily Tribune: “Although the former Third Street site of the City of Angels 2 medical marijuana collective sat shuttered Friday, the fight over the marijuana dispensary appears far from over. . . . the dispensary’s owner, Gino DiMatteo . . . was arrested and charged with felony counts of bribery, possession of marijuana for sale, possession of a controlled substance and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
The following is the text of a press release by Americans for Safe Access on October 5, 2012.
For the first time in nearly 20 years, a United States Court of Appeals is set to hear oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the federal government’s classification of marijuana as a dangerous drug with no medicinal value: Americans for Safe Access v. Drug Enforcement Administration. This historic case will force a federal court to finally review the scientific evidence regarding the therapeutic efficacy of marijuana.
During a press briefing Thursday, plaintiffs in the case, along with leading medical researchers and clinicians, spoke about the necessity of the federal government recognizing current scientific data supporting marijuana rescheduling. Marijuana is currently classified in the same category as heroin despite calls from scientists, medical professionals, and policy makers to reschedule marijuana for medical use.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit will hear opening arguments on the case the morning of October 16, 2012. “Medical marijuana patients are finally getting their day in court,” said Joe Elford, Chief Counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), who will be arguing the case before the D.C. Circuit. “What’s at stake in this case is nothing less than our country’s scientific integrity and the imminent needs of millions of patients.”
On the call, Dr. Donald Abrams, Director of Clinical Programs at San Francisco General Hospital, described the effectiveness of medical marijuana in the treatment regimens of cancer and HIV/AIDS patients. “In my practice every day as a cancer specialist I see patients who have loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting from their chemotherapy, pain on and off of opiates, anxiety, depression, and insomnia,” conditions which Dr. Abrams said can be alleviated by medical marijuana.
Dr. Igor Grant, Executive Vice-Chair, Department of Psychiatry, University of California-San Diego School of Medicine, and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research, stated that multiple California state-supported studies have resulted in “very good evidence” that medical marijuana “is effective in treating muscle spasticity,” which is often experienced by patients with Multiple sclerosis and other painful disorders. He added that it is critical to separate out patients’ legitimate medical needs from other issues surrounding marijuana’s distribution and usage. Dr. Grant recently published a study in Open Neurology Journal concluding that marijuana’s current classification is “untenable.”
Plaintiff Michael Krawitz, a Gulf War veteran and medical marijuana patient, conveyed his struggle in managing his combat-related pain without relinquishing federally-mandated VA benefits under marijuana’s current classification. Without access to medical marijuana, he stated he is in danger of destabilizing his overall health condition, a situation Krawitz has faced multiple times due to federal policy.
“The time has come to address medical marijuana as a public health issue and for the federal government to prioritize science over politics,” Sherer said.
Listen to the audiotape of a teleconference briefing with researchers, legal counsel and lawsuit plaintiff.
Los Angeles Times: “The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted 11-2 to repeal its recent ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, averting a March election on the explosive issue of storefront pot sales.”
Fox 12 Oregon: “Drug investigators from Washington County raided two locations in connection with an illegal medical marijuana growing operation. The dispensary, Human Collective, was the last standing dispensary in Washington County.”
Associated Press: “A jury on Thursday convicted a medical marijuana provider of drug trafficking and firearms charges, upholding the U.S. government’s raids of state-regulated pot dispensaries in its first test at trial. The provider, Chris Williams, was barred by the trial judge from making the case that he and Montana Cannabis followed the state medical marijuana law that voters approved in 2004. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen ruled state laws were irrelevant in the case involving alleged violations of the federal Controlled Substances Act. . . . Williams’ case is the only one to go to trial after the government raided 26 medical marijuana provider homes, offices and business on March 14, 2011, in a crackdown on large Montana grow operations and dispensaries.”
Note to Arizona medical marijuana dispensary owners and their lawyers: Are you paying attention to what the Department of Justice is doing in other states?
East Valley Tribune: “The American Civil Liberties Union is asking a judge to rebuff efforts by Attorney General Tom Horne to block state licensing of medical marijuana dispensaries. In legal papers filed Thursday, attorneys for the group want Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Michael Gordon to rule [in the White Mountain Health Center lawsuit] that Arizona is constitutionally entitled to determine what it does and does not want to make a crime. They acknowledged the federal Controlled Substances Act makes possession, sale and transportation of marijuana a felony. But they told Gordon that none of that criminalizes the activities of state and local employees in processing the paperwork for everything from licenses to zoning permits, the reason Horne and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery contend that part — if not all — of the state law is void.”
Daily Camera: “Veronica Carpio has heard all the rumors. . . . ‘There’s been a thought out there that I’m some big Mafioso drug boss or a ruthless drug dealer,’ Carpio said. ‘All of that, all those rumors, are completely untrue. I used to own a medical marijuana dispensary, that’s it. If you know me at all, you know all that other stuff is ludicrous’. . . . Last month, Carpio agreed to a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to felony marijuana possession”
KLAS TV Las Vegas: “Federal, state and local law enforcement around southern Nevada are cracking down on the marijuana trade in the Las Vegas valley. Two busts took place this week alone. One grow house was shut down in an upscale community, and a marijuana dispensary was shut down at a shopping center.”
Los Angeles Times: “Federal officials took their war on medical marijuana dispensaries to Los Angeles on Tuesday, raiding several shops and issuing warning letters to dozens more. Officials at the U.S. attorney’s office said it was the first large-scale federal action taken against cannabis shops in the city and said more would probably follow. . . . On Tuesday, prosecutors went to court to file civil asset forfeiture complaints against the owners of three Eagle Rock properties for allowing three commercial marijuana stores to operate: ‘Together for Change Collective,’ ‘House of Kush,’ and ‘ER Collective.’ The Drug Enforcement Administration also executed federal search warrants at three other locations in downtown, Boyle Heights and Silver Lake.”
See also “Feds Target LA in Medical Marijuana Crackdown.”
“Federal prosecutors looking to take out California’s medical marijuana shops have now set their sights on Los Angeles, where city officials have struggled to stop a blooming of dispensaries. . . . ‘As today’s operations make clear, the sale and distribution of marijuana violates federal law, and we intend to enforce the law,’ U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said.
Note to Arizona medical marijuana dispensary owners and their lawyers: Are you paying attention to what the Department of Justice is doing in other states?