Feds Target Pot Dispensaries

**OfficerFarva** · 10-06-2011, 06:11 PM

Excellent use of money and resources USA!

Feds Target Pot Dispensaries

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Federal prosecutors have launched a crackdown on pot dispensaries in California, warning the stores they must shut down in 45 days or face criminal charges and confiscation of their property even if they are operating legally under the state's 15-year-old medical marijuana law.

In an escalation of the ongoing conflict between the U.S. government and the nation's burgeoning medical marijuana industry, California's four U.S. attorneys sent letters Wednesday and Thursday notifying at least 16 pot shops or their landlords that they are violating federal drug laws, even though medical marijuana is legal in California. The attorneys are scheduled to announce their coordinated crackdown at a Friday news conference.

Their offices refused to confirm the closure orders. The Associated Press obtained copies of the letters that a prosecutor sent to 12 San Diego dispensaries. They state that federal law "takes precedence over state law and applies regardless of the particular uses for which a dispensary is selling and distributing marijuana."

"Under United States law, a dispensary's operations involving sales and distribution of marijuana are illegal and subject to criminal prosecution and civil enforcement actions," letters signed by U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy in San Diego read. "Real and personal property involved in such operations are subject to seizure by and forfeiture to the United States ... regardless of the purported purpose of the dispensary."

The move comes a little more than two months after the Obama administration toughened its stand on medical marijuana following a two-year period during which federal officials had indicated they would not move aggressively against dispensaries in compliance with laws in the 16 states where pot is legal for people with doctors' recommendations.

The Department of Justice issued a policy memo to federal prosecutors in late June stating that marijuana dispensaries and licensed growers in states with medical marijuana laws could face prosecution for violating federal drug and money-laundering laws. The effort to shutter California dispensaries appears to be the most far-reaching effort so far to put that guidance into action.

"This really shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. The Administration is simply making good on multiple threats issued since President Obama took office," Kevin Sabet, a former adviser to the president's drug czar who is a fellow at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Substance Abuse Solutions. "The challenge is to balance the scarcity of law enforcement resources and the sanctity of this country's medication approval process. It seems like the Administration is simply making good on multiple statements made previously to appropriately strike that balance."

Greg Anton, a lawyer who represents a Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, said the 14-year-old dispensary's landlord received an "extremely threatening" letter Wednesday invoking a federal law that imposes additional penalties for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and playgrounds.

The landlord was ordered to evict the pot club or risk imprisonment, plus forfeiture of the property and all the rent he has collected while the dispensary has been in business, Anton said.

The Marin Alliance's founder "has been paying state and federal taxes for 14 years, and they have cashed all the checks," he said. "All I hear from Obama is whining about his budget, but he has money to do this which will actually reduce revenues."

**Prince** · 10-06-2011, 06:14 PM

un-fucking-believable.

our government is sooo fucked.

**DOMS** · 10-06-2011, 06:15 PM

I'm glad they're doing it. Pot is what they should be focusing on in California. Not the budget. Not illegals. Not the environment. But pot.

Yeah, they can, and should, focus on more than one problem. However, when you're almost bankrupt, you should focus on problems that relate to that, rather than--you know--killing legitimate businesses.

**Prince** · 10-06-2011, 06:19 PM

Yes, and a business that brings the state a lot of tax revenue and it could be a lot more not only for state but federal government.

I do not understand what the fuck is going on in this country right now, but I have seen more fucked up shit happen this year then I ever remember before.

When Obama came into office he had a specific directive to leave the MJ business alone, now we're going the opposite direction?

**styles** · 10-06-2011, 06:28 PM

I love America, but damn!!! WAKE UP!!!!

**DOMS** · 10-06-2011, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by Prince

Yes, and a business that brings the state a lot of tax revenue and it could be a lot more not only for state but federal government.

I do not understand what the fuck is going on in this country right now, but I have seen more fucked up shit happen this year then I ever remember before.

Cali is an environment where MJ would grow like...wait for it...a weed. It would make Cali millions upon millions if they legalized it there. It would also save in health care cost as people switch from cigarettes to pot.

I think this sort of shit has been going on for a long time. We're just more aware of it now. Thanks largely to the Internet.

Originally Posted by Prince

When Obama came into office he had a specific directive to leave the MJ business alone, now we're going the opposite direction?

What?! He's--*GASP*--a lying sack of shit? Say it ain't so!

**Prince** · 10-06-2011, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by DOMS

What?! He's--*GASP*--a lying sack of shit? Say it ain't so!

Not necessarily, at least not on this issue, the FDA did not listen to his directive, I remember posting about this exact thing awhile back.
I think this is something coming from the conservatives, just like alcohol prohibition... most liberals don't give a shit about MJ.

**Zaphod** · 10-06-2011, 06:44 PM

But aren't conservatives the ones that say if they don't like something they just don't do it? Sort of like abortion and gay marriage? Oh, wait. They make laws against those things, too.

**DOMS** · 10-06-2011, 06:51 PM

Originally Posted by Prince

Not necessarily, at least not on this issue, the FDA did not listen to his directive, I remember posting about this exact thing awhile back.
I think this is something coming from the conservatives, just like alcohol prohibition... most liberals don't give a shit about MJ.

It has nothing to do with conservative vs. liberal. It's about special interest groups (i.e. legalized bribery) by corporations.

Do you really think that the tobacco corporations are okay with MJ being legalized? Hell no. It'll be the single biggest blow to their industry ever.

For example:

The tobacco industry provides one of the clearest cases of corporate influence drowning out the public's voice. Tobacco is a key crop in just six US states, but the tobacco industry's power is entrenched in every state as well as in Washington, DC. Until 1983, the tobacco lobby had never lost a battle in Congress. Measures that appeared to rein in the industry were actually shaped in large part by Big Tobacco to avoid more serious regulations. Of some 174 pieces of federal public health legislation introduced in the late 1980s and early 1990s, only two passed. The real successes occurred at the local level. So until the Food and Drug Administration action in mid-1996, nothing significant had been done to curb the promotion of this deadly product to children. The closer the voters are to the issue, and the more power they have over it, the less successful the tobacco lobby has been in fighting regulations. For this reason, the tobacco industry has pushed for preemptiontaking away people's power to enact local ordinances more restrictive than the state or federal standard.

Obama said that he would remove special interest groups from Washington. Not only did he fail to do that, he's the the exact opposite. Nearly every lawyer that he's hired into his administration are ex-RIAA lawyers.

Hi is, in fact, a lying sack of shit.

**LAM** · 10-06-2011, 07:31 PM

Originally Posted by Prince

un-fucking-believable.

our government is sooo fucked.

since the lobbyists got control of DC in the late 70's democracy and capitalism have been a complete joke in the US.

**ExLe** · 10-06-2011, 11:32 PM

This is all political for the 2012 election so Obama can say he is tough on drugs...

What a Charlatan...

**Dale Mabry** · 10-07-2011, 02:41 AM

Originally Posted by ExLe

This is all political for the 2012 election so Obama can say he is tough on drugs...

What a Charlatan...

I don't think it's that at all, I think it's Big Pharma/Tobacco.

**ExLe** · 10-07-2011, 03:01 AM

Originally Posted by Dale Mabry

I don't think it's that at all, I think it's Big Pharma/Tobacco.

I doubt tobacco...

People who smoke cigarettes don't stop smoking because they are smoking weed now...

Big farma I agree with and the alcohol industry...

when prop 19 was being voted on here it was the beer lobby that gave money to fight the bill...

I just find it very convenient how the Obama Admin. is suddenly doing a 180 on this as the 2012 race is approaching...

His advisors must have approached him with "Mr. President, being soft on drugs will not be good for you re-election campaign, Lets bust a few shops... That should do the trick"

"Uh OK"

**Prince** · 10-07-2011, 08:52 AM

I don't think this has anything to do with tobacco, if anything its Big Pharma, its already known that they want control of medical marijuana.

**LAM** · 10-07-2011, 09:41 AM

Originally Posted by ExLe

This is all political for the 2012 election so Obama can say he is tough on drugs...

What a Charlatan...

this happens during election cycles at the local level so there should be no surprise when it happens at the federal level.

**Zaphod** · 10-07-2011, 09:51 AM

Originally Posted by Prince

I don't think this has anything to do with tobacco, if anything its Big Pharma, its already known that they want control of medical marijuana.

They will eventually patent marijuana based on plant genetics. That's when they will start raking in the bucks and mysteriously medical marijuana will be perfectly legal at that time.

**Curt James** · 10-08-2011, 10:05 AM

**MDR** · 10-08-2011, 10:15 AM

Very lame. Feds can't do anything worthwhile or important, so they do shit like this in order to seem like they are doing something. Like pot is the problem. Why don't they get off their asses and try cracking down on meth and heroin?

**Prince** · 10-08-2011, 12:10 PM

Feds Seek to Curb Calif. Medical Marijuana Industry
By Kristina Fiore, Staff Writer, MedPage Today
Published: October 08, 2011

Federal authorities in California are cracking down on the state's medical marijuana industry, four U.S. attorneys in the state announced.

Prosecutors have stepped up campaigns to break up businesses that take shelter under a state law allowing patients to possess marijuana for medical use, sending warning letters, filing civil forfeiture lawsuits, and prosecuting criminal cases, the attorneys said.

"It's the new California gold rush," Andre Birotte Jr., the U.S. attorney for the state's central district, said during a press briefing. "There's an epidemic of these marijuana stores."

Authorities said a large for-profit marijuana industry has developed since the state passed Proposition 215 in 1996, which enabled patients with medical needs for marijuana -- dictated by illnesses such as cancer or AIDS -- to possess the drug for therapeutic relief.

They emphasized, however, that they will focus their efforts on curbing illegal activity, and patients in need of the drug will still be able to get it.

The campaign kicked off with a round of warning letters sent to property owners where marijuana is being grown or sold, giving them 45 days to halt their operations, according to reports.

Prosecutors have also seized bank accounts maintained by some of the marijuana stores, and have filed civil forfeiture complaints against properties, including two in Bakersfield and Fresno.

The Bakersfield operation, American Green Farmers Collective, allegedly turned a profit of $100,000 per month, according to Benjamin Wagner, U.S. attorney for the eastern district.

Several criminal cases have also been initiated, including one against a Los Angeles attorney who allegedly used his law office as a front to conduct a pot-selling business. Another case has been filed against a Florida man who moved to California to allegedly start a marijuana cultivation business. Finally, a case has been initiated against a father-and-son team who were alleged to have made a profit of $30,000 to $50,000 per day from marijuana sales.

Birotte said there are more than 1,000 marijuana stores in the central district of California alone.

"Large commercial operations cloak their moneymaking activities in the guise of helping sick people when in fact they are helping themselves," Wagner said. "Our interest is in enforcing federal criminal law, not prosecuting seriously sick people and those who are caring for them."

Laura Duffy, the U.S. attorney for the state's southern district, said California's marijuana industry "is not about providing medicine to the sick. It's a pervasive for-profit industry that violates federal law."

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the Internal Revenue Service also announced their support of the initiatives, with the DEA emphasizing in a statement that it has little tolerance for drug trafficking operations "that attempt to use state or local law to shield their illicit activities from federal law enforcement and prosecution."

**Prince** · 10-08-2011, 12:12 PM

Dutch coffee shops face new curbs on cannabis sale
By Greg Roumeliotis

AMSTERDAM | Sat Oct 8, 2011 8:23am EDT

(Reuters) - Coffee shops in the Netherlands were left wondering on Saturday how to comply with restrictions announced by the Dutch government on the sale of "strong" cannabis, saying enforcement would be difficult given the laws on production.

The Netherlands is famous for its liberal soft drugs policies. A Dutch citizen can grow a maximum of five cannabis plants at home for personal use but large-scale production and transport is a crime.

On Friday, the coalition government said it would seek to ban what it considered to be highly potent forms of cannabis -- known as "skunk" -- placing them in the same category as hard drugs such as heroin or cocaine.

But the industry said the guidelines were not clear enough.

"Commercial cannabis growers are already breaking the law so how can testing be legal? It's not clear what coffee shops need to do," said Maurice Veldman, a lawyer from the Dutch cannabis retailers association who represents coffee shops in court.

A pioneer of liberal drug policies, the Netherlands has backtracked on its tolerance in the last few years, announcing plans in May to ban tourists from coffee shops, which are popular attractions in cities such as Amsterdam.

The government said it would now outlaw the sale of cannabis whose concentration of THC, seen as the main psychoactive substance, exceeds 15 percent.

The average THC concentration in cannabis sold by Dutch coffee shops is between 16 and 18 percent, according to the Trimbos Institute.

"All this will do is lead to people smoking more joints and me selling more grams. But as it's used with tobacco it will damage their health more," said Marc Josemans, who owns a coffee shop in the city of Maastricht.

The Dutch government says high THC content is detrimental to mental health, particularly when used at a young age, and that it wants to send a clear signal that strong cannabis poses an unacceptable risk to users.

**LAM** · 10-08-2011, 12:17 PM

the Netherlands are one of the few country's that allow lobbying.

**Prince** · 10-08-2011, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by MDR

Very lame. Feds can't do anything worthwhile or important, so they do shit like this in order to seem like they are doing something. Like pot is the problem. Why don't they get off their asses and try cracking down on meth and heroin?

x2

**LAM** · 10-08-2011, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by MDR

Very lame. Feds can't do anything worthwhile or important, so they do shit like this in order to seem like they are doing something. Like pot is the problem. Why don't they get off their asses and try cracking down on meth and heroin?

you can't keep US for profit prisons full unless you have a decent percentage of the population in poverty and high on drugs.

**SFW** · 10-08-2011, 01:11 PM

Absurd. He's a lying negro, plain and simple. Pretty sure he promised none of this would ever happen.

Oh i get it....Pfizer or Upjohn stock must be dwindling. Cant let the world know that MJ replaces literally dozens of pharm drugs. :

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