Dispensaries

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Feds To Go After Newspapers, Radio For Medical Marijuana Ads

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 12, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Raising worrisome First Amendment issues, U.S. Attorneys are getting ready to go after newspapers, radio stations and other outlets which accept advertising for California’s medical marijuana dispensaries, as the Obama Administration opens up another front in its ongoing war against medicinal cannabis.

After announcing earlier this month that landlords could have their property seized if they rent to dispensaries, the Administration seems to be including media outlets in its threats, as well, reports Michael Montgomery at California Watch.

Marijuana advertising is the next area U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy is “going to be moving onto as part of the enforcement efforts in Southern California,” she said. Duffy, whose district includes San Diego and Imperial counties, said she couldn’t speak for the other three federal prosecutors in the state, but noted they have coordinated their efforts thus far.

Obama Called ‘From First To Worst’ On Medical Marijuana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 11, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

MPP

After presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged to stop interfering with state medical marijuana laws in states where the medicinal use of cannabis has been legalized, advocates were hopeful that they could at last concentrate on getting medicine safely to patients, rather than worry about federal raids.

That hope was nice while it lasted, but is quickly evaporating now that the Administration is pursuing a multi-front war on medicinal cannabis providers and, by extension, the patients who count on dispensaries for safe access.

Marijuana Policy Project Executive Director Rob Kampia in a Sunday editorial in the Huffington Post noted the turnaround, saying “over the past eight months [Obama] has become arguably the worst president in U.S. history regarding medical marijuana.”

Marijuana Crackdown By Obama: Yes, It’s Big Pharma

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 11, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, Medical

Federal prosecutors in the Obama Administration are going after medical marijuana dispensaries. How are pharmaceutical companies involved? Some leaders in this movement will actually tell you they aren’t; be very careful in whom you believe.

As pointed out on The Young Turks, this crackdown is nothing more than a process of eliminating the competition for Big Pharma. GW Pharmaceutical and other manufacturers want to take over the marijuana market with products like Sativex, a liquid extract of cannabis that contains both THC and CBD.

RAND Removes Its Own Pro-Marijuana Dispensary Study

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 11, 2011 Dispensaries, News

RAND Corporation

If your science upsets the powers that be — like, for instance, rabidly anti-marijuana Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich — then obviously there’s something wrong with science, not with the powers that be.

Report Comes Down After Heavy Pressure From L.A. City Attorney’s Office — But It’s Still Available For You To Read: See Link At End Of Article

A September report from the RAND Corporation showing that crime rates went up in neighborhoods where medical marijuana dispensaries were forced to close created lots of media interest and comment — and it apparently made someone very uncomfortable.

In a highly unusual move for RAND, as of Tuesday morning, the report is no longer available on its site.

Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich’s office was “vocal” in its criticism of last month’s RAND report showing that crime went up in neighborhoods when dispensaries were shut down — so RAND took their own report off their website.

Toke of the Town asked RAND why the report “has been withdrawn pending further review.”

“We took a fresh look at the study based in part upon questions raised by some folks following publication,” responded Warren Robak of RAND Corporation’s media relations department.

“We are continuing our review of the study and have now decided that while the review is pending, we should remove the report from circulation,” Robak wrote.

“The L.A. City Attorney’s Office has been the organization most vocal in its criticism of the study, questioning its methods and conclusions,” Robak told me after I asked who, exactly, was “raising questions.”

Why, exactly, a city attorney should have input on the results of a scientific study is a question we should all be asking at this point.

The Green Cross Responds To Marijuana Dispensary Crackdown

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 10, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Luke Thomas/Fog City Journal

Founder/president Kevin Reed of The Green Cross: “The Green Cross will act no differently today or tomorrow, than we did a month ago”

The founder and president of The Green Cross, a medical marijuana delivery service in San Francisco, responded on Monday to the recently announced federal crackdown on cannabis dispensaries, saying the collective “will act no differently today or tomorrow, than we did a month ago.”

“Following the release of the Cole Memo earlier this summer, the United States Department of Justice announced their intention to ‘crack down’ on medical cannabis dispensaries across the state of California,” Reed told members of The Green Cross collective in a Monday email. “At a press conference last Friday in Sacramento, US Attorneys reminded us that federal law prohibits the use and distribution of cannabis for any purpose regardless of state law, and, outlined heightened enforcement techniques tailored for each of California’s US Attorney districts.

Obama Breaks Promise To Respect Medical Marijuana Laws

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 7, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Zazzle

On Friday, four U.S. Attorneys in California announced a new federal policy in the state which would be counter to the Obama Administration’s long-held policy of not interfering in state medical marijuana laws.

The new policy will target collectives operating within 1,000 feet of schools or parks, despite the fact that local zoning ordinances have often allowed collectives to operate as long as they were more than 600 feet from schools. It may also be used against providers who distribute in excess of a certain amount, whether or not those providers were acting in full compliance with state and local law.

“The Obama administration has lost its way on medical marijuana and is about to seriously anger millions of Americans,” said Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association. “For some inexplicable reason, they have suddenly decided to target providers who are faithfully complying with state and local laws and pay their taxes.

Dutch Decide To Treat ‘Strong Marijuana’ As A Hard Drug

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 7, 2011 Dispensaries, Global, Legislation

Peter Lunk

If that joint Dutch blogger Peter Lunk is smoking contains more than 15 percent THC, he just became a “hard drug user” according to official Dutch policy. Insanity abounds.

About half the cannabis sold in the Netherlands just got banned — because it’s too good. According to the Dutch government, that joint of White Widow you’re smoking is just as bad as heroin or meth. And if they catch you smoking weed they think is “too good,” they can throw you into drug rehab for it.

The Dutch have been a source of both exhilaration and exasperation with their hard-to-pin-down cannabis policies for the past 40 years. Often held up as a model of tolerance by those in less-permissive countries, they actually have some serious perception problems of their own.

A couple of those have come to light recently, first with a move afoot (and gaining ground) to ban foreigners from “coffee shops” in the Netherlands, which sell marijuana and hashish to customers under an odd policy of “official tolerance” wherein cannabis is still officially illegal.

DOJ Subsidizing Cali Gangs With Dispensary Shutdown: MPP

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 7, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Prison Inmate Penpal

They’re probably celebrating the new Obama Administration policy toward medical marijuana dispensaries.

U.S. Attorneys Announce That Dispensaries In California Must Close

In a press conference Friday, all four U.S. Attorneys in California announced that the Obama Administration will no longer ignore dispensaries and will actively prosecute many commercial operations.

The attorneys said they will concentrate on criminal prosecution and asset forfeiture against the landlords of medical marijuana dispensaries or cultivation centers, and threaten action against certain commercial organizations.

Multiple businesses throughout the state have been given 45 days to close down.

Feds: California Marijuana Dispensaries Must Shut Down

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 6, 2011 Dispensaries, News

LSQ

In a major escalation of the U.S. federal government’s war on medical marijuana dispensaries, federal prosecutors have warned California collectives they have 45 days to shut down or face criminal charges and confiscation of their property — even if they are operating legally under the state’s medical marijuana law, approved by voters in 1996.

California’s four U.S. Attorneys sent letters on Wednesday and Thursday to at least 16 dispensaries or their landlords notifying them they are violating federal drug laws, reports Lisa Leff at the Associated Press. Medical marijuana is legal in California, but federal law prohibits pot for any purpose.

The U.S. Attorneys are scheduled to announce their coordinated crackdown on dispensaries at a Friday news conference. Their offices have so far refused to confirm the closure letters.

Feds Seize Bank Accounts Of Marijuana Dispensaries: $250K

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on October 3, 2011 Dispensaries, News

The Sacramento Bee

Happier times: Lito Catabran, 62, in front of One Love Wellness Center in Sacramento in August. Catabran, a former RV salesman, had hoped to retire soon.

In what appears to be an escalation of the U.S. government effort to stamp out medical marijuana, federal authorities have seized almost $250,000 from the accounts of two Sacramento area dispensaries in an investigation of alleged concealment of cannabis profits.

U.S. Magistrate Gregory G. Hollows approved two warrants on September 22 allowing authorities to seize business checking accounts from operators of the One Love Wellness Center dispensary in Sacramento and Mary Jane’s Wellness in Gold River, reports Peter Hecht at the Sacramento Bee.

The warrants were requested by a U.S. Treasury Department criminal task force. They allege that the two dispensaries may have violated U.S. financial laws through irregular banking deposits to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

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