Dispensaries

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California Medical Marijuana Dispensary Taking IRS To Court

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 21, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Frankie Frost/Marin Independent Journal

Lynette Shaw of Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana dispenses medical cannabis to a patient

The U.S. Internal Revenue Service is thought to have begun audits on at least 12 medical marijuana dispensaries in California, under the decision that past business deductions are invalid because of a clause in the federal tax code prohibiting businesses that traffic in Schedule I or II drugs from making such deductions on their tax returns.

The move, which could bankrupt every dispensary it targets, is being fought by the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, the first dispensary to receive a final audit decision from the IRS, reports Kyle Daly at The American Independent. (The IRS claims MAMM owes millions of dollars in back taxes.)

Lynette Shaw, founder and owner of MAMM, hopes to strike back before the IRS can deliver more “final determinations” to other dispensaries currently being audited.

Feds Order Banks To Spy On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 21, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: DarkGovernment

Federal regulators stepped into a firestorm of controversy recently when they ordered banks in California’s North Coast area to spy on the transactions of customers who are suspected of making money in the medical marijuana business.

In a heavy-handed bid to crack down on California’s cannabis industry, federal officials have ordered the banks to look out for “suspicious activity” by dispensary owners, reports Clarence Walker at AlterNet. That is making it very difficult for medical marijuana dispensaries which are legal under state, but not federal law, to conduct business.

Coke Says It Won’t Put Machines In Dispensaries, Then Backtracks

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 19, 2011 Dispensaries, Products

Photo: Budbandit/Way Too Many

Altitude Wellness Center in Denver thought a Coke machine in the lobby would be a great idea. Give cotton-mouthed customers a chance to wet their whistles, and perhaps make a dollar or two in the process? Win-win.

But when the center asked for a machine a few days ago, the Coca-Cola Company stiffly informed them it has a corporate policy against placing Coke machines in businesses that sell marijuana.

When AWC decided to go public with the rejection, Coca-Cola backed down, with a representative pledging to apologize, reports Michael Roberts at Denver Westword.

According to Melissa, daughter of AWC owner Roger (they asked that their last names not be used), an AWC rep called the local Coca-Cola distributor shortly after opening about a year and a half ago and requested a cooler to put in the business. Every month since then, the owners have bought between $200 and $300 worth of Cokes to give customers.

Washington Medical Marijuana Dispensary Owner Convicted

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 18, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: Dan Pelle/The Spokesman-Review

Scott Shupe is shown sitting in Change, the Spokane marijuana dispensary that he co-owned, in this 2009 file photo. Shupe was convicted on March 17, 2011, on felony drug charges after a jury rejected his argument that Washington’s medical marijuana law allows dispensaries to operate.

How long now until more raids?

In a case closely watched by both the medical marijuana community and law enforcement, a Spokane, Washington jury rejected arguments Thursday that the state’s medical marijuana law should be interpreted broadly to allow for commercial dispensaries, convicting a provider of multiple drug trafficking charges.

Scott Q. Shupe, who co-owned one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries in Spokane, argued that a broad interpretation of the state’s medical marijuana law means that dispensaries can supply authorized patients, provided they serve just one patient at a time, reports Thomas Clouse at The Spokane Spokesman-Review.

Feds Threaten Marijuana Dispensaries Nationwide

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 17, 2011 Dispensaries, News

In a little-publicized memo, the U.S. federal government has indicated that the gloves are off regarding medical marijuana dispensaries, regardless of state laws.

Previous memos had indicated a loosening of federal prosecutions of medical marijuana; however the new memo states very clearly that the feds consider all dispensaries illegal under federal law and that their prosecution is a “core priority” of federal agents, according to the Cannabis Therapy Institute (CTI).

The “Haag Memo” [PDF], written on February 1, 2011 from U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag (Northern District of California) to Oakland City Attorney John A. Russo, was a response to an Oakland City Council request for guidance regarding medical marijuana and federal law. The memo was written with consultation and approval from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, according to CTI.

R.I. Selects Three Medical Marijuana Dispensaries To License

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 16, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Graphic: Potspot 411

A long-awaited decision was announced Tuesday afternoon, with the Rhode Island Department of Health selecting three applicants, the maximum allowed under state law, to operate state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries.

Applicants selected were Summit Medical Compassion Center in Warwick; The Thomas C. Slater Compassion Center in Providence; and Greenleaf Compassion Center in Portsmouth, reports W. Zachary Malinowski of The Providence Journal.

Top officials at the Department of Health determined that nine of the 18 applicants were qualified to open dispensaries in Rhode Island, but state law limited them to selecting a maximum of three centers. Health Department spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth refused to name the other six approved applicants, saying that was “protected information.”

Marijuana Dispensary Wins International Design Award

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 15, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Curbed

The clean lines inside SPARC delighted the judges of an international interior design competition.

A San Francisco medical marijuana dispensary has won a prestigious interior design award for its clean, smartly used space.

The International Interior Design Association awarded the San Francisco Patient and Resource Center (SPARC) in the 19th Annual Will Ching Design Competition, reports RJ Middleton at NBC Bay Area.

The pot shop’s retail space features minimalist oak tables and benches, showcasing “vaguely bong-shaped lights,” steel shelves holding the cannabis, and a sales counter “made of local oak, with inset glass-topped drawers exhibiting buds, salves and edibles like snickerdoodle cookies and ‘cosmic caramels,’ ” according to Sarah Firshein at Curbed.

But what may have really made SPARC a big hit is the “cascading grid of steel and glass patterned loosely on marijuana’s DNA and peppered with clear aquamarine panes.”

Washington Marijuana Dispensaries Fight For Licensing

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 15, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Hemp Beach TV

The city of Federal Way, Washington, just south of Seattle, is trying to shut down three medical marijuana dispensaries, claiming they are illegal under state law. Two of the businesses are fighting back, appealing the city’s denial of their business licenses.

Federal Way city officials claim they are trying to enforce the state’s medical marijuana law, but they may run out of time if the Legislature changes that law in the coming weeks, reports Steve Maynard at The Tacoma News Tribune.

CO: Proposed Doctor Rules Would Hurt Marijuana Patients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 15, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical

Colorado Medical Marijuana Doctors

Legislators in Colorado, worried by conservative hype that “marijuana mills” are helping patients get high rather than healthy, are trying to figure out how to reduce access to cannabis. Most of a stack of competing proposals would hurt patients by making it harder to get an authorization.

One proposed regulation would require a “bona fide” relationship between doctor and patient, whatever that’s supposed to mean.

Another would ban doctors with “conditions” on their medical licenses from authorizing medical marijuana patients, reports Neil Katz at CBS News.

As usual, the biggest casualties of the confusion are patients. About 1,300 people who applied for medical marijuana cards were rejected late last year by health officials because their recommendations came with doctors with license conditions.

DEA Raids Marijuana Dispensaries Across Montana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 14, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: KXLH

Both federal and local law enforcement took part in the raid on Montana Cannabis in Helena.

You have to wonder about the timing. On the very same morning that a Montana Senate committee failed to endorse a bill that would have repealed the state’s medical marijuana law, federal agents, with guns drawn, hit at least 10 dispensaries across the state Monday.

“The timing is impeccable,” said Chris Lindsey, a Missoula attorney who specializes in medical marijuana cases, reports Gwen Florio of The Missoulian.

“They’re seizing everything — plants, marijuana, grow equipment, files and computers,” Lindsey said. “It’s very, very broad in its scope.” The attorney said he retains a business interest in Montana Cannabis, one of the dispensaries where federal search warrants were executed.

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