Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
In April 2006, down the coast in little Morro Bay, a man named Charles Lynch opened a medical marijuana dispensary. A story in the New York Times set the scene, straight out of a small-town community feel-good picture: The mayor, city attorney and various members of the Morro Bay Chamber of Commerce attended the grand opening. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony. Lynch posted his business license and rules for operation (nobody under age 18 allowed, for example). And for a time, he operated without interference from police and in compliance with California's medical marijuana laws.
Then, in March 2007, the local sheriff, operating in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, raided Lynch's dispensary. It re-opened within a few weeks, but then the DEA threatened the landlord with seizure of the building under asset forfeiture laws, and the dispensary closed for good.
Lynch was eventually convicted of multiple felonies under federal law, which puts marijuana sales in the same class as heroin, with no exception for legal medical sales. He's out on bond, reportedly living in a trailer on his mother's New Mexico property as his case wends through the court system. Now it's reached the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It's there Lynch has found a pair of powerful friends.
U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, and U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, on May 6 filed an amicus brief en banc — legalese that means they've made the unusual request that all 9th Circuit judges hear an appeal as soon as possible and rule that the U.S. Department of Justice has illegally spent federal funds on the Lynch prosecution.
Farr told the story of Lynch, and set the scene on the current federal stance on medical cannabis, on May 7 to a packed room of about 150 at the Hotel Intercontinental on Cannery Row. The invite-only event was sponsored by the law firm L+G, and guests included a who's who of local business and politics: Supervisor Dave Potter; representatives of County Supervisor John Phillips and state Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville; and city officials from Hollister, Watsonville and Greenfield.
Also present: scads of businessmen — including Bob and Lonna Blodgett, who last month opened the county's first legal dispensary in Del Rey Oaks, just down the block from the Weekly's offices — trying to figure out ways to cash in on a nascent industry that may be fully legalized by voters in 2016.
In talking about the Lynch situation, Farr says the DOJ is trying to play out the clock in the hopes that the Farr-Rohrabacher Amendment to the 2015 federal appropriations bill will run out. (It's scheduled to do so Sept. 30.)
That amendment, cosponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, prevents the Justice Department from spending money interfering with states that have their own laws authorizing the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.
The amicus brief was written and filed pro bono by the law firm Reed Smith LLP. "The brief argues that justice delayed is justice denied, and that the DOJ is illegally spending money to prosecute. That money has not been appropriated," Farr said. "If the court agrees, it could be a pivotal moment for marijuana enforcement across the country."
Last December, Farr told the crowd, he, Rohrabacher and Lee "shocked the world" with the amendment on the big spending bill. "It says to the feds, 'stay away, stay out,' for those states that have adopted legalization, but we're still fighting the DEA," Farr says.
There's still fighting going on beyond the Lynch case, the kind of fighting that should make everyone's head spin. For example, Veterans Administration doctors are still not allowed to talk to patients about medical cannabis. An amendment floated to the first fiscal appropriations bill of 2016 would have allowed VA docs to talk about medical cannabis, but it failed to pass in the House by two votes.
Cannabis "is still a ground war in politics," Farr said. "But that ground war is always won when the American people engage in it, because we are elected every two years." In California, the next battle- — recreational use- — will likely be waged on the 2016 ballot. Fire it up.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Sam Farr asks court to tell DOJ to stop persecuting legal pot businesses. - Monterey County Weekly: Local Spin
Author: Mary Duan
Contact: mary@mcweekly.com
Photo Credit: The Salinas Californian
Website: Monterey County Weekly: Local ? Mobile ? Social
Then, in March 2007, the local sheriff, operating in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, raided Lynch's dispensary. It re-opened within a few weeks, but then the DEA threatened the landlord with seizure of the building under asset forfeiture laws, and the dispensary closed for good.
Lynch was eventually convicted of multiple felonies under federal law, which puts marijuana sales in the same class as heroin, with no exception for legal medical sales. He's out on bond, reportedly living in a trailer on his mother's New Mexico property as his case wends through the court system. Now it's reached the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It's there Lynch has found a pair of powerful friends.
U.S. Rep. Sam Farr, D-Carmel, and U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach, on May 6 filed an amicus brief en banc — legalese that means they've made the unusual request that all 9th Circuit judges hear an appeal as soon as possible and rule that the U.S. Department of Justice has illegally spent federal funds on the Lynch prosecution.
Farr told the story of Lynch, and set the scene on the current federal stance on medical cannabis, on May 7 to a packed room of about 150 at the Hotel Intercontinental on Cannery Row. The invite-only event was sponsored by the law firm L+G, and guests included a who's who of local business and politics: Supervisor Dave Potter; representatives of County Supervisor John Phillips and state Assemblyman Luis Alejo, D-Watsonville; and city officials from Hollister, Watsonville and Greenfield.
Also present: scads of businessmen — including Bob and Lonna Blodgett, who last month opened the county's first legal dispensary in Del Rey Oaks, just down the block from the Weekly's offices — trying to figure out ways to cash in on a nascent industry that may be fully legalized by voters in 2016.
In talking about the Lynch situation, Farr says the DOJ is trying to play out the clock in the hopes that the Farr-Rohrabacher Amendment to the 2015 federal appropriations bill will run out. (It's scheduled to do so Sept. 30.)
That amendment, cosponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, prevents the Justice Department from spending money interfering with states that have their own laws authorizing the use, distribution, possession or cultivation of medical marijuana.
The amicus brief was written and filed pro bono by the law firm Reed Smith LLP. "The brief argues that justice delayed is justice denied, and that the DOJ is illegally spending money to prosecute. That money has not been appropriated," Farr said. "If the court agrees, it could be a pivotal moment for marijuana enforcement across the country."
Last December, Farr told the crowd, he, Rohrabacher and Lee "shocked the world" with the amendment on the big spending bill. "It says to the feds, 'stay away, stay out,' for those states that have adopted legalization, but we're still fighting the DEA," Farr says.
There's still fighting going on beyond the Lynch case, the kind of fighting that should make everyone's head spin. For example, Veterans Administration doctors are still not allowed to talk to patients about medical cannabis. An amendment floated to the first fiscal appropriations bill of 2016 would have allowed VA docs to talk about medical cannabis, but it failed to pass in the House by two votes.
Cannabis "is still a ground war in politics," Farr said. "But that ground war is always won when the American people engage in it, because we are elected every two years." In California, the next battle- — recreational use- — will likely be waged on the 2016 ballot. Fire it up.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Sam Farr asks court to tell DOJ to stop persecuting legal pot businesses. - Monterey County Weekly: Local Spin
Author: Mary Duan
Contact: mary@mcweekly.com
Photo Credit: The Salinas Californian
Website: Monterey County Weekly: Local ? Mobile ? Social
