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The Sacramento office of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is turning to a new strategy against medical marijuana dispensaries: warning landlords they could be imprisoned or forced to forfeit their buildings if their tenants continue to peddle medical pot.
Sacramento-based DEA agents have sent letters to dispensaries' landlords in recent weeks, viewing the mailings as a simple way to cut down on what federal officials consider illicit activity.
However, medical marijuana advocates - who saw about 200 DEA letters go out in the Los Angeles area this summer - say federal officials are being too heavy-handed against such dispensaries, which California voters approved as legal more than a decade ago.
Federal officials say U.S. law against such dispensaries pre-empts the California law, but medical marijuana advocates hope to resist the latest DEA effort.
"This is one of the most insidious tactics we've seen them use so far," said Nathan Sands, a Sacramento-based communications director for the Compassionate Coalition, a medical marijuana education nonprofit. "I think they're going to see a backlash here."
Gordon Taylor, the special agent in charge of the Sacramento division of the DEA, said the agency sent 11 letters early in November to dispensaries throughout the 34 noncoastal Northern California counties over which it has jurisdiction. Most, he said, were sent to Sacramento-area pot clubs.
A spokeswoman in the San Francisco DEA office said 80 such letters were mailed to dispensaries in the Bay Area earlier this week.
The letters explain to landlords that it is a violation of federal law to rent property that is used to distribute a controlled substance.
Violations carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail or a fine of up to $500,000, the law says. Civil penalties of up to $250,000 can be assessed.
The DEA's letter also refers to a law that says property used for the distribution of controlled substances is subject to forfeiture.
In Sacramento, the letters have "definitely caused a panic," Sands said.
One Sacramento-area medical marijuana dispensary manager, who spoke anonymously because he fears action by the DEA, said that as far as he knows his landlord got no letter.
He said he knows several dispensary managers whose landlords got the letter. All are moving or shutting down, he said. Those who haven't yet been affected are nervous, he said.
"There's definitely some apprehension," he said during an interview in the dispensary. "I mean, what can you do? There's nothing really you can do."
Sacramento DEA agent Taylor said he has gotten a favorable response so far from one landlord who said he did not know the activity was going on, and from others who said they had started the eviction process.
"This could create a situation that, if pot clubs are dismantled, we don't have to do full-bore investigation," he said.
The letter advises landlords that the DEA considers the activity on their property a crime, but does not tell them what to do about it. Taylor concedes as much, saying if he got the letter, he would consult a lawyer.
Jose Martinez, a DEA spokesman at the Los Angeles division, said his office mailed 200 similar letters to landlords starting this summer, but has not taken action against anyone.
When asked if enforcement action is imminent or just a possibility, he said it is "only possible."
"What we're trying to do now is educate all of the property owners," Martinez said.
About three dozen dispensaries in the Los Angeles area shut down after getting the letters, said Kris Hermes, spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana lobbying group.
"We are trying to encourage against a sense of alarm," Hermes said. "We believe the Department of Justice has limited resources to go after landlords in this egregious manner."
Hermes said the tactic is so extreme that it has galvanized some support for dispensaries and patients in Congress.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, released a statement against the letters Dec. 7.
In it, Conyers said the committee has questioned the DEA about its "efforts to undermine California law" and plans to continue to "sharply question" the DEA. The judiciary committee's spokeswoman did not return a call to The Bee.
Brenda Grantland, a Mill Valley attorney who specializes in forfeiture law, said the strategy is clearly legal. But she believes it is an overzealous use of the government's power.
"Whether it's fair or constitutional doesn't seem to matter," she said.
Grantland said the strategy appears to be an intense effort to destroy California's medical marijuana supply network in the last months of the Bush administration.
The strategy is one more episode in a decade-long dispute over federal vs. state power to regulate medical marijuana.
California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, giving way to the legalized use of medical marijuana. However, since then, the DEA has raided dozens of dispensaries and prosecuted their owners.
A court decision handed down this week provided a victory for federal officials.
On Thursday the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction that forced three California cannabis clubs to stop distributing medical marijuana.
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: opinion@sacbee.com
Website: Northern California local news and information from The Sacramento Bee - sacbee.com
Sacramento-based DEA agents have sent letters to dispensaries' landlords in recent weeks, viewing the mailings as a simple way to cut down on what federal officials consider illicit activity.
However, medical marijuana advocates - who saw about 200 DEA letters go out in the Los Angeles area this summer - say federal officials are being too heavy-handed against such dispensaries, which California voters approved as legal more than a decade ago.
Federal officials say U.S. law against such dispensaries pre-empts the California law, but medical marijuana advocates hope to resist the latest DEA effort.
"This is one of the most insidious tactics we've seen them use so far," said Nathan Sands, a Sacramento-based communications director for the Compassionate Coalition, a medical marijuana education nonprofit. "I think they're going to see a backlash here."
Gordon Taylor, the special agent in charge of the Sacramento division of the DEA, said the agency sent 11 letters early in November to dispensaries throughout the 34 noncoastal Northern California counties over which it has jurisdiction. Most, he said, were sent to Sacramento-area pot clubs.
A spokeswoman in the San Francisco DEA office said 80 such letters were mailed to dispensaries in the Bay Area earlier this week.
The letters explain to landlords that it is a violation of federal law to rent property that is used to distribute a controlled substance.
Violations carry penalties of up to 20 years in jail or a fine of up to $500,000, the law says. Civil penalties of up to $250,000 can be assessed.
The DEA's letter also refers to a law that says property used for the distribution of controlled substances is subject to forfeiture.
In Sacramento, the letters have "definitely caused a panic," Sands said.
One Sacramento-area medical marijuana dispensary manager, who spoke anonymously because he fears action by the DEA, said that as far as he knows his landlord got no letter.
He said he knows several dispensary managers whose landlords got the letter. All are moving or shutting down, he said. Those who haven't yet been affected are nervous, he said.
"There's definitely some apprehension," he said during an interview in the dispensary. "I mean, what can you do? There's nothing really you can do."
Sacramento DEA agent Taylor said he has gotten a favorable response so far from one landlord who said he did not know the activity was going on, and from others who said they had started the eviction process.
"This could create a situation that, if pot clubs are dismantled, we don't have to do full-bore investigation," he said.
The letter advises landlords that the DEA considers the activity on their property a crime, but does not tell them what to do about it. Taylor concedes as much, saying if he got the letter, he would consult a lawyer.
Jose Martinez, a DEA spokesman at the Los Angeles division, said his office mailed 200 similar letters to landlords starting this summer, but has not taken action against anyone.
When asked if enforcement action is imminent or just a possibility, he said it is "only possible."
"What we're trying to do now is educate all of the property owners," Martinez said.
About three dozen dispensaries in the Los Angeles area shut down after getting the letters, said Kris Hermes, spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana lobbying group.
"We are trying to encourage against a sense of alarm," Hermes said. "We believe the Department of Justice has limited resources to go after landlords in this egregious manner."
Hermes said the tactic is so extreme that it has galvanized some support for dispensaries and patients in Congress.
U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, released a statement against the letters Dec. 7.
In it, Conyers said the committee has questioned the DEA about its "efforts to undermine California law" and plans to continue to "sharply question" the DEA. The judiciary committee's spokeswoman did not return a call to The Bee.
Brenda Grantland, a Mill Valley attorney who specializes in forfeiture law, said the strategy is clearly legal. But she believes it is an overzealous use of the government's power.
"Whether it's fair or constitutional doesn't seem to matter," she said.
Grantland said the strategy appears to be an intense effort to destroy California's medical marijuana supply network in the last months of the Bush administration.
The strategy is one more episode in a decade-long dispute over federal vs. state power to regulate medical marijuana.
California voters approved Proposition 215 in 1996, giving way to the legalized use of medical marijuana. However, since then, the DEA has raided dozens of dispensaries and prosecuted their owners.
A court decision handed down this week provided a victory for federal officials.
On Thursday the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an injunction that forced three California cannabis clubs to stop distributing medical marijuana.
Source: Sacramento Bee (CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Sacramento Bee
Contact: opinion@sacbee.com
Website: Northern California local news and information from The Sacramento Bee - sacbee.com
