Jacob Bell
New Member
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA — Federal officials gathered in Sacramento on Friday morning to announce a coordinated crackdown on the state's for-profit marijuana dispensaries in response to what they said has been a dramatic increase over the past two years in problems associated with the marijuana business.
US Attorneys Melinda Haag, Benjamin B. Wagner, André Birotte Jr. and Laura E. Duffy said the statewide enforcement effort is focused on curtailing "the large, for-profit marijuana industry" that has developed in California since the passage of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.
In response to the stepped up enforcement actions announced this week, marijuana activists said the federal government's war on dispensaries could have adverse impacts on California, already suffering from budget struggles and several years of deep recession.
In particular, California NORML called the action "an example of unwarranted federal overregulation."
California NORML estimates the California's medical marijuana industry accounts for between $1.5 billion and $4.5 billion in sales, tens of thousands jobs and more than $100 million in taxes.
In Lake County, the federal actions also raise questions about recently approved ordinances to regulate dispensaries and cultivation.
In the federal Northern District, which includes Lake County, owners of marijuana stores operating near schools and other locations where children congregate reportedly have been warned by Haag that their operations are subject to enhanced penalties and that real property involved in the operations is subject to seizure and forfeiture to the United States.
"Although our initial efforts in the Northern District focus on only certain marijuana stores, we will almost certainly be taking action against others," said Haag. "None are immune from action by the federal government."
Proposition 215, according to the federal prosecutors, has given rise to drug-trafficking enterprises that operate commercial grow operations and intricate distribution systems, and hundreds of marijuana stores across the state, and they're pledging to clamp down on such organizations.
While the voter-approved Proposition 215 decriminalizes marijuana's use for medical reasons in California, federal officials say that law conflicts with the federal Controlled Substances Act, which makes the sale and distribution of marijuana illegal.
They also allege that California's marijuana industry is not about compassion for the sick, but is using Proposition 215 as a cover for profiteering and criminal activity in the No. 1 producing marijuana state in the nation.
Actions federal officials have indicated they will take in the enforcement include civil forfeiture lawsuits against properties involved in drug trafficking activity; letters of warning to the owners and lien holders of properties where illegal marijuana sales are taking place; and criminal cases targeting commercial marijuana activities, including arrests over the past two weeks in cases filed in federal courts in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and Fresno.
The US Attorneys reported that dozens of letters have been sent over the past few days to the owners and lien holders of properties where commercial marijuana stores and grows are located.
Those letters have warned that property owners risk losing their property and money derived from renting the space used for marijuana sales.
In a Friday statement, Deputy Attorney General James Cole of the US Department of Justice said the department won't focus its investigative and prosecutorial resources on individual patients with serious illnesses like cancer or their immediate caregivers, but it will prosecute "significant violations" of the Controlled Substances Act and related federal laws.
"The federal enforcement actions are aimed at commercial marijuana operations, including marijuana grows, marijuana stores and mobile delivery services — all illegal activities that generate huge profits," said Birotte, US Attorney for the Central District of California.
The action's timing and motivation is raising questions for marijuana proponents.
"In this time of economic hardship, it makes absolutely no sense to drive legal medical marijuana providers out of business, force consumers onto the criminal market, and suppress this economical alternative to more costly but less efficacious prescription medicines," California NORML Director Dale Gieringer said in a statement on the group's Web site.
Unknown local impacts
Earlier this week, the federal Second District Court of Appeal struck down portions of a Long Beach ordinance regulating dispensaries and collectives through a permitting process, saying that such a process is preempted by federal law.
County Counsel Anita Grant and her staff had begun assessing that decision and its potential ramifications by the time the US Attorneys announced their crackdown late in the week.
Grant said Friday there weren't yet enough specifics to understand the overall significance on the local level of the stepped up federal enforcement actions, and what they might mean for the county's efforts to regulate the number of dispensaries as well as cultivation.
Both the appeals court decision and criminal enforcement may make a referendum against the supervisors' Aug. 16 passage of an ordinance limiting dispensaries in county jurisdiction to five a moot point.
This week county Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said there were enough valid signatures submitted in support of the referendum to qualify it to go before the county's voters.
The referendum is due to go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Oct. 18, according to County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox.
At that time the board can choose to repeal the ordinance or put the referendum on the ballot, Cox said.
While it appears that the federal enforcement is going to focus on large-scale operations, Grant said her read of the issue so far is that any storefront commercial dispensary is considered an illicit operation by federal prosecutors — a point that was reinforced by Haag's Friday statement that "none are immune" from the crackdown.
Grant said she was not aware of federal officials contacting the county about its new marijuana enforcement campaign.
Likewise, District Attorney Don Anderson said Friday he hadn't been contacted regarding the federal actions.
Earlier this year local officials in some jurisdictions around the state had been warned by federal prosecutors that they could be criminally liable for permitting dispensary operations.
Lake County Community Development Director Rick Coel had Lake County News in previous interviews that his concerns about that potential liability had led him to try to craft local ordinances to protect the county.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: lakeconews.com
Author: Elizabeth Larson
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Lake County News
Website: New federal marijuana enforcement actions raise questions for local officials
US Attorneys Melinda Haag, Benjamin B. Wagner, André Birotte Jr. and Laura E. Duffy said the statewide enforcement effort is focused on curtailing "the large, for-profit marijuana industry" that has developed in California since the passage of Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act of 1996.
In response to the stepped up enforcement actions announced this week, marijuana activists said the federal government's war on dispensaries could have adverse impacts on California, already suffering from budget struggles and several years of deep recession.
In particular, California NORML called the action "an example of unwarranted federal overregulation."
California NORML estimates the California's medical marijuana industry accounts for between $1.5 billion and $4.5 billion in sales, tens of thousands jobs and more than $100 million in taxes.
In Lake County, the federal actions also raise questions about recently approved ordinances to regulate dispensaries and cultivation.
In the federal Northern District, which includes Lake County, owners of marijuana stores operating near schools and other locations where children congregate reportedly have been warned by Haag that their operations are subject to enhanced penalties and that real property involved in the operations is subject to seizure and forfeiture to the United States.
"Although our initial efforts in the Northern District focus on only certain marijuana stores, we will almost certainly be taking action against others," said Haag. "None are immune from action by the federal government."
Proposition 215, according to the federal prosecutors, has given rise to drug-trafficking enterprises that operate commercial grow operations and intricate distribution systems, and hundreds of marijuana stores across the state, and they're pledging to clamp down on such organizations.
While the voter-approved Proposition 215 decriminalizes marijuana's use for medical reasons in California, federal officials say that law conflicts with the federal Controlled Substances Act, which makes the sale and distribution of marijuana illegal.
They also allege that California's marijuana industry is not about compassion for the sick, but is using Proposition 215 as a cover for profiteering and criminal activity in the No. 1 producing marijuana state in the nation.
Actions federal officials have indicated they will take in the enforcement include civil forfeiture lawsuits against properties involved in drug trafficking activity; letters of warning to the owners and lien holders of properties where illegal marijuana sales are taking place; and criminal cases targeting commercial marijuana activities, including arrests over the past two weeks in cases filed in federal courts in Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and Fresno.
The US Attorneys reported that dozens of letters have been sent over the past few days to the owners and lien holders of properties where commercial marijuana stores and grows are located.
Those letters have warned that property owners risk losing their property and money derived from renting the space used for marijuana sales.
In a Friday statement, Deputy Attorney General James Cole of the US Department of Justice said the department won't focus its investigative and prosecutorial resources on individual patients with serious illnesses like cancer or their immediate caregivers, but it will prosecute "significant violations" of the Controlled Substances Act and related federal laws.
"The federal enforcement actions are aimed at commercial marijuana operations, including marijuana grows, marijuana stores and mobile delivery services — all illegal activities that generate huge profits," said Birotte, US Attorney for the Central District of California.
The action's timing and motivation is raising questions for marijuana proponents.
"In this time of economic hardship, it makes absolutely no sense to drive legal medical marijuana providers out of business, force consumers onto the criminal market, and suppress this economical alternative to more costly but less efficacious prescription medicines," California NORML Director Dale Gieringer said in a statement on the group's Web site.
Unknown local impacts
Earlier this week, the federal Second District Court of Appeal struck down portions of a Long Beach ordinance regulating dispensaries and collectives through a permitting process, saying that such a process is preempted by federal law.
County Counsel Anita Grant and her staff had begun assessing that decision and its potential ramifications by the time the US Attorneys announced their crackdown late in the week.
Grant said Friday there weren't yet enough specifics to understand the overall significance on the local level of the stepped up federal enforcement actions, and what they might mean for the county's efforts to regulate the number of dispensaries as well as cultivation.
Both the appeals court decision and criminal enforcement may make a referendum against the supervisors' Aug. 16 passage of an ordinance limiting dispensaries in county jurisdiction to five a moot point.
This week county Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley said there were enough valid signatures submitted in support of the referendum to qualify it to go before the county's voters.
The referendum is due to go before the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, Oct. 18, according to County Administrative Officer Kelly Cox.
At that time the board can choose to repeal the ordinance or put the referendum on the ballot, Cox said.
While it appears that the federal enforcement is going to focus on large-scale operations, Grant said her read of the issue so far is that any storefront commercial dispensary is considered an illicit operation by federal prosecutors — a point that was reinforced by Haag's Friday statement that "none are immune" from the crackdown.
Grant said she was not aware of federal officials contacting the county about its new marijuana enforcement campaign.
Likewise, District Attorney Don Anderson said Friday he hadn't been contacted regarding the federal actions.
Earlier this year local officials in some jurisdictions around the state had been warned by federal prosecutors that they could be criminally liable for permitting dispensary operations.
Lake County Community Development Director Rick Coel had Lake County News in previous interviews that his concerns about that potential liability had led him to try to craft local ordinances to protect the county.
News Hawk- Jacob Ebel 420 MAGAZINE
Source: lakeconews.com
Author: Elizabeth Larson
Contact: Contact Us
Copyright: Lake County News
Website: New federal marijuana enforcement actions raise questions for local officials
