Feds target 71 medical marijuana dispensaries in L.A. County

[Newsjock]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Federal authorities on Tuesday took legal action against 71 medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles County, part of an ongoing campaign to crack down on the establishments.

“Over the past several years, we have seen an explosion of commercial marijuana stores -– an explosion that is being driven by the massive profits associated with marijuana distribution,” said U.S. Atty. André Birotte Jr. in a statement. “As today’s operations make clear, the sale and distribution of marijuana violates federal law, and we intend to enforce the law. Even those stores not targeted today should understand that they cannot continue to profit in violation of the law.”

According to the U.S. attorney's office, officials sent warning letters to 68 pot dispensaries, filed forfeiture lawsuits against three properties that house such businesses and served search warrants at three additional facilities.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/09/feds-target-71-medical-marijuana-dispensaries-in-la-county.html

[villager]

1. "they cannot continue to profit in violation of big pharma's already paid-for interest

...in our laws and legal processes."

[Panasonic]

2. Once the voters decide that pot will become legal, then the Feds has a major problem

because they have to defer to the Amendment 10 issues - states' rights.

There will be increased pressure to remove marijuana from Schedule I category, forever.

There has been recent studies showing that pot is very beneficial for everyone. Including a recent one suggesting it could stop cancer from mestatsizing.

[99th_Monkey]

5. Obama's OWN damned "Commission" that HE hand-picked to study this

concluded clearly and convincingly that marijuana needs to be taken
off the schedule 1 list pronto, and move it to schedule 3, if not legalize
it altogether.

[tridim]

9. Yep. I really hope Colorado is the catalyst. It will be a great model state.

It already is, really.

[Panasonic]

12. I know.. You rarely see any feds raiding in Denver

these days...

Everyone moved, a bit inconvenient, but once it becomes legal, everyone will move back to their abandoned stores or expand to their old stores. (My dispensary was just down the hill, less than half a mile away - moved away due to a school zone, when there's a liquor store across the street) - took me two months to track them down to their newest location (the reason it was hard because they had to merge to another shop that was legally established)

[Bennyboy]

13. The FEDS will start in CO in October....

Count on it. It will be a PR move to demonize cannabis in advance of the ballot measure. Exactly as it happened in CA before Prop 215.

the Feds will come in, call the dispensary owners profiteers etc.

[Panasonic]

15. I will defend The Wellness Shop to the death.

The owners are not in it for the profits, but have a sense of place where community is encouraged.

[truedelphi]

18. Although your spirited statement that you want medical marijuana or death

Is admirable, the fact remains, we are about to have an election, in which both of the Two Major Players agree totally on this issue and also on about two hundred other issues, including endless wars, bloating up the military spending, continuous spread of Gm food in the fields and in the supermarkets, the people running the Federal Reserve and Treasury will continue to bail out their buddies on Wall Street while everyone else suffers because of those actions and on and on.

The only choice we seem to have is between intelligent and personable, and unintelligent and impersonal.

But the nation has already become a fascist state.

[Bennyboy]

20. And that will matter not one bit.

Let's not forget that in CA we had to be non profits or cooperatives whereas in CO they are for profit operations so it will be much easier to Run this PR effort from a "Greedy profiteers" standpoint. they did it in CA anyway and really demonized it in this fashion. So when tehy show the owners of the shop on TV< flash to a bunch of pot, mention some incredible made up figure, these guys, not matter how good they are, will be "Drug Kingpins" in the minds of the sheeple who don't know shit and gets their news from the front page or the TV........... (and that is like 95%)

And busting in october will take the money out of the campaign right when it is needed the most. With the for profit model of CO, the dispensary owners will be willing to support the full on legalization measure, unlike the CA (not all but a some for sure) model where they did not want to see legalization.

The FEDS busted Oaksterdam and Richard Lee (and seized all his $$$$ and accounts) days before he could dump a million dollars (as he did in 2010 for Prop 215) into a petition drive after the latest proposition stumbled in getting enough signatures to qualify.......

And that is sadly the byproduct. Voter apathy. It will be at least another five years,and probably a decade before a legitimate proposition even makes the ballot in CA.

[tridim]

21. Except now, over 50% of the PEOPLE support legalizing Cannabis.

Not just MMJ either. That number is likely much higher in Colorado. Things are changing fast and even the DEA and PTB knows it.

We can do this, but it won't work if a big chunk of the 51%+ give up before even trying. Get positive!

[99th_Monkey]

3. This is SO WRONG-HEADED, so unnecessary, so untimely & so destructive

not just destroying the lives of people directly effected by these "war on pot" busts by the Feds;

but also it's Obama destroying his own chances of winning big in Nov (which he will need to do
just to actually "win" according to "official results".

Obama is blatantly attacking his own constituency, people who were probably planning on voting
for him, driving them in droves to vote for a more green, more honest, independent candidate.

:WTF:

[WestCoastLib]

27. I think your conclusion is wrong

I don't see how this could hurt Obama in November. Do you really think anybody concerned about legalized / decriminalized / medical marijuana is going to vote for Romney?

I think you could make the argument that, with legal marijuana on the ballot in California, it makes these people more likely to show up and vote.

[99th_Monkey]

32. You misunderstood what I said.

I didn't say Lefties Obama alienates would "vote for Rmoney".... I said
they'd be more likely to vote for "a more green, more honest, independent
candidate" INDEPENDENT ... as in Rocky Anderson.

And YES, these same voters are more likely to vote in Nov. due to the
legalization measure on the ballot.

http://irregulartimes.com/rockyhemp2.html

[musiclawyer]

4. This is a big problem but I'm not worried long-term

I think at least two of the legalization measures out west will pass, and blow up the entire anti MM and M industry. The Feds will be fighting the legal states and the Feds will lose that battle based on the science alone. Within 5-6 years CA will be a legal a full weed legal state. The revolution actually will not be televised.

I do place some blame on the collectives themselves though.
Had all the collectives from the get-go grown "on-site" only and only sold what they grew on site to local people ( as the CA laws intended) these problems with the Feds would not have escalated.

POTUS's advisors somewhere along the line calculated that he could cut no slack to the MM community or risk political peril. ( BTW totally wrong and bad advice, but not surprising given he surrounded himself with DINO advisors). After one of the OR, WA, or COL measures pass, it will be up to progressives to come out full throated against POTUS and pressure for a hard reverse course.

My suspicion is that he won't fight AT ALL, and issue a stand down if one of these legalization measures pass. Why? Because marijuana is a hill he does not want to die on, and it's certsain that he4 will. There is too much scientific evidence against the staus quo.

[99th_Monkey]

7. Agreed, well mostly.

I live in Oregon and would like to think it will pass here.

As for the science, it's not even that science has found that pot is
relatively innocuous and benign, it's that science is finding that it
is actually a miracle plant, that heals numerous types of cancers,
and other ailments that are cash cows for Pig Pharma.

[Civilization2]

6. terribly stupid move from Obama,. .

Pot is not harmful and yet people go to prison for growing and selling it,. it is all about money, just money. the federal government with Obama at it's head is destroying peoples lives for money. This is pathetic and will cost the Democrats a bunch of support,. it shows people what truly maters to the powers that be,. money and not people.

[DeSwiss]

11. WTH, California's a lock, right?

Barack Obama on Marijuana Decriminalization (2004)

Barack Obama and Medical Marijuana (interview Q&A)

"The war on drugs has been an utter failure. We need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws… we need to rethink how we operate the drug wars." Barack Obama, January 21, 2004

"As for medical marijuana ... I'm not familiar with all the details of the initiative that was passed, but I think the basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that's entirely appropriate. ... I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue." ~Barack Obama, The Mail Tribune March 23, 2008

- Right......

[WeekendWarrior]

8. My only question is this:

Are these 71 dispensaries in violation of the rules set by the state? The DOJ made it clear that any dispensaries that violated state rules and regulations would be targeted and shut down.

Many dispensaries in California are in violation. Many of them are nothing more than profit-making enterprises, which is counter to state law.

I support medical pot and I support legalization, but if they aren't in compliance with the current state law, they should be shut down. When the law changes—and I believe it will—then we'll have a different story.

[tridim]

22. Every bust to date has involved dispensaries breaking state law.

It's a typical omission, and is usually followed by something like, "Obama is a poo-poo head".

[WeekendWarrior]

23. Just as I suspected. Thank you. nt

[Comrade Grumpy]

28. That is unadulterated horse shit.

You mean like the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana, the oldest dispensary in the state, operating in full compliance with state law and with the support of local officials? Run out of business by the feds through threats of asset forfeiture and prosecution.

You mean like Oaksterdam University, which wasn't even a dispensary? Again fully permitted, paying taxes to the city of Oakland and the state of California. Run out of business after raids by DEA goons.

I will grant you one thing: state law is unclear about whether sales are permitted. There are cases before the state Supreme Court that should settle it. In the meantime, some recalcitrant local sheriffs and prosecutors do argue that any sales are contrary to state law, but most don't. LA prosecutor Cooley is one of the reactionaries.

The feds have been up to the same shit in other medical marijuana states, too. The dispensaries forced to shut down in Colorado were unquestionably not violating state law. Ditto for the Montana dispensaries raided in March 2011. One of those dispensary operators, a sick 68-year-old man, Richard Flor, died in federal prison last month.

[WeekendWarrior]

31. That's two out of 71. Not exactly a representative sample.

[Comrade Grumpy]

35. And those two aren't even from the 71!

They're part of the earlier 400 or so that the feds have shut down in the past year.

I'm not going to list every dispensary that's been forced out of business by the feds. The issue in California is lack of clarity over what the state law allows, particularly sales of marijuana. It's before the state Supreme Court right now. Some prosecutors and county sheriffs insist that any sales are illegal, others, including the state attorney general, don't.

These 71 dispensaries are all in Los Angeles, where the city council tried to ban them, but had their ban blocked by a successful citizen initiative petition drive. The ban is on hold until an election can be held on it, probably in March. So now, the LA city council is enlisting the feds to the dirty work they haven't been able to do.

I find the whole thing about the feds busting dispensaries because they are violating state laws absurd. If they are violating state laws, isn't that a matter for the state of California?

[kestrel91316]

10. My solution:

https://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/

[tama]

14. Grower survey

http://www.research.net/s/MGrowerSurvey

[YOHABLO]

16. Obama's Just As Much a Flip Flopper

Marijuana is not the problem in this country. Yeah, Big Pharma probably does play a part in these closures. It makes me sick to see this happening. Close down all the liquor stores as well. There are more deaths and physical altercations caused by alcohol abuse throughout this country. But then the liquor industry is big big business in the U.S. isn't it. It's such bullshit. People should be outraged. I don't even use marijuana nor am I a Libertarian. But to deny others the right to something that has actually been shown to be medically helpful, and recently, properties that help in the cure for cancer ... how can the feds rationalize this? March on fucking Washington .. for the legalization of marijuana now.

[Vidar]

17. Taking his cue from Mitt, Obama chooses to shoot himself in the foot. Too bad

about all the innocent collateral damage.

[Le Taz Hot]

19. Well THERE'S a good idea!

Raid So. Cal. MM dispensaries right before an election. That will get him LOTS of votes!

[shanti]

29. he's not worried about california n/t

[Le Taz Hot]

33. Nor is he worried about the thousands of MM

patients who will now either not get their meds or have to go to the black market to get them.

[shanti]

36. totally agree

this is my main beef with obama, however, he still has my vote. the alternative is unthinkable. guess we'll just have to see if he comes to the light after he wins the election.

[bitchkitty]

24. Not familiar with CA laws

but if they're like Oregon, NO profit allowed. Reimbursement to a grower for expenses, yes, but they won't even let you factor in labor.

If it weren't legal for me to smoke I still would. Prohibition doesn't work. Legalize it already!

[byeya]

25. The only way a banker/fraudster can run afoul of the Feds is if he happens

to be associated with the medical MJ industry.

Disgraceful.

[Laurajr]

26. Why do they continue to waste our tax money

on something most of the population supports? Isn't there some other problem they can use their skills to solve? Someone talented here with words please create a change.org petition.

[bamacrat]

30. My #1 problem with PBO.

I do think that once one state outright legalizes it, the Feds will have to end their enforcement of pot laws. If they don't the issue of states rights will come up in the first positive way ever.

[Trillo]

34. A clearer example of the "triangulation" of local, state, and federal laws

probably can't be found.

[bemildred]

37. The US attorney needs to stop wasting the public's time and money with this folly. nt