Santa Clara: Cops raid pot dispensary accused of making a profit

[Newsjock]

Source: San Jose Mercury News

In what could signal a crackdown in the South Bay, narcotics agents Friday raided a large medicinal marijuana dispensary in Santa Clara and shut it down, alleging that it was making money off what is supposed to be a nonprofit operation.

One local and influential police chief said other pot clubs in the South Bay are in danger of the same fate if authorities find they are illegally profiting from providing marijuana to sick patients.

... This is the third and perhaps most momentous enforcement action by the multiagency task force in Santa Clara County within the past two weeks. On Oct. 1, the same South Bay narcotics agents ran a sting operation dubbed Up in Smoke against advertised medical marijuana delivery services, arresting almost two dozen suspects they say were "perverting the law."

... Less than a month from a statewide vote on legalizing recreational pot use for adults, the raids have deeply rattled medicinal marijuana movement leaders here who insist they operate fully within the law. They expressed concern that the sting and the raid herald an aggressive and unfair new tactic by law enforcement, one that is scaring away legitimate patients.


Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_16351051

[boppers]

1. How would you feel about your pharmacy price-gouging you for medicine?

At first blush, this story may have a lot of possible angles... Was the $75,000 in their bank account needed for ongoing business costs, or is it a stash of profits?

[docvet]

2. ...

Big pharma already price-gouges us big time! I pay 1000 dollars for a script of add medicine per month. Aetna only covers 4500/year the rest is out of pocket!


WTF!

[boppers]

4. Yup. No disagreement there.

Like I said, a lot of angles...

Oh, and

AETNA IS SHIT, DUMP THEM IF/WHEN YOU CAN.

This message brought to you by "the free market" (because I can guess your answer already... you don't have that choice?).

[Le Taz Hot]

9. $75,000 is actually

pretty low when you're talking operating costs. Rent, utilities, employee salaries, insurance (liability, workers comp., etc.), and, let's not forget, buying the product -- all in all, $75,000 is actually pretty modest.

[WingDinger]

12. Damn commie feds. And they dont mind tax gouging the ill. Fuckum

[shanti]

3. here we go

they're gearing up for the passage of prop 19. :(

[boppers]

5. This has been ongoing, actually.

If an operation gets too big, or too powerful, they shut it down.

Imagine if we did this to *all* of our business enterprises....

[Loudmxr]

6. They should stop this. Next they will go after the CHURCHES!!

OK maybe not the Los Angeles Archdioceses because they gave away so much money to settle sex abuse cases but there is this guy named Rick Warren I've heard about.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

11. But they DO need to go after Churches

They need to go after the mega churches and the ones that get into politics.

[Turbineguy]

7. A profit?????

fucking capitalist imperialist running dogs!

[Le Taz Hot]

8. Wow! Santa Clara.

I thought you guys leaned more towards the liberal side.

In the Central Valley we have a moratorium on dispensaries in the citiy so they all moved out to the county (one more DUH moment for our illustrious City Council). Our current Sheriff now has a jihad against outdoor MM growers and the City Council just placed a moratorium on growing it outdoors. (Not sure how they're gonna pull that one off as it' probably in 1 in 5 backyards around here.)

I think they see the writing on the wall and are trying to get in their last licks before Prop. 19 passes.

On edit: Changed "cities" to "city."

[keepCAblue]

13. The citizenry of SC county DO lean liberal, but we have a DINO mayor and Mormon Police Chief...

...and the SCC Sheriff is an idiot. Law enforcement agencies, as quasi-military operations, tend to lean conservative, some bordering on fascism.

[madrchsod]

10. 100 lbs of pot , two freezers full of cookies, and 75,000 in the bank....

the state and federal tax officials take a dim view of any non profit with 75,000 cash in the bank.the club better have all their money designated to specific accounts or they are screwed. the amount of product they have in inventory is worth one hell of a lot of cash.so is it any wonder why they were raided.

i`ve been involved with non profits we had to make sure our money was accounted for and we used just enough to keep us going.

[larryo]

14. In September, 2009

The Girl's Club of San Diego was being used as an after hours nightclub. The IRS said no tax information had been filed for the Girl's Club of San Diego since 2006, and the 2006 tax returns reported more than $377,000 in revenue.

The response of the California Department of Justice was to send several letters requesting proof the Girl's Club funds have gone toward non-profit work. http://www.10news.com/news/20864745/detail.html.

Is there some articulable reason these dispensaries are being treated so much differently than other non-profits suspected of veering into profit-making other than the fact that the dispensaries provide services associated in the minds of the guardians of the status quo with the counter-culture?

[frylock]

17. excellent question

[mike_c]

15. pigs....

:grr:

[populistdriven]

16. so how many churches make a profit?

[tuckessee]

18. What jurisdiction does that "multiagency task force" have to aid for tax purposes?

Do they also raid churches & charities that make a profit?