Medical Marijuana Update

by Phillip Smith, July 25, 2012, 06:22pm




Harborside fights for its life, LA bans dispensaries, and Oregon transplant hospitals are lightening up on medical marijuana patients. Those are the big stories this week, but there's plenty more, too:




Arizona

Last Friday, Arizona public health officials refused to add several new disorders to the list of those that may be treated by medical marijuana. Patient advocates had petitioned to PTSD, anxiety, depression, and migraines to the list of approved illnesses and conditions, but state officials said there was not sufficient evidence to add them.

California

Last Tuesday, the Delmar City Council voted to put an initiative to legalize dispensaries on the November ballot. The city attorney said the initiative was so flawed it should be kept off the ballot, but the council said its hands were tied after supporters collected more than enough signatures to move it forward. The initiative is identical to proposals put forth in Solana Beach and Encinitas, along with the East San Diego County cities of Lemon Grove and La Mesa. Citizens for Patient Rights, a San Diego-based political committee working with the nonprofit Patient Care Association, collected 961 signatures in Del Mar, more than three times the 303 valid signatures that were needed to force an election. The city clerk's office said 554 signatures were deemed invalid. Under the proposal, dispensaries could not open within 600 feet of a school or playground and would have to be at least 1,000 feet from one another. Del Mar would collect a 2.5 percent tax on all marijuana sales, with the cash going into the general fund for day-to-day operations of the city. The city council action came the same day the US Attorney's Office in San Diego released a statement threatening city employees that they "are not immune from liability under the Controlled Substances Act." The feds have taken enforcement action against scores of dispensaries in San Diego and Imperial counties, and more than 200 have since closed.

Last Wednesday, Trinity County planners made their recommendations for regulating large grows in the county. Previous recommendations had relied on a permit system, but this time planners are recommending a mandatory registration scheme. Under the plan, growers who comply with 31 standards, register their operations and submit to inspection would be immune from county code enforcement actions. County planners moved away from the permit plan out of fears it could potentially place the county in conflict with federal law against controlled substances. The Planning Commission’s aggregate grow recommendations would limit collective marijuana farms to 30-acre parcels or greater with a resource or agricultural land use designation in the county’s general plan. More than 1,200 parcels of land in the county meet that criteria.Operations would also be subject to a 500-foot setback from any parcel boundary, or 500 feet from any neighboring residence if the grow is on a larger parcel. Garden size would be limited to a maximum of 99 plants in an area not to exceed 2,500 square feet whether it is indoors or outside.

Last Thursday, Harborside Health vowed to stay open and fight federal asset forfeiture claims. Harborside, the largest dispensary in the state has been hit with forfeiture claims against its building in Oakland and its location in San Jose. The federal government can seize property under current drug laws if the property is used in the distribution of a drug--in this case, federally illegal cannabis. "Harborside has nothing to hide, we have nothing to be ashamed of and we have no intention of closing our doors," said Harborside CEO Steve DeAngelo. "We shall continue to provide our patients with medicine. We will contest the [US Department of Justice] openly, in public and through all means at our disposal. We look forward to our day in court. We will never abandon our patients." State and local elected officials and US Rep. Barbara Lee (D) stood with him in support.

Also last Thursday, a Shasta County judge upheld the town of Anderson's ban on collectives and set a December trial date for the Green Heart Collective's lawsuit challenging the ban. The city has won a preliminary injunction halting sales of medical marijuana at the collective based on recent California court decisions.

Also last Thursday, Lake County authorities arrested two men for violating a disputed 10-day old emergency ordinance aimed at restricting medical marijuana grows. The two men were growing on unoccupied land, but the regulations adopted by the county prohibit grows on properties without residential structures. Three other growers at different sites who were also out of compliance with the new rules were given warnings. Those three growers each had in excess of 80 plants, while county rules stipulate a maximum of 48.

Also last Thursday, the Dunsmuir City Council approved an initiative for the November ballot that would loosen the city's growing rules. Petitions were circulated by Leslie Wilde, owner of Dunsmuir's sole dispensary, who started work on the initiative after the council passed a strict growing ordinance in August. The measure would remove canopy area limits for qualified patients, remove limits on qualified patients growing on any parcel, allow growers to cultivate on property other than where their homes area, and allow publicly-visible grows, grows in garages, grows in the city's historic district, and grows near youth-oriented activities. The current rules restrict or prohibit those activities.

On Monday, hundreds of protestors gathered in Oakland to greet President Obama and demand he rein in the federal crackdown on medical marijuana providers and the patients they serve. The march was preceded by a press conference featuring patients, Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee and his successor Dale Sky Jones, Harborside CEO Steve De Angelo, and Libertarian Party vice-presidential candidate Judge Jim Gray, among others.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles City Council voted to ban all dispensaries. Under the ban, all of the 762 dispensaries registered in the city will be sent letters ordering them to shut down immediately. Those that don't comply may face legal action from the city. Medical marijuana activists erupted in jeers after the decision, and police officers were called into the council chambers to quell them. Some activists threatened to sue. Others vowed to draft a ballot initiative to overturn the ban. The new ordinance will allow patients and their caregivers to grow and share marijuana in groups of three people or fewer. But activists complain that few patients have the time or skills for that, with one dispensary owner saying it costs at least $5,000 to grow the plant at home. But the council also voted to instruct city staff to draw up a separate ordinance that would allow dozens of dispensaries to remain open. Officials said that proposal, which would grant immunity to shops that existed before a 2007 moratorium on new dispensaries, could be back to the council for consideration in three months.

Also on Tuesday, Rep. Tom Ammiano vowed to push ahead with his bill establish statewide regulations on growing, transporting and selling medical pot. The San Francisco Democrat said he was refining Assembly Bill 2312 and would reintroduce it next year. The bill would create a state board to enact and enforce statewide regulations on medical marijuana, require all dispensaries to register with the state and allow cities and counties to tax sales. Medical marijuana advocates have called on the state to clarify the gray legal areas that continue to plague the state's voter-approved program.

Also on Tuesday, federal medical marijuana prisoner Bryan Epis got his sentence reduced. US District Court Judge Garland Burrell reduced his sentence from 120 months to 90 months, meaning Epis, who is currently serving his sentence at the Terminal Island federal penitientiary, will get out next year instead of 2013. Epis has been serving a 10-year mandatory minimum for allegedly conspiring to grow over 1,000 plants for a medical cannabis collective, though in fact he never grew 1,000 plants and was convicted on evidence misrepresented by the US attorney. The court ignored defense claims of prosecutorial misconduct by US Attorney Samuel Wong, but ruled that he had received inadequate defense counsel instead.

On Wednesday, San Diego-area activists vowed to challenge the federal asset forfeiture threat against the Mother Earth Collective in El Cajon. Dispensary owners, patients, and advocates gathered at the federal courthouse in San Diego and vowed to "go to the Supreme Court" if necessary. But they needed a temporary restraining order by this week to avoid Mother Earth having to close its doors, leaving 13 employees out of a job and 2,300 patients without a provider.

Oregon

Last week, the two hospitals that do organ transplants in the state eased restrictions on medical marijuana use among patients seeking organs. OHSU Hospital and the Portland VA Medical Center have revisited longstanding policy that required six months of negative drug screens and even the possibility of drug rehabilitation for marijuana users before patients could be wait-listed for a liver transplant. The revised policy allows marijuana users who meet all other criteria to be wait-listed for liver transplants if a single screen turns up negative. It's a step in the right direction.

On Tuesday, demonstrators gathered in Portland to protest the federal crackdown as President Obama came to town on a fundraising trip. He was hit by similar protests in Oakland a day earlier.


stopthedrugwar

Thanks Eddie I bet Obama didn't notice or care about the protester as he's focoused on those who give him money.

Medical Marijuana Update

by Phillip Smith,
August 01, 2012,



What!? No DEA raids? Not this week, but the federal crackdown on dispensaries continues, and cities and localities in medical marijuana states continue to grapple with the issues around it. Let's get to it:




Arizona

Last Tuesday, 13 county attorneys urged Gov. Jan Brewer (R) to halt the state's medical marijuana program, citing fears that state employees could be charged with facilitating federal crimes when they issue licenses to dispensaries. They signed onto a letter authored by Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk, who requests that the governor prevent the state's issuance of licenses for medical-marijuana dispensaries because the state program is preempted by the federal Controlled Substances Act. Brewer responded two days later, saying she understands and shares the concerns of the prosecutors, but that she is bound to implement the law because voters approved it.


California

Last Tuesday, Sutter County supervisors rejected a proposed cultivation ordinance on a 3-2 vote. Supervisors said they had too many concerns about unintended consequences, including how it could be seen as the county giving tacit approval to marijuana growing. The ordinance would have limited outdoor grows to parcels at least 20 acres in size, with only 12 mature plants. Grows on fewer than 20 acres would have had to have been done indoors or in greenhouses.

Last Wednesday, the Solana Beach City Council voted to put a dispensary initiative on the November ballot. The initiative is similar to ones submitted by proponents in four other San Diego County cities -- Del Mar, Encinitas, Lemon Grove and La Mesa. Last week, Del Mar's council became the first of the four to agree to put the measure on the November ballot. It would create a set of regulations for medical marijuana dispensaries, including where they could locate and when they could be open. The operating hours would be limited to 8:00am to 10:00pm, and dispensaries couldn't locate within 600 feet of a school or a playground. If a prospective dispensary meets these restrictions, it could qualify for a city permit allowing it to open.

Last Thursday, a patient cooperative sued the city of Ventura after it was denied a business license to open a dispensary there. The Shangri La Care Cooperative filed a complaint in county superior court claiming the city has an "unwritten de facto ban on medical marijuana dispensaries" after the city denied its business license application last August, claiming "the request to open a medical marijuana dispensary does not appear to fall within any of the existing use types classified by the city’s zoning ordinance." But the location where Shangri La wants to open is zoned for medical and retail services. While the city says there is an administrative remedy -- applying for a conditional use permit -- Shangri La argues that it doesn't need a conditional use permit and that it doesn’t believe the city will grant one.

Last Friday, a Lake County judge indicated he would grant a temporary restraining order in a lawsuit challenging the county's marijuana cultivation urgency ordinance. Lake County Superior Court Judge David Herrick said the order would apply only to the plaintiffs in the case, which include Don Merrill and several other medical marijuana users identified as "Doe." Herrick will make a final determination on the order on August 15 after hearing additional arguments. The order would block the county from enforcing a 45-day urgency ordinance establishing regulations for marijuana growth, including where cultivation could occur and the number of plants allowed. That ordinance was passed July 9.

On Tuesday, San Diego activists hoaxed US Attorney Laura Duffy by issuing a statement purporting to be from her office in which she vowed to take her offensive against dispensaries to the next level by going after pharmacies. The fake news release used language similar to that used by Duffy in her campaign against dispensaries and fooled at least some local media outlets before the San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe Access revealed themselves as the authors of the prank. Duffy was not amused and is looking to see if any federal laws were violated.

Also on Tuesday, Butte County supervisors moved closer to an outdoor growing ban. The supes voted 3-2 to direct county staff to draft an ordinance similar to one in Kings County, which bans all outdoor cultivation of medical marijuana. The only medical marijuana growth allowed under the Kings County ordinance is for personal use by qualified patients within a locked and fully enclosed structure. County staff is expected to deliver the ordinance to the Board of Supervisors by the end of the month. The supervisors rejected an ordinance that would have allowed growers to cultivate between six and 99 mature marijuana plants based on the size of their plots.

Also on Tuesday, two San Francisco dispensaries closed their doors after threats from the feds. The Vapor Room and HopeNet both announced they would cease operations in response to threatening letters sent to the business' landlords by the federal government. Since November, the Justice Department has sent out 600 letters across California threatening landlords who rent space to medical marijuana operations. During that period, nine San Francisco dispensaries clubs have shut their doors, leaving the city with the lowest number of dispensaries in years.

On Wednesday, activists held a funeral march for the Vapor Room and Hope Net.


Colorado

Last Thursday, state officials released the most recent medical marijuana registry statistics. As of the end of May, there were nearly 99,000 registered patients in the state. The number peaked in July 2011 at nearly 129,000, but then dropped to under 81,000 by November as the feds turned up the heat on dispensaries in the state. The number has been slowing climbing again since then.


Maine

Last Thursday, health officials proposed new rules for the state's medical marijuana program. One key change would make optional a state identification system designed to keep track of patients who are enrolled in the program. The proposed new guidelines would also prevent police from seizing marijuana belonging to a patient, caregiver or dispensary unless the amount of the drug is over the legal limit for those groups or the seizure is linked to an ongoing criminal investigation.


Michigan

On Tuesday, the state Court of Appeals ruled that no Michigan municipality can use the federal Controlled Substances Act as an excuse to enact local ordinances that outlaw medical marijuana cannabis patients and caregivers from exercising their rights which currently exist under the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. After the law was passed, several Detroit suburbs, including Livonia, Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Wyoming passed local ordinances barring patients from using medical marijuana in their communities and outlawing caregivers from operating within city boundaries. Now they've been told they can't do that. It's not clear whether they will appeal to the state Supreme Court.


Washington

On Monday, three Wenatchee-area dispensaries announced they had shut their doors after federal prosecutors sent threat letters to their landlords. The letter sent by Eastern Washington US Attorney Michael Ormsby threatened to seize the properties and threatened to fine or imprison the landlords if they did not close the shops within a few weeks. Three dispensaries closed immediately; a fourth is expected to close shortly.

Also on Monday, four collective employees were allowed to go into diversion programs after they were charged with marijuana possession and delivery for selling to patients at the Cannabis Outreach Service in Lacey and The Healing Center in Olympia. All four stipulated to selling marijuana, but if they complete the one-year program and avoid any subsequent criminal law violations, all felony charges against them will be dropped. All were initially charged with more than 20 felonies related to the possession, manufacture and distribution of marijuana. The charges came after the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force raided five medical marijuana collectives in Olympia on Nov. 15, including Cannabis Outreach Services and The Healing Center, and made 17 arrests. According to court papers, narcotics detectives obtained medical marijuana authorizations in their undercover names and purchased marijuana from all five of the medical marijuana collectives. Defendants from the three other Thurston County medical marijuana collectives still face pending criminal charges.

On Tuesday, the Tacoma City Council approved a collective cultivation ordinance that allows collective grows with some restrictions. It sets up a framework to abate, fine or otherwise crack down on those gardens that draw complaints or noticeably run afoul of a list of new restrictions. Among the new rules, the gardens can't operate within 600 feet -- about one city block -- of a school, daycare, drug rehabilitation center, park, library, or youth center. They also can't use signs to advertise the sale of cannabis; can't operate in the open; and can't permit entry to anyone under 18. Gardens that emanate noticeable odors into a public place or that have patients smoking marijuana in public also would be subject to city enforcement. The ordinance is harder on dispensaries; it defines them as public nuisances.


stopthedrugwar

Medical Marijuana Update

by Phillip Smith,
August 08, 2012



The end of dispensaries in LA looms, more federal threat letters in Colorado, and a medical marijuana initiative in North Dakota!? That's just some of the news. Let's get to it:


National

Last Thursday, Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and eight initial cosponsors introduced HR 6335, the States' Medical Marijuana Property Rights Protection Act, in an attempt to stop the seizure of property from landlords of state law-compliant medical marijuana businesses. The bill would prohibit the federal government from using the civil asset forfeiture statue to go after real property owners if their tenants are in compliance with state medical marijuana law. The bill is a response to the use of threat of asset forfeiture by US Attorneys in California in their campaign to shut down dispensaries, including the state's largest dispensary, Harborside, last month.


Arizona

On Monday, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said the state should not authorize dispensaries because they could violate federal law. His advice came in the form of an official opinion crafted by lawyers in Horne's office, following requests for the opinion by law enforcement officials. He also wrote that he expected the courts to settle the matter and that he would not seek to block Tuesday's lottery for dispensary applicants.

On Tuesday, state officials conducted the lottery, awarding applicants in 68 dispensary districts preliminary approval to move forward with the permitting process. More than 400 applications had come in for those districts. In another 29 districts, there was only one applicant. State officials say some dispensaries could open within weeks if they are already well along in their planning processes.


California

Last Wednesday, LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed the ordinance banning dispensaries. The measure, approved by the City Council a week earlier on a 14-0 vote, will take effect within 30 days. The so-called "gentle ban" will still allow patients and caregivers to grow their own, but is designed to eliminate the estimated 500 dispensaries in the city. Organizers from the UFCW Local 77 were already discussing plans for a referendum asking voters to allow some dispensaries.

Also last Wednesday, LAPD raided a Woodland Hills dispensary and an associated private residence, seizing 50 pounds of marijuana and arresting one person. The dispensary was West Valley Caregivers on Ventura Boulevard. Police said to report that they were working their way east on Ventura "so hopefully some of these will shut down without us having to do all this work."

Last Thursday, Lake County officials are using nuisance abatement procedures adopted a month ago under an interim urgency ordinance to shut down large grows in the county. As of last Thursday, 19 grows had been shut down, 2,000 plants removed, and seven people arrested. The enforcement actions come as a local judge issued a temporary restraining order stopping them from being inflicted on the four plaintiffs in the case, but only them.

Last Friday, a Riverside County judge ruled that the county cannot ban dispensaries in unincorporated areas. Judge Ronald L. Taylor said the county's outright ban on dispensaries leaves no room for dispensaries to operate legally under state law. A county attorney vowed to appeal.

Also last Friday, the Tax Court ruled a dispensary operator could not deduct business expenses. The ruling came after the IRS went after Martin Olive, owner of the Vapor Room Herbal Center in San Francisco, which was forced out of business at the end of July after its landlord received letters threatening asset forfeiture from US Attorney Melinda Haag. The federal tax code precludes a deduction of any amount for a trade or business where the "trade or business (or the activities which comprise such trade or business) consists of trafficking in controlled substances… which is prohibited by federal law." Olive argued unsuccessfully that the provision did not apply because his business was not the illegal trafficking of a controlled substance, but was operating legally under state law.


Colorado

Last Friday, US Attorney John Walsh sent threat letters to 10 more dispensaries. This is the third batch of letters containing threats of prosecution or asset forfeiture directed at dispensaries. The first two rounds led to the closing of 47 of them. The letter said all of the targeted dispensaries were within 1,000 feet of schools. They have 45 days to shut down or face asset forfeiture actions.

Also last Friday, the DEA claimed medical marijuana is being diverted into illegal trafficking. It cited some 70 cases of Colorado medical marijuana ending up in 23 different states. Medical marijuana defenders responded that 70 cases wasn't that many, that the state's industry is tightly-regulated, and that there was marijuana in those states before Colorado had a medical marijuana program.


New Jersey

Patients in the Garden State will be able to register for medical marijuana cards beginning Thursday of this week, according to NBC New York. "It's the first time the department will be interacting directly with potential patients and their caregivers," state Health Commissioner Mary O'Dowd told the Associated Press. Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair has begun to grow marijuana and will open its doors to patients in the fall.


North Dakota

On Monday, proponents of a statewide medical marijuana initiative handed in signatures. They need 13,500 valid signatures to make the November ballot. They handed in 20,000. State officials have about a month to validate signatures and see if the initiative made it.


Washington

On Tuesday, the state Health Department charged two naturopaths with unprofessional conduct for running "an assembly line" for medical marijuana approvals at last year's Hempfest. The pair, who were featured in a Seattle Times story last August, saw 216 potential patients and approved 214 of them after cursory exams. The charges are believed to be the first against any medical professional in the state over medical marijuana recommendations.


stopthedrugwar

Medical Marijuana Update

by Phillip Smith,
August 22, 2012




The feds strike again in California, this time in Orange County, and meanwhile, the battle over the LA dispensary ban heats up. There's plenty more news, too. Let's get to it:


California

Since mid-August, signature gatherers have been hitting the streets in Los Angeles in an effort to collect 27,400 voter signatures to put on the ballot a referendum to repeal the recent ban on dispensaries. They have about 10 more days to go, and if they succeed, the referendum would go before voters in March. The more immediate effect would be a temporary suspension of the ordinance. Dispensaries in the city have until September 6 until they are supposed to shut down.

Last Wednesday, San Francisco Mission District property owners asked the feds to shut down a dispensary that hasn't even opened yet. Those owners of "white linen" restaurants and family-oriented businesses have asked the Justice Department to close down the Morado Collective, even though the Planning Commission approved the dispensary's permit at a hearing the same day. The Mission Miracle Mile Business Improvement District had its president, local realtor James Nunemacher, write a letter to US Attorney Melinda Haag urging her to shut it down because it "is incompatible with the family shopping that predominates the immediate area in the daytime and the dining/entertainment venues that are active in the evening." The gentrifiers have spoken.

Last Thursday, patients and supporters filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the LA ban. The Patient Care Association and 11 individual patients are seeking an injunction to block the city from implementing the ban. They argue that California law preempts the city's ban, that it violates dispensary owners' rights to due process, and that it violates their right to freely assemble and associate to cultivate medical marijuana.

Also last Thursday, Butte County staff released a draft of the proposed new medical marijuana cultivation ordinance. It would ban outdoor cultivation and set limits on the amounts that could be grown indoors based on the size of the parcel. On lots of an acre or less, the grow area could not exceed 50 square-feet. On lots one to five acres, the allowable grow area is 150 square-feet. There is no size limit on lots five acres or larger, but a maximum of 99 plants could be grown. The ordinance includes limits on how powerful indoor grow lights can be and requires a ventilation and filtering system that doesn't allow the smell of the pot outside the building. It also bans growing within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, parks, child care centers, and other youth-oriented facilities.

Last Friday, a Lake County judge granted a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the county's recently adopted interim cultivation ordinance. The injunction is good until January 1. It allows all qualified people and collectives growing marijuana in conformity with state law at the time the county adopted its interim medical marijuana cultivation ordinance. Four people sued the county after the Board of Supervisors adopted the ordinance on July 9. It limited the number of marijuana plants allowed for outdoor cultivation and banned commercial growing as well as growing on vacant lands. On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted to extend the interim ordinance for another 45 days anyway.

On Tuesday, federal prosecutors targeted more than 60 dispensaries in Orange County for closure by filing three asset forfeiture lawsuits and sending threat letters to the dispensaries. That brings the number of dispensaries targeted for closure in the Central District of California to more than 300. In all, 66 warning letters were sent to marijuana dispensaries in Anaheim and La Habra. Some have closed recently, but federal authorities said 38 remain open. As part of the offensive, DEA agents raided two Anaheim dispensaries.


Colorado

Last Friday, a state court held that federal law trumps the state's medical marijuana law. The ruling came in a case pitting a grower against a dispensary. The grower sought payment for marijuana that had already been delivered, but Arapahoe County District Judge Charles Pratt ruled for the dispensary. In his opinion, he held that since all marijuana sales are illegal under federal law, the contract between the grower and the dispensary was null and void. Later in the same ruling, Pratt wrote that "any state authorization to engage in the manufacture, distribution or possession of marijuana creates an obstacle to full execution of federal law. Therefore, Colorado's marijuana laws are preempted by federal marijuana law." Because the ruling is by a district court judge, it is not binding, but it has the medical marijuana community concerned.

On Monday, the Denver City Council approved a ban on all outdoor advertising for dispensaries. The vote came after a public hearing last week where medical marijuana advocates were split over the issue and council members voiced strong support for it. The council killed an alternate, more limited plan that would have blocked outdoor ads within 1,000 feet of schools, day care facilities, and parks. Dispensaries can still advertise on their buildings and can still place ads in newspapers, magazines, or online, and they can display their logos at charity events they sponsor. The city had been inundated with dispensary flyers and young men twirling large cardboard arrows advertising "Eighths for $25" and the like.


Maine

Last Monday, state officials held a public hearing on proposed new cultivation rules. The rules will impose restrictions on where and under what conditions patients or caregivers can grow their own medicine. Patients, dispensary operators, growers, and advocates objected to various portions of the proposed rules. The last day for public comment was Wednesday.


Michigan

Last Thursday, the agency overseeing the state's medical marijuana program said it could be up and running by this fall. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs said its review panel for adding new qualifying medical conditions is just about set, but patient advocates are skeptical, saying the agency is at least two years behind on making recommendations on requests to add new conditions.


Washington

Last Friday, the state Department of Revenue began doing audits of dispensaries, escalating a battle over whether they should be collecting tax revenues for the state. The department has told dispensaries since 2010 that they must remit sale taxes on their transactions, and 50 dispensaries have registered with the department to do so. But the department believes there are other dispensaries out there that haven't registered, and now it's going after them. Some dispensary operators and defense attorneys argue that by paying state taxes, dispensaries are incriminating themselves in the federal crime of marijuana sales.

Over the weekend, medical marijuana advocates may have skirted state election laws at Hempfest by handing out fliers against the I-502 legalization initiative. Dozens of medical marijuana businesses used Hempfest to lobby against I-502, but one of them may have violated election laws by handing out anti-I-502 posters that failed to say who had paid for them.

On Tuesday, the owners of two dispensaries pleaded guilty to federal marijuana trafficking charges. Brionne Keith Corbray, owner and operator of three GAME Collectives in White Center, Northeast Seattle, and West Seattle, copped to conspiracy to distribute marijuana. Craig Dieffenbach and Jing Jing Mu, owners of the Seattle Cannabis Cooperative, copped to conspiracy to distribute and money-laundering charges. All admitted in their plea agreements to selling marijuana to people who were not patients. Conspiracy to distribute marijuana is punishable by up to 40 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Conspiracy to launder money is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

stopthedrugwar

Medical Marijuana Update

by Phillip Smith,
August 29, 2012




The battle of Los Angeles continues, Arizona prosecutors don't like their medical marijuana law, and a bill is pre-filed in Kentucky. There's also lots more going on. Let's get to it:




Arizona

Last Thursday, state and county prosecutors challenged the medical marijuana program in court. Attorney General Tom Horne and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery asked a court hearing a dispensary application case to rule that the voter-approved law is illegal because it conflicts with federal drug laws. The Republican prosecutors are specifically targeting the dispensary provisions of the law, but argued in court that all aspects of the state law violate federal drug laws. In the case at hand, a would-be Maricopa County dispensary is suing the county because officials wouldn't provide zoning clearances required under the law. The officials had been advised by Montgomery that county employees could face prosecution for aiding and abetting drug crimes.


Arkansas

As predicted last week, Arkansas state officials announced that a medical marijuana initiative has qualified for the ballot. The Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act would allow patients suffering from specified diseases or medical conditions to use marijuana with a doctor's recommendation. It envisions a system of state-licensed nonprofit dispensaries, and would allow patients or their caregivers to grow their own only if they are not within five miles of a dispensary. In that case, patients could grow up to six flowering plants. Patients could possess up to 2 ½ ounces of marijuana.


California

Last Wednesday, Los Angeles asked the DEA to help it shut down dispensaries. The request came from Councilman Bernard Parks, who filed a successfully motion with the council. Parks is a former LA police chief. The council recently voted to close down all dispensaries in the city, although that is likely not the end of the affair (see below).

Also last Wednesday, a judge in Riverside ruled that the city can't ban a dispensary. Riverside County Superior Court Judge John Vineyard dissolved an injunction to shut down a dispensary in the city, agreeing that current law makes local government closures of the clinics unconstitutional. The decision affects The Closet Patient Care dispensary on Elizabeth Street in Riverside, but could be a precedent for other cases in the city. The city immediately said it would appeal the ruling.

Also last Wednesday, a Costa Mesa collective filed suit against the city over its ban on dispensaries. The Green Health Association argues that the city cannot legally ban nonprofit collectives and says it is operating with the state attorney general's guidelines.

Also last Wednesday, the city of Chowchilla banned public medical marijuana use. It passed an ordinance limiting smoking or any other type of medical marijuana consumption to inside a private residence and requiring all cultivation to take place in an enclosed, locked area.

Also last Wednesday, the California Supreme Court dismissed Pack vs. Long Beach, a case that could have decided whether cities can lawfully regulate medical marijuana. The court held the case was moot after the attorney for the petitioners abandoned his original argument that Long Beach's short-lived rules to allow and regulate medical marijuana violates federal law. The state Supreme Court is still considering several other cases that will determine the power of cities to ban collectives.

On Tuesday, word spread that the Berkeley Patients Group would reopen in a new location. The iconic dispensary had been forced to close in May after federal prosecutors threatened its landlord with seizure of his property. The new location is just four blocks from its original location on San Pablo Avenue. No opening date has been set at the new site and officials from Berkeley Patients Group refused to go on record about their plans.

Also on Tuesday, Butte County's effort to ban outdoor grows hit a bump in the road. Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey surprised supervisors by announcing the ordinance was unconstitutional as written. The ordinance envisioned charging violators with a misdemeanor, but the prosecutor said that was the domain of state law, not county ordinances. Now, it's back to the drawing board for the supervisors.

Also on Tuesday, the Wheatland city council banned dispensaries within the city limits. It passed two ordinances, one banning dispensaries and the other barring outdoor grows within the city limits and setting conditions on indoor ones.

On Wednesday, activists in Los Angeles turned in more than 50,000 signatures on petitions seeking a referendum to overturn the city council's recently-passed ban on dispensaries. The city now has 30 days to either rescind the ban or to call a special election to let the voters decide. That could come in March or May.


Kentucky

On Monday, state Sen. Perry Clark (D-Louisville) pre-filed a medical marijuana bill for the 2013 session. He said he wanted to get a head start on building support in the legislature.


Montana

On Tuesday, the cofounder of Montana Cannabis agreed to plead guilty to a federal drug charge related to 2011 raids on dispensaries across the state. Chris Lindsay faces up to 20 years in federal prison for conspiracy to operate a drug-involved premises. Lindsay said he copped to the plea agreement to avoid other pending charges and because earlier court rulings made it clear he would not be able to testify about his belief that Montana Cannabis was in compliance with the state’s law. Lindsay is also the public face of the Montana Cannabis Industry Association, which has filed a lawsuit to block portions of the law rewritten by the Republican legislature and which is backing a referendum asking voters to repeal the law. That referendum will be on the November ballot.


Oregon

On Sunday, activists said they would try to get PTSD added to the medical marijuana list of qualifying conditions. Two previous efforts have failed. This time, the push is being led by veteran's groups. Oregon is home to some 300,000 veterans.


Washington

Last Thursday, the DEA sent threat letters to 23 dispensaries operating near schools. In the letters to the dispensaries, DEA Special Agent-In-Charge Matthew Barnes contended the dispensaries could face the seizure and forfeiture of assets, as well as criminal prosecution. The letter informs dispensary operators and property owners to cease the sale and distribution of marijuana within 30 days.


stopthedrugwar

Isn't strange that the people in AZ that had no problem with a law that over-rides Fed law on the Mex. problem but go crazy over one that does it for weed.

Medical Marijuana Update

by Phillip Smith,
September 05, 2012




Los Angeles dispensaries got a reprieve last week--or did they? The busts there continue, despite the ban on the ban. And there's more news from around the state and the country as well. Let's get to it:


National

Americans for Safe Access is calling for demonstrations in support of medical marijuana access in front of local Obama campaign headquarters across the country on September 20. The move comes in the face of federal crackdowns and seeks to remind President Obama of the campaign promises he made to the community in 2008.


Arkansas

Last Friday, opponents of the medical marijuana initiative filed suit to block it. The conservative Coalition to Preserve Arkansas Values filed the lawsuit in the state Supreme Court. The suit argues that the measure's ballot title, the Arkansas Medical Marijuana Act, is misleading and that the act itself is hard to understand. Arkansas initiative experts said the lawsuit didn't have much chance of succeeding.


California

Last Wednesday, Harborside's San Jose landlord sought a court order to shut it down. Concourse Business Center asked a district court to order the state's largest dispensary to quit growing, possessing, and selling marijuana on its property. The move comes after federal prosecutors sent a threat letter to Concourse, as well as to Harborside and its other landlords. Concourse said it had given Harborside 30 days notice to vacate, that negotiations had taken place to no avail, and that Harborside continued to conduct business there.

Also last Wednesday, the GDP Collective in Richmond announced it had reopened. The dispensary was shut down by the city of Richmond when it purged all dispensaries in 2010. But the city council has since changed its mind and decided earlier this year to permit and tax up to six dispensaries. Another one, Green Remedy, has already opened.

Last Thursday, the ban on LA dispensaries was halted before it went into effect. The ban was blocked after advocates of repeal handed in enough signatures to put the issue to the voters. The ban on the ban will remain in effect until the voters decide. Or the city council could decide within 30 days to repeal the ban.

Also last Thursday, LAPD announced it had raided The Loft Co-op in Woodland Hills. They seized $1,000 in cash and 10 pounds of marijuana and arrested two employees for possession for sales of marijuana. Police said that despite its name, it was acting as an illegal dispensary, not a co-op.

On Monday, San Diego's only licensed dispensary announced it was closing. The Mother Earth Alternative Healing Co-operative is closing after receiving a threat letter from US Attorney Laura Duffy. The closure of Mother Earth means there are no licensed medical marijuana facilities in the county. That's leaves an estimated 70,000 patients without a regulated supplier.

On Tuesday, LA city councilman Jose Huizar said the city would continue to bust dispensaries even though the council's ban set to go into effect Friday is now on hold. He said any sales are illegal under state law, and the city would enforce that law.


Oregon

Last Thursday, Lane County police raided the Kannabosm dispensary in Eugene and several related properties. The owner, Curtis Dean Shimmin, faces felony charges around illegal marijuana sales and money laundering, police said. Police seized 105 plants and pounds of marijuana in what Shimmin said was "a clearly illegal" raid.


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Medical Marijuana Update

by Phillip Smith,
September 12, 2012




No DEA raids or federal threat letters to report this week, but the battles over medical marijuana continue on many fronts. Let's get to it:


National

Last Friday, GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said medical marijuana was a states' rights issue. The comments came in Colorado, where the feds have been targeted medical marijuana dispensaries and where legalization is on the ballot. "My personal positions on this issue have been let the states decide what to do with these things," he said in an interview with a local TV reporters. "This is something that is not a high priority of ours as to whether or not we go down the road on this issue. What I’ve always believed is the states should decide.I personally don’t agree with it, but this is something Coloradans have to decide for themselves." But Ryan, who has a previous record of opposing medical marijuana, did half a back-track the next day, when one of his spokesmen explained that Ryan "agrees with Mitt Romney that marijuana should never be legalized."


California

As of last Tuesday, there were 472 dispensaries in Los Angeles, according to UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs professor Bridget Freisthler, who counted them. That's less than half the number suggested by anti-dispensary City Councilmember Jose Huizar, and about equal to the number of bars in the city or about 20% of the outlets that sell alcohol. Huizar's "gentle ban" on dispensaries has been blocked after advocates delivered petitions seeking a vote on the matter.

Last Tuesday, a state appeals court upheld the Riverside County ban on dispensaries in unincorporated parts of the county. The 4th District Court of Appeals in Riverside affirmed the county's power to ban in a case involving the Nature's Relief Group outside Murrieta and the MOSA Collective in Thousand Palms. Last November, the same appellate justices upheld the city of Riverside's blanket ban on cannabis dispensaries, bolstering the county's efforts to shutter more than 30 such storefront operations then in business.

Also last Tuesday, the Collins Collective sued the LAPD over threat made by police officers as the collective was in the process of constructing a building to operate in. Their lawsuit claims police last month threatened "severe repercussions" if the collective opened, and that they said they would forcibly shut it down and arrest the members. The lawsuit says LAPD then returned and reiterated those threats. The collective is seeking a temporary restraining order, followed by a preliminary injunction and ultimately a permanent injunction that would prevent the city and its employees from enforcing the city's ban against the plaintiff and its qualified patient members and a declaration that the city's actions are unconstitutional under state law.

On Monday, the Clovis city council introduced an ordinance to regulate indoor grows. The city already bans outdoor marijuana gardens, dispensaries and patient-to-patient sales. The city would ban all cultivation entirely if it could, said Mayor Jose Flores. Since it can't, it settled for restricting the growing of pot plants to a 32-square-foot indoor area that can't be seen from the outside. The ordinance gets a second and final vote next week.

Also on Monday, the Palo Alto city council voted to take a stand against a dispensary initiative that would legalize and tax up to three dispensaries in the city. The unanimous vote came after the council worried that dispensaries "can lead to 'secondary effects' in our neighborhoods, such as illicit drug sales, loitering and even criminal activity."

On Wednesday, San Jose city council members proposed an ordinance to target dispensaries that fail to pay city taxes. Council members Sam Liccardo, Rose Herrera and Pierluigi Oliverio cited "millions" in business taxes not being paid in the past year alone by marijuana clubs as required under the city's voter-approved Measure U. That measure allows the city to tax marijuana collectives up to 10% of their total sales, though the council later adjusted that to a maximum of 7%.


Colorado

As of last week, Boulder's medical marijuana industry has shrunk dramatically from its high point in 2010. There were more than 200 medical marijuana businesses operating in the city then; now there are just 26 dispensaries and 32 grow operations in the city. Dispensary operators say the city's strict approach to regulation has pushed even "good" operators out of business.


Montana

As of August, the number of medical marijuana card holders was on the rise again, for the first time since May 2011, in the wake of DEA raids across the state and an attack on medical marijuana by Republican state legislators. There are 8,849 card holders, up five people from the previous month. The number of Montana medical-marijuana cardholders peaked at 31,522 in May 2011.

Last Thursday, medical marijuana lobbyist Tom Daubert avoided federal prison time when he was sentenced to five years probation for his role in operating medical marijuana businesses, including Montana Cannabis. Daubert pleaded guilty in April to a charge of conspiracy to maintain drug-involved premises, which carries a maximum potential sentence of 20 years in prison. He formed Montana Cannabis with partners Richard Flor, Chris Lindsey and Chris Williams. Flor pleaded guilty in April to maintaining drug-involved premises and was sentenced to five years in prison, but he died in custody last month after being moved to Nevada from a private prison in Montana. Lindsey and Williams face trial later this year. Daubert had headed Patients and Citizens United, which led the fight for the successful 2004 medical marijuana initiative.

On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court overturned a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of part of the legislature's extremely restrictive re-write of the voter-approved medical marijuana law. There is no fundamental right for patients to use any drug, particularly one like medical marijuana that’s illegal under federal law, the court held in reversing a lower court decision. "In pursuing one’s health, an individual has a fundamental right to obtain and reject medical treatment," Justice Michael Wheat wrote for the majority. "But, this right does not extend to give a patient a fundamental right to use any drug, regardless of its legality." Last year, medical marijuana supporters obtained enough signatures to place the 2011 law on the ballot as a referendum. Voters on Nov. 6 will decide whether to keep or reject the law.


North Dakota

Last Tuesday, 11 people were charged with faking medical marijuana petition signatures in a scheme that helped keep the initiative off the November ballot. The eleven, including eight University of North Dakota football players, were paid $9 an hour to gather signatures for two initiatives, but Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said that many of the petition signatures were copied from phone books or fabricated.


Oregon

On Tuesday, police raided the 45th Parallel dispensary in Ontario. They alleged violations of the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, but did not say what they seized, if anything. A local activist said police seized a small, legal, medical marijuana grow and that there was no usable marijuana on the premises. No arrests were made.


Washington

Last Wednesday, Tacoma ordered three medical marijuana businesses to shut down immediately. The city Finance Department hand-delivered letters to Emerald Pharms, T-Town Alternative Medicine and The Vape Bar, all in South Tacoma. More such letters could follow, a city spokesperson said. After nearly two years of deliberation and a long moratorium, the City Council decided last month to regulate medical marijuana under its nuisance code. Collective gardens, which are expressly permitted under state law, will be tolerated, but dispensaries will not.

Last Thursday, King County sheriff's detectives raided an Issaquah collective and seized some of the 536 plants and 65 pounds of processed marijuana. They left 135 plants and 15 pounds of pot. It's unclear if deputies knew they were raiding a collective when they went in, but they said they found expired paperwork for the garden and a registered felon in possession of a handgun. No arrests were made, but detectives forwarded the case to the King County Prosecutor’s Office for review.

On Monday, Seattle proposed new rules for medical marijuana enterprises. While the city supports medical marijuana, the rules seek to limit "large-scale cannabis-related activity" in residential zones, tourism areas, and neighborhood commercial zones. In those areas, marijuana businesses would be limited to growing 45 plants and having six pounds of marijuana on hand.


stopthedrugwar

Medical Marijuana Update

by Phillip Smith,
September 19, 2012




Last issue, we reported that the DEA had taken the week off. Well, they're back, and so is the push-back. Let's get to it:


National


Last Thursday, the Women's CannaBusiness Network held a press conference in Washington, DC, to call on President Obama to cease enforcement actions against medical cannabis providers while the administration reviews its policies to determine whether they are in the public interest. The group is a project of the National Cannabis Industry Association.

On Monday, Americans for Safe Access called for Thursday demonstrations at Obama campaign headquarters across the country "in an effort to draw attention to the Obama Administration's aggressive efforts to shut down legal medical marijuana dispensaries and obstruct the passage of laws that would regulate such activity." Demos are set for Washington, DC, as well as in the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.


California

Last Wednesday, the DEA raided Green Heart Collective facilities in Anderson and Redding. "They broke all the windows, vandalized the inside of the building and took all of the medicine," owner Gina Munday said."We were so surprised." No arrests have been made so far.

Also last Wednesday, the Encinitas city council approved a dispensary initiative for the 2014 ballot. Initiative backers the Patient Care Association had signatures verified by the registrar of voters on August 8, two days before the state deadline for the 2012 ballot, but the council would have had to have called a special meeting to place it on the ballot. It failed to do so.

Last Thursday, Harborside Health Center asked a federal judge to stop its landlord from trying to shut it down. Harborside and its landlords have been hit with threat letters from federal prosecutors, and its San Jose landlord had moved to force it out. But Harborside is fighting everything to do with the federal threats.

Last Friday, Vallejo police raided Nature's Love Collective for the second time. They arrested the operator, just as they did four months ago, the last time they raided it. Vallejo police have raided nine dispensaries this year despite the city voting to tax and regulate them.

On Monday, an initiative to overturn the LA dispensary ban qualified for the ballot. City Clerk June Lagmay said activists needed 27,425 valid signatures for their measure to qualify and that a statistical sampling of the signatures showed they had turned in 110% of the amount needed. The city council can now repeal its "gentle ban" ordinance, call a special election, or put the measure on the March 5 city election ballot. In the meantime, the ban is on hold, although LAPD has said it intends to continue busting dispensaries.


Oregon

On Tuesday, the DEA raided the High Hopes Farm grow operation outside Jacksonville. James Bowman, a long-time activist, owns the farm and went public about his activities last spring with a spread in the Oregonian newspaper. Bowman could be the single largest medical marijuana producer in the state. He wasn't arrested, but agents plowed under his crop.


Vermont

As of Sunday, the Vermont Department of Safety has granted conditional approval to two dispensary applicants. One applicant, the Champlain Valley Dispensary, has been approved for Burlington and hopes to be open and serving patients within six months. A second applicant, Patients First Inc., has been approved for Waterbury. The department received five applications this year, but three of them did not meet minimum standards. Under a 2011 law, the state can have four dispensaries and will accept more applications next year if that number isn't reached this year.

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