Medical Marijuana Update

The DEA strikes again in Los Angeles, and the feds are moving to eliminate dispensaries in downtown LA. But the pushback against the crackdown continues. Let's get to it:

California

Last Thursday, demonstrators gathered outside Obama campaign headquarters in Sacramento to protest the crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries. The demonstration was part of a series of protests at Obama campaign headquarters across the nation sponsored by Americans for Safe Access.

Also last Thursday, the two candidates for LA County DA said they would continue to go after  dispensaries. The remarks by Chief Deputy District Attorney Jackie Lacey and Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson differed came as the two engaged in their last public debate. Responding to a question from moderator Gene Maddaus of the LA Weekly both took roughly the same line. "It's my position that over-the-counter sales for money of marijuana are illegal," Lacey said. "Those folks are simple drug dealers," Jackson said.

Last Saturday, the Trinity County Sheriff's Office reported it had raided six medical marijuana grows, saying they were all illegal commercial grows hiding behind Proposition 215. The raids resulted in 14 arrests for cultivating and preparing marijuana for sale, and deputies seized $180,000 in cash, 406 plants, and 150 pounds of processed marijuana. The sheriff's office said the amount was far in excess of the personal use amounts for the 14 people, but acknowledged that some of them said they were members of cooperatives.

On Monday, initiative campaigns in San Diego County announced they had scored big endorsements in their bid to allow and regulate dispensaries in Lemon Grove, Del Mar and Solana Beach (Propositions T, H and W, respectively). The endorsements include the San Diego County Democratic Party, the San Diego County Libertarian Party and the San Diego County Green Party.

On Tuesday, the feds targeted 71 Los Angeles dispensaries, with the DEA raiding three.  Federal prosecutors filed asset forfeiture lawsuits against three properties housing dispensaries and sent threat letters to 68 other dispensaries. The feds are targeting every known dispensary in the Eagle Rock and downtown areas of the city, as well as the single store known to be operating in Huntington Park. The federal actions in Los Angeles were done with cooperation from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office, and the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. The three dispensaries hit by the DEA with help from the LAPD were the Happy Ending Collective, the Green Light Pharmacy, and Fountain of Wellbeing. Federal enforcement actions -- the asset forfeiture lawsuits and warning letters -- have now targeted more than 375 dispensaries in the Central District of California.

On Wednesday, the feds joined up with local law enforcement in Santa Rosa to swarm a southwest neighborhood in what was described as the region's largest ever mass residential grow bust. Participants included personnel from the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, Probation Department and District Attorney’s Office, Santa Rosa Police Department, California Highway Patrol and federal departments of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A sheriff's spokesman said the operation was planned after authorities discovered that suspected pot cultivation in the neighborhood had become rampant. "We just looked into this neighborhood and, literally, probably every backyard but two or three have a (marijuana) grow," O'Leary said. "Our goal is to go in there to rid the neighborhood of these, what we think are probably illegal grows."

Michigan

Last Wednesday, a federal appeals court upheld the firing of a Walmart worker who was terminated after testing positive for marijuana even though he was a registered patient. Joseph Casias, who has an inoperable brain tumor, was fired by the Walmart store in Battle Creek after failing the drug test. He sued, but the case was thrown out in district court. The appeals court upheld the ruling of the lower court that the state's medical marijuana law does not regulate private employment, but merely provides protection from criminal prosecution or other adverse state action.

Montana

Last Friday, a federal judge hamstrung the defense of medical marijuana provider Chris Williams, a co-owner of the now-defunct Montana Cannabis. US District Court Judge Dana Christensen held that Williams cannot argue that government officials entrapped him into believing he would not be prosecuted and warned jurors that they must "disregard any statements or argument about the defendant or others purporting to comply or not to comply with state laws concerning marijuana." Williams is the only one of the people charged after a series of March 11 raids to go to trial. One of his partners in Montana Cannabis, Richard Flor, died in federal prison last month, while another, Tom Daubert, was sentenced to probation. The trial was still going on as of Tuesday night.

On Tuesday, federal prosecutors' thresholds for prosecution were revealed. Cases involving less than 500 plants or 100 kilograms will be "disfavored for prosecution in federal court," according to a July memorandum from Montana US Attorney Michael Cotter that was obtained and published by The Independent. In their March 2011 raids, the feds in several instances targeted grows that contained fewer plants than that.

Washington

Last Thursday, protestors in Seattle denounced the federal crackdown on dispensaries there, holding a city hall news conference before rallying at the federal courthouse. In August, the DEA sent threat letters to 26 local dispensaries it said operated within 1,000 feet of a school zone, threatening forfeiture if the businesses didn't shut down within 30 days. The protest was one of a series called across the country by Americans for Safe Access.