Need Help: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Raids

[GunnyFreedom]

Got a constituent email asking me to try and bring up our H577 Medical Cannabis bill during a special interim session since the Obama DOJ has issued a memo to stop dispensary raids.

I'm a "tell it like it is and damn the consequences" type of guy, so while I'm telling them that the only way the bill gets heard before 2013 is if myself or the other sponsor gets promoted to one of the top three leadership positions, I'd also like to clue them in about the DOJ memo. I know the raids have not stopped.

Do you have any sources for recent raids that have taken place, after the DOJ memo?

[Kotin]

Bump

[DamianTV]

I dont have any sources, but for sake of bumping the thread, I'll just add my two cents.

Is said business operating within a state that has legalized the medical use of marijuana? Is said business doing business with another state? If the said business is NOT operating between states, should the Federal Government be allowed jurisdiction over what the State has decided as legal? IE, 10th Amendment. There is no Constitutional Amendment that prohibits the States from making its own decisions over pot.

[PineGroveDave]

There's been dozens of them out here in CA. If you can give me another day, I'll link you to the them. Just here in Calaveras, Amador, El Dorado, Nevada counties alone there's been more than a few.

[DirtMcGirt]

I would check out recent news for: "Colorado dispensary raids". I heard there have been a lot of issues there with dispensaries and "zoning laws". Here is a recent article from NPR. I am not sure if this is what you're looking for, good luck.
http://www.npr.org/2011/07/12/137791944/obama-cracks-down-on-medical-marijuana

[Carehn]

The dispensary in Klamath falls Oregon just got raided like last week. I know because my dad owns the store next to it. Said he sold to undercover officers without green card. Guy did not get charged they just took all his stuff and money. The guy told my dad its all BS and they simply robbed him.

http://www.heraldandnews.com/breaking/article_1f1905da-bc53-11e0-823c-001cc4c002e0.html#vmix_media_id=105084221

Edit - I think this was the local PD not the feds so never mind.

[Anti Federalist]

Got a constituent email asking me to try and bring up our H577 Medical Cannabis bill during a special interim session since the Obama DOJ has issued a memo to stop dispensary raids.

I'm a "tell it like it is and damn the consequences" type of guy, so while I'm telling them that the only way the bill gets heard before 2013 is if myself or the other sponsor gets promoted to one of the top three leadership positions, I'd also like to clue them in about the DOJ memo. I know the raids have not stopped.

Do you have any sources for recent raids that have taken place, after the DOJ memo?

The following raids, just to name a few, all happened after the DOJ memo telling the feds to "back off" busting legal MM dispensaries dated 19 October 2009.

http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/192



The new memo, dated 29 June 2011, tells the feds to start raiding, again, even though they already were, on a regular basis.

http://www.freedomisgreen.com/full-text-department-of-justice-memo-on-medical-marijuana/



Here's just a few from this year.

MI - Feds raid three MM dispensaries in Michigan - April 2011

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/04/feds_raid_medical_marijuana_dispensaries_in_michig .php

WA - Feds raid two MM dispensaries in Washington - April 2011

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/120912454.html

Fed raids in Montana - March 2011

http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_eae07e58-4e7d-11e0-aa23-001cc4c03286.html

Feds raid in California - March 2011

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-weho-marijuana-raid,0,4837330.story

+rep for doing liberty's work.

[GunnyFreedom]

Thanks for the help guys, and no I don't think the constituent expects instant answers. I just think it's important to disabuse them of the notion that the Obama admin is the savior of medicinal cannabis.

[GunnyFreedom]

There's been dozens of them out here in CA. If you can give me another day, I'll link you to the them. Just here in Calaveras, Amador, El Dorado, Nevada counties alone there's been more than a few.

Thanks Dave, that will be crazy helpful. People trusting the current admin at their word that they have stopped the raids, all the while the raids continue unabated (but with less publicity) should serve as a wakeup call to those who blindly trust political promises.

[GunnyFreedom]

The following raids, just to name a few, all happened after the DOJ memo telling the feds to "back off" busting legal MM dispensaries dated 19 October 2009.

http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/192



The new memo, dated 29 June 2011, tells the feds to start raiding, again, even though they already were, on a regular basis.

http://www.freedomisgreen.com/full-text-department-of-justice-memo-on-medical-marijuana/



Here's just a few from this year.

MI - Feds raid three MM dispensaries in Michigan - April 2011

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/04/feds_raid_medical_marijuana_dispensaries_in_michig .php

WA - Feds raid two MM dispensaries in Washington - April 2011

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/120912454.html

Fed raids in Montana - March 2011

http://missoulian.com/news/local/article_eae07e58-4e7d-11e0-aa23-001cc4c03286.html

Feds raid in California - March 2011

http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-weho-marijuana-raid,0,4837330.story

+rep for doing liberty's work.

That's good stuff, +rep back at ya for understanding the federal issue at heart here. In addition to a plethora of links to federal raids on dispensaries, I need to cross-reference the memo date to demonstrate the duplicity.

[GunnyFreedom]

The dispensary in Klamath falls Oregon just got raided like last week. I know because my dad owns the store next to it. Said he sold to undercover officers without green card. Guy did not get charged they just took all his stuff and money. The guy told my dad its all BS and they simply robbed him.

http://www.heraldandnews.com/breaking/article_1f1905da-bc53-11e0-823c-001cc4c002e0.html#vmix_media_id=105084221

Edit - I think this was the local PD not the feds so never mind.

I appreciate it, and you are correct, the constituent raised a federal issue, so federal raids are what will demonstrate that Obama is lying.

The other point is that dropping people off the Obama bandwagon for medicinal marijuana leaves them really only one place to go... :D

[GunnyFreedom]

I dont have any sources, but for sake of bumping the thread, I'll just add my two cents.

Is said business operating within a state that has legalized the medical use of marijuana? Is said business doing business with another state? If the said business is NOT operating between states, should the Federal Government be allowed jurisdiction over what the State has decided as legal? IE, 10th Amendment. There is no Constitutional Amendment that prohibits the States from making its own decisions over pot.

You are exactly right. The Feds have ZERO jurisdiction to interfere with intrastate commerce, even given a brutal distortion of the interstate commerce clause. There have been some horrific SCOTUS decisions here, such as Wickard v. Filburn (1942) the Supreme Court upheld the power of Congress to regulate a single farmer’s production of wheat intended for consumption at his own table. They claimed that since he was not buying wheat at the store it affected the prices on the market and ordered the mans crops burned.

Yeah, not kidding. SCOTUS can be awfully obscene.

[GunnyFreedom]

crushing obamatons one issue at a time.

[Kotin]

Bump

[Dark_Horse_Rider]

Has the Federal Government Changed Its Policy on Medical Marijuana Enforcement or Just Changed Its Reasons for Continued Interference?

by Kris Hermes, ASA

It would appear that raids by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in medical marijuana states have declined since President Obama’s Justice Department issued its infamous memorandum in October 2009. But, in fact, raids have continued at an alarming pace. For example, in the 16 months since the Obama Administration’s policy change, the DEA has conducted at least 43 raids in California, Colorado, Michigan and Nevada. That’s nearly 3 raids per month on average. Although arrests were not made at all of the raids, President Obama’s Justice Department has seen fit to indict and prosecute at least 24 patients and providers in connection with those federal actions. Can this really be the result of a new federal enforcement policy?

Attorneys for two of the most recently indicted cultivators from Michigan vehemently argue that their young caregiver clients were in full compliance with state law. If that’s true, do these federal actions have more to do with hostile DEA agents and bitter U.S. Attorneys — angry that their decades-long drug war has been narrowed — or are they based on willful deception by President Obama’s Justice Department? Maybe both.

While it could be argued that some of last month’s arrests in Las Vegas, Nevada, which resulted in a total of 15 indictments, was based on the fact that Nevada law does not allow for centralized distribution. And, yet, how are patients supposed to obtain their medicine if they are too sick or lack the skill to grow it themselves? Would the DEA prefer that patients seek out their medicine from the illicit market? And, why should the federal government be able to prosecute violations of state law in federal court, where patients are prevented from using a medical marijuana defense?

Did the American people envision their tax dollars going to such harmful and unnecessary federal actions, especially after a policy was issued claiming that such actions would cease? With popular American support for medical marijuana at more than 80 percent, we think not.

It’s time for the Obama Administration to deliver on its promise to leave patients alone. The DEA must take a hands-off approach to enforcement of medical marijuana production and distribution. Any allegations of local or state law violations should be prosecuted in state court, and not in federal court (i.e. no more federal indictments). In addition, DEA agents should be refusing to assist local law enforcement in raids on patients and providers, period.

Only after the federal government stands down on this issue will states and their localities be able to effectively implement medical marijuana laws passed by the people.

US Attorney will bust Oakland pot farm despite Holder Memo

By CannaBob on February 4, 2011

Our buddy, Barack, and his hit-man Eric Holder threw us a bone when they said, as long as you guys don’t break your state laws, we’ll leave your medical marijuana alone. Well, they better talk to the U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag who has said that her office will vigorously enforce federal anti-drug laws against illegal manufacturing and distribution of marijuana, “even if such activities are permitted under state law.” Methinks Melinda better have a lunch meeting with Barack and Eric.


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – The warning in a letter from U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag offered the first clear signal that the Justice Department would not tolerate even city-sanctioned growing operations, despite the Obama administration’s hands-off approach to states that have legalized medical marijuana.

“The department is concerned about the Oakland ordinance’s creation of a licensing scheme that permits large-scale industrial marijuana cultivation and manufacturing as it authorizes conduct contrary to federal law,” Haag wrote in the letter to Oakland City Attorney John Russo dated Tuesday.

Haag’s letter acknowledges an October 2009 Justice Department memo instructing federal prosecutors to avoid going after patients complying with state laws regarding the medical use of marijuana.

But Haag wrote that her office will vigorously enforce federal anti-drug laws against illegal manufacturing and distribution of marijuana, “even if such activities are permitted under state law.“

[PineGroveDave]

Sorry it took awhile. Been busy at work and home. Here's a few links. Now, as growers, my wife and I know of some raids that have occurred not with dispensaries, but with coops (growers who grow for dispensaries). We have personal knowledge of this, much of which has not made it to the media. If you'd like more info, PM me and I'll see what I can do.

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/20110526103700/News/Local-News/Nine-arrested-in-raids-on-marijuana-dispensaries
http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-07-26/bay-area/29815141_1_pot-store-dispensary-federal-agents
http://newark.patch.com/articles/medical-cannabis-club-owners-demand-return-of-assets

There's a backlash occurring in CA right now. Many counties are now siding w/ the Fed to ban dispensaries altogether. We ourselves have been "visited" by LEOs that work with the Fed. According to CA Law, we're compliant although they tried their level best to make us shit our pants (took pictures, told us they'd be back, told us we were not compliant...they left empty handed and have not returned to date and that was 6 months ago). Like I said, if you'd like more info, let me know.

[GunnyFreedom]

This is good stuff. The constituent emails are accellerating on this, apparently someone has planted a bug with the local activists that says "the Feds have said it's OK now!"

Nevermind the Feds are about as two-faced as anybody in politics, and liars.

I'm trying to compose an email to explain how I'd get HB577 moving if there was any way in hell I could, but that no, the Holder DOJ in the Obama administration is not actually relaxing MMJ enforcement, they just want MMJ activists to think that they are, and here is the proof.

The latest is that allegedly a new memo of 8/5/11 has cleared the way for any state to implement MMJ without fear.