U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello expressed his desire yesterday for medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco to be run as “communes” rather than as “candy stores.” Russoniello’s reference to “candy stores” is confusing enough, but the Bush-appointed federal prosecutor’s shift from conservative free-market thinking to Marxist communism was a surprise to many in the medical marijuana movement, not to mention the public at large. (more…)

Allison Margolin

(This is a guest blog by Allison B. Margolin, Esq.)

As the Obama administration attempts to steer federal agents away from prosecuting marijuana dispensaries, the LA District Attorney and City Attorney’s Office are attempting to undermine that shift by articulating a deceitfully narrow view of the state law.

Despite reports of trillion dollar deficits nationally and a collapsing state economy, District Attorney Steve Cooley says his office is committed to closing down revenue-generating medical marijuana dispensaries and the LA district attorney’s office continues to take prisoners of war in their fight against safe access to medical marijuana.

In doing so, LA City is threatening to plunge the state’s economy into further collapse by taking potential tax revenues that could be going to the state treasury. Moreover, the City’s position threatens to generate crime by forcing the huge demand for marijuana back to the street. If the free market has allowed for the proliferation of dispensaries, that demand is not going away. The avenue for its fulfillment will simply change and could go from safe to entrenched in the poly-drug trafficking black market economy.
(more…)

ASA is encouraged to learn that the Obama Administration has taken a major step forward in defining its policy on medical cannabis today, when the U.S. Department of Justice issued a memo giving new instructions to federal prosecutors and law enforcement.  This memo has been expected since we learned that the Committee report to accompany the Justice appropriations legislation would include specific language requiring a written policy.

(more…)

Last Friday, a day after Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich and District Attorney Steve Cooley attended a law enforcement training hosted by the California Narcotic Officers Association (CNOA) on the “eradication” of medical marijuana dispensaries, both officials declared a war on safe, affordable access to this therapeutic substance. In multiple newspapers, Trutanich and Cooley flagrantly stated their opinion that almost all dispensaries in Los Angeles are operating illegally, in violation of state law. Not only did these local prosecutors fail to provide any evidence of such violations, making unfounded accusations instead, but they have also ignored (or, more appropriately, rebuffed) the California Attorney General guidelines on this matter. (more…)

From the Ukiah Daily Journal:

Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman has been ordered to give back 32 marijuana hash patties to two Redwood Valley defendants …  Henderson and Sutherland will receive 32 patties because the legal amount for a marijuana patient to have at the time of the seizure was eight ounces, according to the order, and four doctors’ recommendations were admitted as evidence in the case.

You might think the job of law enforcement is enforcing the law, but that’s not the way some California officers and organizations see it when it comes to the state’s medical cannabis statute. The latest disturbing evidence of this is an upcoming “training luncheon” on “The Eradication of Medical Marijuana Dispensaries in the City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County,” hosted by the California Narcotic Officers Association (CNOA).

What’s shocking is not that the CNOA would resist state law – the organization is one of the oldest and most virulent opponents of medical cannabis in the state – but who will be joining them in the effort. Headlining the training on how to close down medical cannabis collectives are Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley and Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, and police officers from Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Alhambra. (more…)

The “shock and awe” tactics used by local and federal law enforcement yesterday to raid several medical marijuana providers were indefensible. One would have thought that such paramilitary-style raids were a thing of the past, a remnant of the Bush Administration. And, yet, videos like this one indicate that not only is law enforcement still trying to undermine California’s medical marijuana law, it’s being done with a vengeance. Where else would you see wheelchair-bound people being thrown into police squad cars?

The Los Angeles City Council voted today to endorse Senate Joint Resolution (SJR) 14, an ASA-sponsored resolution authored by California Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco), which calls on the President and US Congress to make important changes in federal medical cannabis policies. The city’s endorsement comes just after SJR 14 was approved by the California Senate and is moving to the Assembly Committee on Health.

City Councilmembers Jose Huizar, Dennis Zine, and Janice Hahn made the motion in July, after we talked about what the city could do help finally harmonize federal law with California law. Los Angeles has more medical cannabis collectives and cooperatives than any other city in the state, and has struggled with how best to regulate safe access in the midst of the former Bush Administration’s campaign of interference and intimidation. Angelinos and their elected officials hope the regulatory process will be easier if the President and US Congress implement the recommendations in SJR 14.

Thank you, LA Councilmembers, for supporting medical cannabis patients and SJR 14!

Recent Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) activity in Lake County, Los Angeles, and Colorado is cause for concern for medical cannabis patients and advocates. We hoped that federal raids were over when the White House and US Attorney General Eric Holder signaled a willingness to develop a new policy on medical cannabis earlier this year. The circumstances for each of the recent raids differ, but each illustrates a need for the Administration to move more quickly in crafting and implementing that new policy.

This week, the California Senate approved Senate Joint Resolution 14 (SJR 14), a resolution authored by Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and sponsored by Americans for Safe Access (ASA) that calls for specific changes in federal law. SJR 14 calls for an end to federal interference and intimidation, an affirmative defense for medical cannabis defendants in federal court, and an end to barriers to scientific research. The resolution also calls on the President and Congress to develop a comprehensive federal policy to protect every patient in the United States who uses cannabis to treat HIV/AIDS, cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, chronic pain, or other serious illness.

SJR 14 is part of a strategic plan at ASA to coordinate state and federal advocacy at an historic moment in history. We are far from finished with this work, and we can expect more DEA raids and other federal intimidation before we succeed in harmonizing federal law with state law. But we should not be discouraged that the promise of the new federal policy is still unfulfilled. We are making progress. DEA raids have diminished dramatically from the dark days of the Bush Administration, federal threats against property owners in California have stopped altogether, and we are even seeing movement in Congress.

After the California Assembly approves SJR 14, ASA staff and members will work hard to be sure that Democratic leaders in the US Congress have the California legislature’s instruction in mind when they consider new legislation like US Representative Barney Frank’s HR 2835. That bill will would provide federal legal protections for all qualified patients and caregivers in states that have legalized the use of medical cannabis, as well as any entity authorized under local or state law to distribute medical cannabis.

SJR 14 is one example of how ASA’s strategic coordination can make a difference nationwide. Do not be discouraged when medical cannabis opponents push back. Our persistent work is paying off, and you are helping to make a difference.

Last week, the Drug enforcement Administration (DEA) collaborated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) to raid Organica, a medical cannabis dispensing collective (dispensary) in Los Angeles.

The only excuse provided by authorities was that the dispensary had failed to pay sales tax — hardly a reason for federal agents to carry out a paramilitary-style raid. (more…)