Calif. pot dispensaries told by feds to shut down

[guest3854]

Headband, shoots... No offence to me..I aint related to those douches... But fer sure, if yer selling crap like that, i dont give a fuck what anyone says, that sure as shit aint medical... All about wellness, weak... Most clubs here suck it and "uneducated".


Midnight..."stupid cocksucker"? You think Cali tokes all this to ourselves, git real and attack who deserves it...


Steele

 

[guest3854]

Green Temple "Sacramento's largest selection of exotic clones", lol. They had Mob Boss and Kardashian Kush in their hands but...

Give these shit bags a call and tell 'em GRINDHOUSE sent'cha 916 504 8442
Steele

 

[supermanlives]

fuck em . most clubs were ripoffs anyhow.

 

[Zen Master]

so quick question back on topic instead of a flame fest...



if the Feds are so inclined to trample all over 215 and patient rights, what makes ANY patient in any "de-criminalized" state, CA or anywhere else, feel safe?

even if you are following state law and are 100% in compliance, no selling no nothin' 100% personal with a small closet op. You're still violating federal law and at risk for prosecution. Right? Right.

If the dispensaries are filled with vendors trying to get rid of volume at any tolerable price, I wonder how it's going to affect the upcoming reborn black market I foresee.

 

[supermanlives]

i forsee really cheap weed prices and lots of grow equipment on craigslist.

 

[rick shaw]

so quick question back on topic instead of a flame fest...



if the Feds are so inclined to trample all over 215 and patient rights, what makes ANY patient in any "de-criminalized" state, CA or anywhere else, feel safe?

even if you are following state law and are 100% in compliance, no selling no nothin' 100% personal with a small closet op. You're still violating federal law and at risk for prosecution. Right? Right.

If the dispensaries are filled with vendors trying to get rid of volume at any tolerable price, I wonder how it's going to affect the upcoming reborn black market I foresee.

IMO,the black market inside and outside California will see more clients and have more profit.

My prediction is more independent delivery mmj providers...like me.

 

[dagnabit]

if the Feds are so inclined to trample all over 215 and patient rights, what makes ANY patient in any "de-criminalized" state, CA or anywhere else, feel safe?

the argument can be made for medical being covered by interstate commerce. as all medicine has been ruled covered by interstate commerce. whereas strictly decrim/legalization would need to be brought before SCOTUS to determine if IC clause applies to overrule 10th violations...

but im just sticking it out there

 

[Zen Master]

I think the green rush has produced exponentially more growers than before there was a dispensary on every corner. Most tried and failed, however there ARE some that figured it out and produce high quality herb.

Same as the other growers who grew before 215 and still grow today.

so I think there's gonna end up being an influx of 3.0-35 bows of quality because the supply is still there, albeit a bit smaller presumably, but street dealers can't go around charging 60 an eighth all day anymore. Every other vendor can't drop off their bigger packs to the new hustlers because they don't/won't have the demand for a 5 pack a week like a dispensary (well most probably wouldn't).

more links in the chain=lower prices wholesalers get so the retailer(s) can still make a buck.

vendor>disp>patient is going to maximize profits (or cost recovery, however you wanna phrase it) for the vendor and disp at the consumers cost
black market has a lot more people to go through, each taking their slice.


feels like highschool again.

 

[stickey fingers]

yesterday, chico,ca norcal shut down its last and only dispensery

 

[Zen Master]

the argument can be made for medical being covered by interstate commerce. as all medicine has been ruled covered by interstate commerce. whereas strictly decrim/legalization would need to be brought before SCOTUS to determine if IC clause applies to overrule 10th violations...

but im just sticking it out there

yeah but "medicinal cannabis" is still illegal 100% under federal law. Interstate or not.

10th amendment "powers not granted to the federal government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_Statesnor prohibited to the states by the Constitution are reserved, respectively, to the states or the people" hasn't stopped ANY prosecution by feds in a medical state. If they want to go after you, they can and will win.


I'm just going off my own courtroom experience when I say that the judicial system is one of the most fucked up and corrupt systems the good ole US of A has.

 

[igrowone]

hmm, seems like it's widely believed that one of the federal 'complaints' is too much weed is getting shipped out of state
if so, how does closing down the instate distribution going to help that?
seems to me the outcome will be more out of state distribution
i doubt there is a good plan here, the DEA/DOJ just hate weed, and will take any action to satisfy the need to succeed

 

[dagnabit]

yeah but "medicinal cannabis" is still illegal 100% under federal law. Interstate or not.

10th amendment "powers not granted to the federal government http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_government_of_the_United_Statesnor prohibited to the states by the Constitution are reserved, respectively, to the states or the people" hasn't stopped ANY prosecution by feds in a medical state. If they want to go after you, they can and will win.


I'm just going off my own courtroom experience when I say that the judicial system is one of the most fucked up and corrupt systems the good ole US of A has.

i agree.
they will come regardless. however what that will force is a scotus showdown on interstate commerce aspects of statewide non med legalization.

we have seen precedence for federal inaction on possession decriminalization in multiple states including CA.(albeit tenuous association at best)

any new fight challenging scope of federal authority in this matter is good.

my point being we should peruse non medical legalization at state levels asap

 

[megayields]

Midnight is saying that the response by MY makes Him the bulk of why the Fed is Cracking down - the trafficking to other States from Cali.

I too think(without Judgement on MY) the Shipping of all Cali's OD overflow to other States and Non Med State is in the top 5 reasons the Fed is cracking down so hard and Now during Harvest. I'm also told there is a new Federal Drug trafficking postal unit setting up shop at the Oakland and Sacramento USPS hubs to catch the push out of state this will cause. I heard this from 3 independent sources that work for USPS.

That unit has been operating for some time, I have a friend who works their and is one of my patients lol. BTW he is in the Sacto unit!

 

[huligun]

so quick question back on topic instead of a flame fest...



if the Feds are so inclined to trample all over 215 and patient rights, what makes ANY patient in any "de-criminalized" state, CA or anywhere else, feel safe?

even if you are following state law and are 100% in compliance, no selling no nothin' 100% personal with a small closet op. You're still violating federal law and at risk for prosecution. Right? Right.

If the dispensaries are filled with vendors trying to get rid of volume at any tolerable price, I wonder how it's going to affect the upcoming reborn black market I foresee.

I said this myself, in other words, but in this thread. The good old days are over for open commerce in medical marijuana. Too much money and too much open flaunting in the face of an administration that is focused on a strong central government. I know that after all the shops are closed there will be an enormous vacuum from all of the suppliers. News will be talking about the massive black market and the DEA will seek and get approval for massive funding to fight that, and all the organized crime and deaths, that they will lump in with it. I hate to say it bit it is game over. I hope everyone made a lot of money and divested it wisely. They will be looking at the money and assets concurrently that everyone has made.

 

[vta]

AG Asks Feds for Restraint on Medical Pot


Source: Associated Press

medical San Francisco -- Federal prosecutors should be careful not to overreach in their crackdown on California’s pot dispensaries, even though there are ambiguities in the state’s medical marijuana laws, the state attorney general said Thursday.

The law passed 15 years ago by California voters has ambiguities that must be resolved either by the state Legislature or the courts, state Attorney General Kamala Harris said in a statement.

However, Harris said she was worried that “an overly broad federal enforcement campaign will make it more difficult for legitimate patients to access physician-recommended medicine in California.”

She urged federal authorities to make sure their enforcement efforts are focused on significant traffickers of illegal drugs.

Harris, a Democrat in her first year as the state’s chief law enforcement officer, made her statement in response to inquiries from the media about the crackdown announced two weeks ago by the four federal prosecutors in California.

They have ordered dozens of medical marijuana clubs to close, saying the operations are too close to places where children gather or are being used as fronts for drug dealers.

Harris acknowledged that she shares the concerns of federal prosecutors about the proliferation of gangs and criminal enterprises that seek to exploit the medical marijuana law.

The four U.S. attorneys said they were sending letters to landlords who rent retail and warehouse spaces to pot collectives and growers saying they could be prosecuted and have their properties confiscated by the government for aiding illegal enterprises.

Officials in Sacramento and several other cities have since stopped issuing business permits to dispensaries.

State law allows marijuana possession by residents with written doctors’ recommendations.

 

[vta]

Barack Obama, drug warrior

By Debra J. Saunders

President Obama has become quite the drug warrior.

Last month, his Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issued a memo that stated that it is unlawful for anyone with a state-issued medical marijuana card to possess a gun or ammunition. This month, four U.S. attorneys in California announced that they are escalating prosecution of medical marijuana clubs by going after the assets of their landlords and property owners.

As a senator and presidential candidate, Obama supported states' rights on medical marijuana. In 2008, campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told me Obama "believes that states and local governments are best positioned to strike the balance between making sure that these policies are not abused for recreational drug use and making sure that doctors and their patients can safely access pain relief."

When he was first in office, it looked as if Obama would do as he had said. Drug war opponents were pleasantly surprised in 2009 when a Department of Justice memo advised U.S. attorneys not to "focus federal resources" on "individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen" consistent with state law or their caregivers.

But this year, charges Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the anti-drug-war Drug Policy Alliance, Obama seems controlled by "over-zealous prosecutors and anti-marijuana ideologues."

Now I believe marijuana should be legal, and not simply for medical use.

But I also recognize that federal law trumps state law. Many marijuana suppliers hide behind the mantle of palliative care to profit from recreational use and abuse. It must drive prosecutors nuts to watch what are basically criminal enterprises cash in by taking legal cover under state law while flouting federal law. Washington could remedy that by legalizing marijuana.

But when U.S. attorneys in California send out dozens of letters threatening landowners and lien holders with the seizure of their property and assets, they're not going after the drug trade. They are using the full force of the federal government to threaten people whose crime is renting, not breaking federal criminal law. Make that renting to businesses allowed under state law.

"Although our initial efforts in the Northern District focus on only certain marijuana stores," San Francisco's U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag explained in a statement, "we will almost certainly be taking action against others. None are immune from action by the federal government."

You don't have to sell or distribute marijuana to have a target on your back. It's easier to go after landlords. Prosecutors have to prove defendants guilty beyond reasonable doubt in criminal court, but asset forfeiture law allows the government to seize property in civil court.

U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy of Southern California has said that she is ready to go after newspapers, radio stations and other outlets that run ads for medical marijuana shops because federal law targets those who place ads for an illegal substance. Duffy told California Watch, "I am willing to read (the law) expansively, and if a court wants to more narrowly define it, that would be up to the court."

I should note that The Chronicle has run such ads.

Nadelmann told me that he now thinks Obama today is as bad as his predecessors when it comes to the drug war.

One could argue that Obama is worse; President George W. Bush didn't go after newspapers.

In 1996, Californians voted to legalize medical marijuana; as of today, 15 other states have followed suit. In 2008, Obama respected states' rights. In 2011, his administration is ready to bulldoze its 2009 advisory that the feds not pick on sick people.

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., protested that the ATF memo is unacceptable because "law-abiding citizens would be stripped of their Second Amendment rights simply because they hold a state-issued card authorizing the possession and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes."

Nadelmann cannot understand why the Obama Justice Department is willing to alienate real estate agents, property owners, gun owners and the Democratic base. "Typically, as an advocate," he said, "your best opportunities emerge when the other side overreaches."

Bingo.

I've talked to folks in law enforcement who stew over medical marijuana businesses serving as fronts for criminal enterprises. But now the administration is threatening to go after cancer patients who own guns and small businesses that rent to marijuana shops. They are going after people whom they do not consider to be criminals.

That's why some states decided to pass medical marijuana laws in the first place. They do not want the heavy boot of federal law enforcement stomping on the wrong people.

 

[vta]

A LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

The Crackdown on Medical-Cannabis Dispensaries Is a Mistake, Sir

This week I'm turning over my column to Jeff vonKaenel, president and CEO of the News & Review papers. This letter appears in the current issue of the Sacramento News & Review.

- -Robert Speer

Dear President Obama,

Two years ago, you said your administration would not go after dispensaries in states where marijuana is legal for medicinal use. But last Friday ( Oct. 7 ), your U.S. Department of Justice attorneys announced a crackdown on medical-marijuana dispensaries and cultivators in California. In addition, they questioned the right of local jurisdictions to regulate this growing industry. I believe that this shift in policy will do significantly more harm than good.

Specifically, I'm concerned about the economic impact of this decision. Closing California's dispensaries could jeopardize thousands of jobs. Not just those that are directly linked to medical marijuana, but also physicians, security guards, solar-panel specialists, delivery drivers, lab techs, marketing specialists, attorneys, insurance agents, specialized government jobs, media jobs and many others. Local TV, radio, online and print media including The Sacramento Bee, the Business Journal and especially ( full disclosure ) the Sacramento News & Review have been helped by medical-marijuana advertising dollars. And the money that's pumped into the local economy by these dispensaries is spent on rent, groceries and at local restaurants and retail stores.

One of the worst consequences of this crackdown could be to drive this industry back underground. The biggest beneficiary of this would be Mexican drug cartels. An unregulated underground drug trade would potentially leave about a million Californians who now use medical marijuana with nowhere to turn but an illegal drug dealer on the corner.

Medical marijuana is one of the few sectors of the economy that are growing during these difficult economic times. Our state Board of Equalization estimates that medical-marijuana dispensaries have annual revenues of up to $1.3 billion and produce sales taxes of as much as $105 million. Legal dispensaries can be regulated and taxed. Illegal drug cartels can't. Rather than using government dollars to close down medical-marijuana dispensaries that are operating legally within California state law, let's allow California to regulate and tax them. It's change we can believe in.

Just as prohibition of alcohol did not work, prohibition of marijuana will not work. The prosecution of medical-marijuana dispensaries has worse consequences than the use and possible misuse of marijuana. If anyone should know that, it should be you. If our country's marijuana laws were strictly enforced, you might have served time in a cell along with our past two presidents, rather than serving our country in the White House. I humbly suggest our U.S. attorneys have much more important things to do than cracking down on medical-marijuana dispensaries. Might I suggest looking at banking and securities fraud, for example?

One of your strongest supporters who is baffled by your recent shift in policy,

Jeff vonKaenel

 

[ForestBuds]

This is bullshit. This country is not a democracy but a republic!

Cannot believe on how the feds are cracking down on medical mmj in California while being complicted in Fast and Furious scandal as of now. The feds also have distribution system to hand out marijuana to select few patients since the 1970's. They even have patent on it. Very HYPOCRITE!

Prop 215 law still stands. It is a very grey matter with those dispensaries. It's all still about the money as usual. The genie has been out of the bag. Nearly 1/3 of the states in the country have Medical Marijuana laws. The Felonious FEDS will NEVER WIN the WAR on Cannabis NEVER! They need to

Yes I do agree that there are so many sub par marijuana flowing around in Sac. Kinda of sad really however there is still hope with the internet revolution to share proper knowledge and methods.

I think that back then in late 1800's. The alcohol industry was so massive that it accounted nearly 70 to 80 percent of the federal's tax revenue. I think that when alcohol got banned, they turned to income tax to make up for lost revenue.

Income tax is BULLSHIT. We are supposed to keep 100 percent of our labor! This is war on our fundamental rights to pursuit happiness. FELONIOUS FEDs. 420x FUCK YOU!

 

[medmaker420]

So obama isn't the one many thought he was as far as ending the drug war and being someone lax on at least medical marijuana?

I am here in cali and man does it tick me off sometimes. We have had this great med state for YEARS and now since its around election time the politicians have to mess around with everything trying to get re-elected. Not sure how THIS is going to help obama stay in the white house though.

Marijuana could be a GREAT economic boost for the entire country and FURTHER for that matter. Ron Paul is the only candidate with the balls to actually STAND UP for our liberties as President. I don't see any other candidate doing that INCLUDING obama himself.

Why mess with cali obama?

 

[Midnight]

So obama isn't the one many thought he was as far as ending the drug war and being someone lax on at least medical marijuana?

I am here in cali and man does it tick me off sometimes. We have had this great med state for YEARS and now since its around election time the politicians have to mess around with everything trying to get re-elected. Not sure how THIS is going to help obama stay in the white house though.

Marijuana could be a GREAT economic boost for the entire country and FURTHER for that matter. Ron Paul is the only candidate with the balls to actually STAND UP for our liberties as President. I don't see any other candidate doing that INCLUDING obama himself.

Why mess with cali obama?

1. I fucking can't stand Obama.

2. You people need to quit blaming him for this!.

3. It's the fault of all the dumb asses that are openly flaunting their shit in the feds face. Non profit my fucking ass.

4. I hope very fucking dispensary that made even a nickle gets what is coming to them because the greedy bastards fucked us all, and without so much as even a reach around!