Federal prosecutors are cracking down on
hundreds of California medical-marijuana dispensaries that they say are
fronts for drug dealing.
- By Rich Pedroncelli, APU.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. holds up an enlarged copy of a marijuana magazine cover that cites California as the most profitable state for marijuana sales in Sacramento, Calif., Oct. 7.
By Rich Pedroncelli, AP
U.S.
Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. holds up an enlarged copy of a marijuana
magazine cover that cites California as the most profitable state for
marijuana sales in Sacramento, Calif., Oct. 7.
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The
aggressive and wide-ranging action targets commercial operations that
are growing and supplying large quantities of marijuana, and
dispensaries and stores located near schools and parks, prosecutors
said.
"The California marijuana industry is not about providing medicine to the sick," said Laura Duffy, the U.S. attorney in San Diego. "It's a pervasive for-profit industry that violates federal law."
Marijuana
is legal for medical use in California, 15 other states and Washington,
D.C., but is subject to strict regulation. The state laws conflict with
federal law, which does not recognize any legal use for marijuana. It
is unclear whether similar crackdowns will follow in other states.
"While
we wouldn't speculate on what action we might or might not take with
respect to any particular matter, the department has made clear that
large-scale industrial marijuana cultivation centers are subject to
potential federal enforcement action," Justice Department spokeswoman Jessica Smith said.
In
June, a Justice Department memo to U.S. attorneys said dispensaries and
licensed growers could be prosecuted for violating federal drug and
money-laundering laws. A previous policy memo had indicated that the
Justice Department considered such prosecutions a low priority in states
with medical marijuana laws.
"The Obama
administration, in what seems to be a concerted effort across the state,
is betraying the promise it originally made to leave patients and their
caregivers alone," said Stephen Gutwillig, California director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "We think this is an outrageous expression of bad faith, bad policy and bad politics."
Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said the crackdown is aimed at stores that "are selling marijuana at a profit, which is also in violation of California law."
U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. in Los Angeles lodged criminal drug-trafficking charges against a North Hollywood marijuana store that allegedly made $15 million in profits in eight months.
In
an indictment unsealed this week, prosecutors say six people who
operated the store distributed 600 to 700 pounds of marijuana a month
and shipped it illegally to two other states.
Federal
prosecutors in Los Angeles also filed three civil lawsuits involving
two buildings and a strip mall. The lawsuit against an Orange County
strip mall alleges that eight of the 11 suites on the second floor
sold marijuana. Prosecutors warned owners and landlords of 38 other
stores that they had two weeks to stop marijuana sales or face
prosecution.
"For-profit, commercial marijuana
operations are illegal not only under federal law, but also under
California law," Birotte said.
In San Diego,
U.S. Attorney Duffy said her office sent hundreds of letters to
marijuana stores warning them to stop selling marijuana within 45 days
or face prosecution. She said the four U.S. attorneys in California
coordinated a federal enforcement action in response to requests for
help from local police.
Prosecutors also
charged six people with selling marijuana to minors, money laundering
and other charges related to their operation of two stores near colleges
that sold high-grade marijuana and marijuana-laden candy, cookies,
bubble gum, ice cream and barbecue sauce. Prosecutors say the stores
catered to college and high school students.
Increased
federal intervention is likely to unify marijuana growers and sellers
in a drive to change federal policy, National Cannabis Industry
Association spokeswoman Melissa Milam said.
"We're
not going anywhere. We're mothers, we're patients, we're family members
of patients," she said. "We want to pay taxes, we want to be able to
make deposits at our bank, we want to be a business."
State Sen. Mark Leno,
a Democrat who has worked to safeguard and regulate medical marijuana
in California, said, "I don't understand the politics of it, and
certainly if we haven't learned anything over the past century, it's
that prohibition does not work."
Some cities
have already sought to shut down dispensaries that they say are
violating zoning ordinances and breaking state law. The city of San
Diego says its zoning laws forbid medical marijuana dispensaries, yet
more than 160 operate there. Last month, the city attorney sued to close
12 dispensaries operating within 600 feet of schools.
"We
have an untenable situation right now and a lot of policy conflicts,"
City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said. "This situation cries out for ultimate
policy direction from the state and federal levels that local
communities can rely upon."
Contributing: The Associated Press
