Pubdate: Thu, 27 Sep 2007
Source: Santa Barbara Independent, The (CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Santa Barbara Independent, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.independent.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4348
Cited: Americans for Safe Access http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Americans+for+Safe+Access

FEDS TARGET S.B. MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS

Up in Smoke?

After enjoying years of relatively hassle-free business, Santa 
Barbara's medical marijuana scene is feeling the heat this week, with 
a distinctly ganja-scented cloud of uncertainty hanging over its 
future in the wake of a federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 
letter-writing campaign.

In recent days, more than a dozen local property owners have received 
word from the DEA that they could face the potential seizure of their 
property and assets if they continue to rent space to cannabis 
companies - a threat that has dispensary operators and building 
owners alike waiting to exhale. Feeling the fallout from the letters, 
at least two of the City of Santa Barbara's 10 dispensaries are 
facing eviction notices, while many others are working overtime with 
their landlords to prevent a similar fate from befalling their 
storefronts. "Make no mistake about it: The DEA has officially come 
to Santa Barbara," said Jennifer Nelson, the head of Santa Barbara's 
chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a national nonprofit 
dedicated to protecting the rights of medical marijuana patients.

Though no actual litigation has yet resulted, the DEA has in the past 
month sent out at least 150 similar letters to property owners 
throughout the state - the bulk of them to addresses in Southern 
California, said Kris Hermes, an ASA spokesperson. "Basically, for no 
more than the cost of postage, [the DEA] gets to shut down as many 
dispensaries as possible," Hermes said. In his estimation, the 
letters are "no more than scare tactics," given the fact that in the 
11 years since Proposition 215 was implemented in California, the 
federal government has been successful only twice in seizing a 
building or house related to a medical marijuana dispensary raid. 
That being said, Hermes admits the letter campaign is a huge setback 
for dispensaries, as it works to scare away both current and 
potential landlords. "Without a doubt, this makes it more difficult 
to operate facilities in Santa Barbara and throughout California, for 
that matter."

An informal survey of Santa Barbara's 10 dispensaries on Tuesday 
morning showed business as usual for club owners and employees, 
though all universally expressed a certain degree of worry about 
eviction or - even worse - a federal raid. "If nothing else, this is 
a reality check for us," said one of Santa Barbara's longtime 
operators. "It is a reminder of the serious risks we and our 
landlords take ... Let's just hope it isn't a sign of things to 
come." Another club owner, who had already been told he was going to 
be evicted in coming weeks, commented, "As a businessman, I can't say 
I blame them. Unfortunately, this makes it up to the landlords from 
now on and whether they personally want to take a stand or not." 
(Both dispensary operators asked that their names not be used.)

Adding a serious wrinkle to the DEA development, the Santa Barbara 
City Council voted unanimously this week to place a moratorium on 
medical cannabis clubs within city limits. Retroactive to August 14, 
the decision - which was supported by a coalition of club owners - 
was meant to stop the perceived proliferation of dispensaries pending 
the development of a set of universal rules and regulations governing 
everything from zoning to hours of operation for the clubs. While an 
unknown number of businesses are grandfathered in under this 
legislation and therefore exempt from the moratorium, it remains to 
be seen whether clubs evicted in the coming weeks will lose their 
grandfathered status, given that their current business licenses are 
based upon addresses that might become inaccurate if their businesses 
were to be evicted. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake