Pubdate: Fri, 20 Mar 2009
Source: Contra Costa Times (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Knight Ridder
Contact:  http://www.contracostatimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/96
Author: Brandon Lowrey
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/dispensaries
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

FEDS END POT RAIDS AT VALID CLINICS

TRUCE: New Policy Aimed At Reconciling State, Federal Law

Despite word from Washington that there'll be fewer federal raids on 
medical-marijuana dispensaries, Los Angeles police and city officials 
said Thursday they'll still go after storefront pot peddlers who sell 
to school kids and recreational users.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder declared this week that the federal 
Drug Enforcement Agency would not arrest medical-marijuana patients 
or raid dispensaries that had not broken state laws.

It was a clear break from the Bush administration's pot policy, which 
called for raids on medical-marijuana dispensaries even after 
California voters legalized them.

The policy shift comes at a critical time for Los Angeles.

City officials are trying to put together a medical-marijuana 
ordinance before a two-year moratorium on new dispensaries ends in September.

City Councilman Dennis Zine, an advocate for strictly-medicinal 
marijuana facilities, said he and other officials are working to 
regulate legitimate dispensaries and get rid of shady operations.

"We are moving forward with our ordinance," Zine said. "Many 
establishments are violating the moratorium, (and are) scams for 
recreational use of marijuana. The ones that remain ... will be 
licensed and regulated and doing what they need to do to help people."

L.A. Police Department officials said they will continue to enforce 
state regulations, but not the federal ban. They said officers will 
make arrests when dispensaries appear to be operating outside the 
boundaries of state law selling to nonpatients or essentially serving 
as fronts for illegal drug operations.

LAPD Deputy Chief Michel Moore said the test will be: "Does it 
demonstrate it is part of a medical process, or is it merely under 
that guise while it takes all comers by virtue of the cash they carry?"

Holder's announcement marks the latest shift in a legal and political 
battle resulting from conflict in federal and state marijuana laws.

California state voters approved a ballot measure in 1996 that 
legalized medical marijuana, used as a pain reliever by patients with 
cancer, glaucoma and other ailments.

But federal law uncompromisingly bans the drug, leading to situations 
in which federal authorities were raiding dispensaries that local 
police had left alone.

Potentially adding more confusion to the issue, a bill now pending in 
the state Legislature would decriminalize marijuana altogether in 
California, although again it would not supersede federal law.

The Obama administration's policy will not change the fate of anyone 
already being prosecuted in federal court, said Thom Mrozek, 
spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.

"We will continue to litigate the cases that we have already brought 
in federal courts," he said.

This bodes ill for the closely watched case of Central California 
dispensary owner Charles Lynch, who was arrested in a 2007 raid and 
convicted last year on federal drug charges.

Lynch is set to be sentenced Monday by a federal judge in Los Angeles 
after a high-profile criminal trial.

Prosecutors are seeking the mandatory minimum sentence of five years 
in federal prison.

In court documents, prosecutors argued that although Lynch made some 
efforts to run a legitimate business, he violated both state and 
federal law by selling outside of his business and to minors.

The state's medical-marijuana advocates welcomed the federal policy change.

"Does (Holder's announcement) mean we are going to see less raids?" 
said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access, an 
Oakland-based medical-marijuana advocacy group. "We certainly hope so."

Still, both federal and local authorities said they will go after 
drug traffickers and dealers who simply use California's medical 
marijuana laws as a shield.

In one such case in January, LAPD officers responding to a burglary 
call at a warehouse near Van Nuys Regional Airport stumbled into a 
huge operation for growing and packaging marijuana.

Authorities found about 2,000 marijuana plants, with an estimated 
street value of more than $1 million. Investigators linked it to four 
other locations, which included another growing facility and a 
packaging center.

The owner claimed to own a medical-marijuana clinic but refused to 
say which one, said LAPD Lt. Thomas Smart.

"For those of us who have been trying to stick to the spirit of the 
California laws here, (Holder's announcement is) very exciting news," 
said Jennifer Ferrell, spokeswoman for the Greater Los Angeles 
Caregivers Alliance, a medical marijuana advocacy group.

But she called on city leaders to hurry up with guidelines for local 
dispensaries.

"We need to get a city law into effect immediately. ... Otherwise, 
it's going to turn into the Wild West out here."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom