Pubdate: Tue, 22 Jan 2013
Source: Effingham Daily News (IL)
Copyright: 2013, Creators Syndicate
Contact:  http://effinghamdailynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2281
Author: Debra J. Saunders
Page: A1

OBAMA'S PROMISE COULD SEND YOU TO PRISON

Like a lot of Californians, Stockton businessman Matt Davies, 34, 
expected that when Barack Obama was elected in 2008, the new 
administration would not prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries 
operating under a law passed by California voters in 1996. After all, 
as a candidate, Obama contended that he saw federal enforcement 
against medical marijuana as a waste of resources.

On Oct. 19, 2009, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden released a memo 
that instructed the Department of Justice not to focus federal 
resources "on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous 
compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of 
marijuana." Davies took that memo as a green light to join the "green 
rush" and use his MBA expertise to run a taxpaying enterprise to 
distribute what he refers to as "medicine" to sick people.

Now that he faces a minimum sentence of seven years in prison if he 
pleads guilty, the father of two understands that he should have read 
the memo more carefully. "Looking back and reading that now, you can 
drive a Mack truck through that," Davies told me in a meeting with 
his wife, Molly, and attorney Steven Ragland. In fact, the Ogden memo 
clearly stated that Obama's Department of Justice would consider 
"prosecution of significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including 
marijuana," to be a "core priority."

Ah, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Davies says his 
grandfather died a painful death from stomach cancer. He wanted to 
help others avoid excruciating pain.

But he also had seen people run dispensaries the wrong way - for 
example, not paying their fair share of taxes - and he thought his 
experience running a bistro and property management firm would enable 
him to show how medical marijuana dispensing could be done right. It 
clicked. "It was that whole Silicon Valley culture," he recalled. His 
workers felt they were "part of something."

Paradise started to crumble Sept. 22, 2011, when a burglar alarm went 
off. A California Highway Patrol officer stopped Davies and partner 
Lynn Smith, and Davies told the officer that the two were on their 
way to check on a Sacramento facility where they stored marijuana. In 
July, when a grand jury returned a two-count indictment for 
cultivating marijuana against Davies, Smith and Robert Duncan, 29, 
federal prosecutors reported that Davies' candor with the CHP started 
an investigation. Davies thinks they included that detail to make him 
look stupid.

Seen in another light, however, Davies argued, his honesty shows that 
he believed his Medizen Collective was legit. After all, if his 
business were not legal, would Sacramento have allowed him to apply 
for a $5,000 medical marijuana dispensary permit? Would Sacramento 
have registered him as an "established operation"? Would Lloyd's of 
London have insured his marijuana stock?

"It didn't used to be a crime to believe your government," attorney 
Ragland intoned. Davies' other crime is standing up to federal 
prosecutors' excesses. Davies' two co-defendants are pleading guilty 
in return for expected terms of three and five years, respectively. 
But U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner proposed a seven-year minimum 
sentence for Davies. Wagner even wrote that seven years would be 
"extremely lenient" in light of Davies' "very significant commercial 
operation." One of Davies' several dispensaries alone grossed more 
than $3 million annually.

Davies' attorneys have appealed to Attorney General Eric Holder to 
stop this travesty. On probation, Davies could continue to meet the 
payroll for his other businesses. He could pay taxes and contribute 
to Stockton's ailing economy.

In prison, Davies can serve as a testament to one truth alone: When 
you believe a politician, read the fine print.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom