Pubdate: Sun, 25 Aug 2013
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Steve Lopez

HAZE OF ILLOGIC ON MARIJUANA

In City That Hosts Huge Pot Expo, Feds Target Small-Time Landlord

Marijuana policy, like immigration policy, is something the country 
just can't seem to get right.

For the latest evidence of how confusing pot laws can be, just take a 
look at Anaheim, where a property owner is fighting a federal 
government attempt to seize his two-story commercial building, which 
is worth about $1.5 million. Tony Jalali's crime? On two occasions he 
rented one of his 12 office spaces to medical marijuana dispensaries, 
thinking such operations were perfectly legal in California.

But the feds see things differently. After an undercover Anaheim 
police officer used a doctor's recommendation card to purchase $37 
worth of marijuana from the tenant, the U.S. Drug Enforcement 
Administration swooped in, and Jalali was notified last year that the 
federal government had initiated proceedings to seize the entire 
building in which the sale had taken place.

It's not hard to understand why Jalali was confused by mixed signals 
on marijuana policy, or why he was unaware of an Anaheim ordinance 
prohibiting dispensaries in the city. For one thing, there were other 
dispensaries in town when he rented space to an operator. And at its 
convention center, Anaheim hosts an annual event billed as the "the 
world's biggest marijuana festival."

"I saw banners on Artesia Boulevard," said Jalali. "Kush Expo. City 
of Anaheim."

That's right. Anaheim is home to a gigantic annual pot emporium, with 
more smoke in the air than you get from the average California wildfire.

Last month's extravaganza featured a "Hot Kush Girl Contest" and 
awards for the "best strains" in Southern California. Festival 
attendees were informed they couldn't sample the goods without 
marijuana recommendations from doctors, but no worries. "Doctors will 
be on site!" After looking at photos of the Kush Expo, I'm guessing 
that nearby Disneyland is only the second-happiest place on earth. 
And I'm wondering why the feds didn't just seize the convention center.

Adding to Jalali's confusion is the fact that California voters 
approved medical cannabis in 1996. Even the U.S. attorney's office in 
recent years has sent confusing signals as to where it stands.

"I had no idea I was doing anything wrong," said Jalali, who kicked 
out his pot tenant as soon as he got the seizure notice last year. 
But that wasn't enough to call off the dogs, and Jalali is still 
fighting to save his property in federal court, with the next hearing 
scheduled for Monday.

"I have property rights in this country," said Jalali, a computer 
engineer married to a dentist, with two kids in college. "I pay my 
taxes. I obey the law. I have a spotless record."

Jalali said he moved to the U.S. from Iran in 1978 to enjoy the 
benefits of country where rule of law prevails. He never dreamed the 
government could take his property without even accusing him of a 
crime. The city has claimed it sent two notices about problems with a 
dispensary to Jalali's home in Irvine, according to a Jalali 
attorney, but he denies receiving anything. As for the U.S. 
attorney's office, which initiated the seizure, it has admitted in 
court that it sent no warning to Jalali before moving to snatch 
property he bought in 2003 as a nest egg investment.

Not that it's any solace, but Jalali has lots of company.

One of his attorneys, Matthew Pappas, represents four other Southern 
California clients with similar seizures. Another of Jalali's 
attorneys, Larry Salzman of the Institute for Justice, said the Los 
Angeles branch of the U.S. attorney's office has filed 30 civil 
forfeiture cases against Southern California landlords with marijuana 
dispensaries since 2011, and sent "threatening letters" to an 
additional 500 landlords.

This is happening in other states as well.

"But California is really ground zero for the use of forfeiture in 
states that have decriminalized marijuana," said Salzman, who added 
that state law prohibits forfeiture of property unless the owner is 
convicted of a crime.

Salzman suggested a motive other than cracking down on drug use. He 
said that under what's called "equitable sharing," federal and local 
agencies are sharing the proceeds from confiscating property.

"If they take Tony's building," said Salzman, "the money is split 
between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the city of Anaheim. 
That financial incentive has driven a literal explosion in civil 
forfeiture activity...."

A spokesman for the Anaheim city attorney told me there'd be no 
comment on the Jalali case while it's being litigated.

Thom Mrozek, a U.S. attorney spokesman, said the sale of marijuana is 
against federal law and the "vast majority" of California's medical 
dispensaries do not comply with state law, either because they are 
for-profit operations or because they do not serve as primary 
caregivers. He said most of the 30 cases have not resulted in 
seizures, but that landlords in 11 cases have forked over a total of 
$532,000 to settle. And he added that his office is responding to an 
explosion of dispensaries that led to lots of problems for cities and 
for neighbors of the pot shops.

No doubt, many shops used the medical cover to sell pot for 
recreational use. But why not stop with the mixed signals, end the 
winless and costly war on drugs, and legalize, regulate and tax 
marijuana, which is nowhere near as big a social or medical problem 
as perfectly legal alcohol?

And if we're not yet ready for that, can't the feds simply shut an 
"illegal" pot dispensary rather than steal an entire building from a 
law-abiding landlord?
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom