Cities Balk as Federal Law on Marijuana Is Enforced

[groovedaddy]

ARCATA, Calif. — Faced with growing chaos in the state’s medical marijuana industry, this city in Northern California passed an ordinance in 2008 that meticulously detailed, over 11 pages, how the drug could be grown and sold here.

Humboldt Medical Supply, a dispensary here in Humboldt County regarded as a law-abiding model that has given free cannabis to elderly patients, became the first to obtain a permit in 2010. The Sai Center, whose owner has a history of flouting city regulations and was described by the mayor as running his business “purely for profit,” was rejected last year.

Humboldt Medical quickly closed shop after federal prosecutors began shuttering hundreds of dispensaries in October in one of the biggest crackdowns on medical marijuana since its legalization in California in 1996. The Sai Center’s owner moved locations and has defied the authorities by continuing to operate, most recently out of his mother’s house. City officials, afraid of becoming targets themselves of the prosecutors, have suspended the applications of two other dispensaries that were expected to be approved.

“We feel the federal government’s actions have had a very negative effect,” said Mayor Michael Winkler. “We’re very upset with their actions.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/01/us/hundreds-of-california-medical-marijuana-shops-close.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120701

[villager]

1. The MMJ policy has been one of the most spectacular failures of the Obama administration

n/t

[immoderate]

2. If by "failure" you mean "double-cross."

--imm

[villager]

3. ...and if by "double-cross" we mean "deliberately broken campaign promise..."

Alas...

[tridim]

4. Yet there are thousands more legal dispensaries operating today than there were 4 years ago.

Amazing how that works huh?

Do you really believe Bush did a better job with MMJ, because that's the logical implication.

[DreamSmoker]

5. Wrong

There are a hand full compared to before the Feds invaded California Last year my Friend...
I am not debating just stating Fact..
I am a MMJ Patient who has been there and has the experiences..
Its has left Patients in California back to the streets for there Cannabis...
Mexican Shwag is the Norm there...
My God... No way to know what they grew that crap in. On top of that supporting the Mexican Drug Lords.....
MMJ is unlike most street weed..
Its grown with care and science as well as being grown in a some what sterile, controlled environment...

Now so many Dispensaries closed leaving no safe access at all..Most if still operating are now delivery only...

The DEA is picking off the Rest one by one until they are all gone or something changes....
Small indoor grows by individual Patients are now being left alone by Local Police in many cities.. So the only access besides the Streets is who you You..

This was the DEA's goal.. Shut down California Dispensaries and Big Grows that support them... Where the Big Buck $$$ GO...
Its all about the Big $$$$$$..

[villager]

6. Who are you going to believe? Your own eyes, or the desperate spin for a failed policy!?

n/t

[tridim]

7. I'm talking about the entire country, not just CA.

The dispensaries that closed in CA, as you well know, were allegedly breaking state law. You always leave that fact out.

The administration never said that they would allow dispensaries to operate while breaking state law. Nor should they.

[Upton]

8. Still defending this BS, huh?

and it's not just about Ca., they've closed dispensaries here in Washington state too. The DOJ has sent letters threatening to jail state employees and confiscate property. Obama's people have been all over the MMJ states. Pretending it isn't happening doesn't make it go away. At least the DA out of Boulder is one Colorado resident who isn't in denial about the crackdown. He had this to say to the Feds in March:

"I can see no legitimate basis in this judicial district to focus the resources of the United States government on the medical marijuana dispensaries that are otherwise compliant with Colorado law or local regulation," Garnett wrote in the letter to Colorado U.S. Attorney John Walsh. "The people of Boulder County do not need Washington, D.C., or the federal government dictating how far dispensaries should be from schools, or other fine points of local land-use law."

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20177075/boulder-da-asks-feds-ease-up-medical-marijuana?source=pkg

[tridim]

9. Defending actual reality, yes, and debunking the bullshit that has been spreading for 3.5 years now.

State law is state law. If you break the law you should be shut down.

I dealt intimately with CO state law when attempting to open my own dispensary. We were not able to open our location near schools or day cares, which is exactly why some
dispensaries are being shut down today.

[DreamSmoker]

10. Here are the Facts

Last edited Thu Jul 5, 2012, 02:58 PM - Edit history (1)

On the issue of whether dispensaries are legal under state law, the AMCC court ruled that, "[T]he repeated use of the term 'dispensary' throughout [Health and Safety Code section 11362.768] and the reference in subdivision (e) to a 'storefront or mobile retail outlet' make it abundantly clear that the medical marijuana collectives authorized by section 11362.775 are permitted by state law to perform a dispensary function." The AMCC further held that, "[Los Angeles] County's total, per se nuisance ban against medical marijuana dispensaries directly contradicts the Legislature's intent," and called that contradiction "direct, patent, obvious, and palpable."

This landmark decision comes as a number of other state appellate court rulings impacting dispensaries have been granted review by the California Supreme Court, including Pack v. City of Long Beach, which addresses how localities can regulate distribution, and City of Riverside v. Inland Empire Patient's Health and Wellness, which deals with whether municipalities can permanently ban distribution. The California Supreme Court could also decide to review the AMCC ruling, which it will decide in the next several weeks.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/health/addiction/california-appeals-court-medical-marijuana-dispensaries-are-legal

http://americansforsafeaccess.org/downloads/AMCC_Superior_Court_Decision.pdf