Pubdate: Tue, 17 Jul 2007
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
Cited: Americans for Safe Access http://www.americansforsafeaccess.org
Cited: California NORML http://www.canorml.org
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Proposition+215
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Marijuana - Medicinal)

DEA TARGETS LANDLORDS OF POT OUTLETS

About 150 L.A. Owners Are Told They Could Face Jail and Lose 
Properties Rented to Dispensaries.

Raising the stakes in the federal government's war against medical 
marijuana, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has warned more 
than 150 Los Angeles landlords that they risk arrest and the loss of 
their properties if they continue renting to cannabis dispensaries.

The two-page letter sent last week by Timothy J. Landrum, DEA special 
agent in charge of the Los Angeles office, has whipped up worries 
among landlords and dispensary operators in a region that has seen a 
proliferation of the businesses in the last two years.

"I'm devastated," said Lisa Sawoya, who left her lucrative job 
selling high-tech hospital equipment to open a dispensary 18 months 
ago in Hollywood. "My landlord believes in cannabis as medicine. But 
they're taking the letter very seriously. So I'll be closing my doors 
at the end of this month."

Sarah Pullen, a DEA spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said the purpose of 
the letters was to "educate" property owners at risk because they 
were housing marijuana dispensaries.

"By renting their property to individuals violating fed drug laws, 
they are in and of themselves violating federal law," Pullen said. 
"These are definitely meant to serve as a notice. What might happen 
as to the continuing investigations, we'll just have to see."

The DEA move has focused entirely on Los Angeles. Activists suspect 
that the logistics and timing -- more than a decade after state 
voters legalized medical marijuana with the passage of Proposition 
215 -- is intended to thin the ranks of Los Angeles dispensaries on 
the eve of new city regulations. A proposed city ordinance would cap 
and regulate the number of outlets, which now number more than 400.

Medical marijuana activists say most of the landlords take the threat 
seriously and have asked the dispensaries to move out.

"Raiding dispensaries and arresting patients hasn't worked to end 
medical marijuana, so the DEA is trying a new tactic and claiming a 
new victim in this war," said Steph Sherer of Americans for Safe 
Access, a group that supports medical marijuana.

Dale Gieringer of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana 
Laws said the DEA crackdown won't stop patients' marijuana use. 
Instead, he said, they could be driven to find drugs in the illegal 
market, potentially putting themselves at risk.

In recent years, courts have upheld the federal government's ability 
to seize assets. After the DEA raided the Los Angeles Cannabis 
Resource Center in 2001, the federal government seized more than 
$300,000 that West Hollywood had loaned the center to purchase its building.

Gieringer said the most likely outcome of Landrum's letter would be 
numerous evictions and shutdowns followed by a few select forfeiture 
prosecutions "to scare remaining landlords."

Hap Kent, who runs Therapeutic Medicinal Health Resources in Sherman 
Oaks, said he hoped that the DEA would consider letting dispensaries 
operate for another six months, so patients weren't immediately 
pushed out on the streets.

"I don't want to put my landlord in jeopardy. I refuse to do that," 
said Kent, whose dispensary serves patients with AIDS, multiple 
sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and other serious afflictions. "All 
we want is an amicable amount of time."

Though the possibility of eviction looms for many of the 
dispensaries, Kent sees a possible silver lining -- a political 
outcry that could get the state to finally respond to voters' wishes 
and take on the role of directly supplying medical marijuana.

"That's the way it should have been from the beginning," he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake