Pubdate: Fri, 11 Dec 2009
Source: Porterville Recorder (CA)
Copyright: 2009 Freedom Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.recorderonline.com/sections/editor-form/
Website: http://www.recorderonline.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2887
Author: Jenna Chandler
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

SHERIFF SHUTS DOWN MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS

On Thursday, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department  served seven
medical marijuana shops with orders,  forcing them to shut down for
not being in compliance  with federal laws.

The checks were in accordance with a recently enacted  Tulare County
law that applies to unincorporated areas.

Operators, like Melanie Mendes, were provided copies of  the new
ordinance that requires they comply with  unaligned county, state, and
federal laws.

"Right now they are out of compliance," Lt. Keith  Douglass said.
"They have to obey all state and federal  laws, and federal law says
you can not [provide medical  marijuana]."

They were given 10 days to stop offering medical  marijuana or face
criminal charges.

"It was like a funeral at the shop yesterday," Mendes  said, while
holding back tears. "I've got people that  drag their pain pumps in
and come in wheel chairs.  They're asking me for help that I can't
give them  anymore."

Mendes, who operates Tipton-based Earth Meds, said she  will clear out
the medical marijuana, but keep  providing information about how to
grow the plants and  where to find the medicine elsewhere. There are
two  shops in the city of Tulare, she said.

When Tulare County supervisors adopted the ordinance in  November,
they said it was a preventative step in case  the federal government
recognizes that marijuana has  legitimate medicinal values. The
ordinance restricts  where the marijuana can be smoked, how many
plants can  be grown, does not allow for edible or drinkables and
caps the number of distribution outlets to three.

The ordinance took effect Thursday.

According to the federal government, smoking marijuana  for medical
purposes is illegal. A California law  enacted by voters in 1996,
however, prevents law  enforcement from punishing marijuana users when
a  physician has recommended its use to treat serious  medical conditions.

Local law enforcement agencies throughout the state  have struggled
with the conflict in the law.

In the past, federally led criminal raids took place to  halt the
drug's distribution, but the Obama  administration recently declared
it would stop cracking  down on the 14 states that allow medical marijuana.

"The fact that this in place does not mean that your  board has
authorized the activity, it does not change  the state law regulation,
and all of this is still  illegal under federal law," said County
Counsel  Kathleen Bales-Lange.

The only distribution sites currently permitted in  California are
collectives and cooperatives, where  transactions of medical marijuana
between cardholders  are facilitated without incurring a profit.
Dispensaries, or other for-profit shops, are illegal.

To obtain medical marijuana at Earth Meds, Mendes said  people provide
monetary donations, soil and nutrients  for growing, or their edibles
and drinkables are not  provided and the buds are not smoked, or even
grown,  inside the building.

"I've got 10 days to try to help my patients and to see  if there is
anything my attorney can do," she said.  "The entire ordinance is
ambiguous. I'm not doing  anything wrong under the attorney general's
guidelines  and state law."

Earth Meds used to service approximately 25 South  County residents
daily. Each one of them had a doctor's  recommendation, according to
Mendes.

"We did everything possible to comply with their  ordinance, the only
thing we're not in compliance with  is the two words 'federal law,'"
she said. 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D