Pubdate: Mon, 27 Feb 2012
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2012 The Denver Post Corp
Contact:  http://www.denverpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/122
Author: John Ingold, The Denver Post

MEDICAL-MARIJUANA SHOPS NEAR SCHOOLS FACE CUTOFF TODAY: CLOSE OR MOVE

In the ongoing stare-down between state-legal medical-marijuana
dispensaries and federal law-enforcement officials, today is the day
somebody blinks.

Letters sent last month to 23 dispensaries near schools in Colorado
gave the businesses until today to either move or shut down. If they
do not, the U.S. attorney's office has vowed to take criminal or civil
action against the businesses, which are inherently violating federal
law but are in compliance with state medical-marijuana law.

U.S. Attorney John Walsh has said he is not bluffing.

"I hope," Colorado U.S. attorney's spokesman Jeff Dorschner said,
"those marijuana stores that received letters took them seriously."

By most accounts, they did.

Mike Elliott, the executive director of the Medical Marijuana Industry
Group, a cannabis-business trade organization, said he hasn't heard of
any dispensaries planning to stay open and fight the feds.

"Everyone I know of is planning on shutting their business down,"
Elliott said.

Medical-marijuana attorney Lauren Davis said her clients that received
letters plan to move or close, though she said there are rumors that
some dispensaries may try to stay open on the sly.

In Colorado Springs, Judy Negley said the downtown location of her
Indispensary will not be open starting today because the store, which
is near Palmer High School, received a letter.

Negley said the decision was a difficult one but was ultimately made
because of the "absolute undue hardship they could rain down on the
property."

Negley said she worried that the government might try to seize not
just her dispensary but also Independent Records, which she also owns.
She said workers at the downtown Indispensary will be offered jobs at
other branches.

"We care about these people and the patients as well," Negley said.
"We want to take care of our patients and our employees. The best way
to do that is to avoid getting into an unwinnable fight with someone
with an ax to grind."

Indeed, beating the feds when it comes to medical marijuana is a tall
task. Federal judges, in Colorado and other states, have frequently
denied attempts to raise state-law defenses in federal criminal cases.

Davis, the attorney, said winning back property during a civil
forfeiture action is equally difficult, since federal law contains a
blanket condemnation of marijuana.

"It is close to impossible to win in a federal forfeiture action," she
said.

Walsh has said the crackdown is necessary because of concerns over how
Colorado's medical-marijuana boom is affecting teen access to and
perception of marijuana. He has cited statistics showing a rising
number of drug-related suspensions and expulsions at schools, as well
as reports that medical marijuana is being diverted to teens.

Though the federal government has showed some willingness to defer to
state medical-marijuana laws, Walsh said he must still uphold federal
law-enforcement priorities.

"One of those interests, without question, is protecting drug-free
zones around schools," he said last month.
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.