Pubdate: Wed, 26 Sep 2012
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2012 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Authors: Kate Linthicum and Andrew Blankstein

U.S. RAIDS POT SHOPS, WARNS OPERATORS

Officials Give a Two-Week Deadline for 67 Stores to Comply With Federal Law.

Federal officials brought their war on medical marijuana dispensaries 
to Los Angeles on Tuesday, raiding several shops and issuing warning 
letters to dozens more.

Officials at the U.S. attorney's office said it was the first 
large-scale federal action taken against cannabis shops in the city, 
and said more will probably follow.

"We couldn't do all of L.A. at once," said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman 
for the office. "There's just too many stores."

The crackdown adds a dramatic element to the already tense fight over 
the fate of medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. And it 
underscores the stern stance of the federal government that the sale 
and distribution of cannabis is illegal, no matter what cities do to 
try to regulate the industry.

Over the last year, federal authorities have targeted pot businesses 
across California, including a high-profile raid at a marijuana trade 
school in Oakland, where proceeds on medical marijuana are taxed.

The Southern California effort began in October in Orange County and 
has since moved east into the Inland Empire and north into Los Angeles County.

Prosecutors went to court Tuesday to file civil asset forfeiture 
complaints against the owners of three Eagle Rock properties for 
allowing three commercial marijuana stores to operate: Together for 
Change Collective, House of Kush and ER Collective.

The Drug Enforcement Administration also executed search warrants at 
three locations - in downtown, Boyle Heights and Silver Lake.

Mrozek said authorities have mailed warning letters to the property 
owners and operators of an additional 67 dispensaries, mostly in 
Eagle Rock and downtown, giving them two weeks to comply with federal 
law. A marijuana business in Huntington Park, believed to be the only 
one in that city, was also told to shut down.

The actions come as L.A. officials and medical marijuana activists 
gear up for a ballot measure fight over the fate of a recent city ban 
on dispensaries.

The City Council approved a ban on the storefront sale of marijuana 
this summer, saying that each of the estimated 750 pot shops 
operating across the city must close. The ordinance would allow small 
groups of patients to grow and share the drug.

But before the ban went into effect, activists seeking to strike it 
down saw their challenge qualify for the ballot. That means the City 
Council now must choose whether to repeal the ordinance, replace it 
with a modified version or let voters decide. Several council 
members, including Jose Huizar, who pushed for the ban, say they 
intend to put the referendum on the March 5 ballot.

Huizar, who represents Eagle Rock and much of downtown, cheered the 
federal crackdown and called on state legislators "to create a better 
way of providing access for seriously ill patients while removing the 
scores of profiteers and recreational users who currently dominate the market."

Huizar and others complain that California's law guaranteeing 
patients safe access to medical marijuana is too vague in how the 
drug should be regulated.

In the early days of President Obama's tenure, Atty. Gen. Eric H. 
Holder Jr. said federal prosecutors would not target medical 
marijuana users and caregivers as long as they followed state laws.

But as the risk of prosecution diminished, storefront dispensaries 
and enormous growing operations proliferated in California, often in 
brazen defiance of zoning laws and local bans.

Last year, the four U.S. attorneys assigned to the state announced 
that they were taking aim at large scale growers.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom