Pubdate: Sun, 20 Jan 2013
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2013 Hearst Communications Inc.
Contact: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/submissions/#1
Website: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/388
Author: Debra J. Saunders
Page: E3

BELIEVE OBAMA, GO TO JAIL - ONE MAN'S SCARY STORY

Like a lot of Californians, Stockton businessman Matt Davies, 34, 
expected that when Barack Obama was elected in 2008, the new 
administration would not prosecute medical marijuana dispensaries 
operating under a law passed by California voters in 1996. After all, 
as a candidate, Obama contended that he saw federal enforcement 
against medical marijuana as a waste of resources.

On Oct. 19, 2009, Deputy Attorney General David Ogden released a memo 
that instructed the Department of Justice not to focus federal 
resources "on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous 
compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of 
marijuana." Davies took that memo as a green light to join the "green 
rush" and use his MBA expertise to run a taxpaying enterprise to 
distribute what he refers to as "medicine" to sick people.

Now that he faces a minimum sentence of seven years in prison if he 
pleads guilty, the father of two understands that he should have read 
the memo more carefully. "Looking back and reading that now, you can 
drive a Mack truck through that," Davies told me in a meeting with 
his wife Molly and attorney Steven Ragland. In fact, the Ogden memo 
clearly stated that Obama's Department of Justice would consider 
"prosecution of significant traffickers of illegal drugs, including 
marijuana" to be a "core priority."

Ah, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Davies says his 
grandfather died a painful death from stomach cancer. He wanted to 
help others avoid excruciating pain.

But he also had seen people run dispensaries the wrong way - for 
example, not paying their fair share of taxes - and he thought his 
experience running a bistro and property-management firm would enable 
him to show how medical marijuana dispensing could be done right. It 
clicked. "It was that whole Silicon Valley culture," he recalled. His 
workers felt they were "part of something."

Paradise started to crumble on Sept. 22, 2011, when a burglar alarm 
went off. A CHP officer stopped Davies and partner Lynn Smith, and 
Davies told the officer that the two were on their way to check on a 
Sacramento facility where they stored marijuana. In July, when a 
grand jury returned a two-count indictment for cultivating marijuana 
against Davies, Smith and Robert Duncan, 29, federal prosecutors 
reported that Davies' candor with the CHP started an investigation. 
Davies thinks they included that detail to make him look stupid.

Seen in another light, however, Davies argued, his honesty shows that 
he believed his Medizen Collective was legit. After all, if his 
business were not legal, would Sacramento have allowed him to apply 
for a $5,000 medical-marijuana dispensary permit? Would Sacramento 
have registered him as an "established operation?" Would Lloyd's of 
London have insured his marijuana stock?

"It didn't used to be a crime to believe your government," attorney 
Ragland intoned. Davies' other crime is standing up to federal 
prosecutors' excesses. Davies' two co-defendants are pleading guilty 
in return for expected terms of three and five years. But Eastern 
District of California U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner proposed a 
seven-year minimum sentence for Davies. Wagner even wrote that seven 
years would be "extremely lenient" in light of Davies' "very 
significant commercial operation." One of Davies' several 
dispensaries alone grossed more than $3 million annually.

Davies' attorneys have appealed to Attorney General Eric Holder to 
stop this travesty. On probation, Davies could continue to meet the 
payroll for his other businesses. He could pay taxes and contribute 
to Stockton's ailing economy.

In prison, Davies can serve as a testament to one truth alone: When 
you believe a politician, read the fine print.

[sidebar]

OBAMA'S SHIFTING STAND

Barack Obama "believes that states and local governments are best 
positioned to strike the balance between making sure that these 
policies are not abused for recreational drug use and making sure 
that doctors and their patients can safely access pain relief." - 
Campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt, May 2008

"What I specifically said was that we were not going to prioritize 
prosecutions of persons who are using medical marijuana. I never made 
a commitment that somehow we were going to give carte blanche to 
largescale producers and operators of marijuana   and the reason is, 
because it's against federal law." - President Obama to Rolling Stone 
magazine, April 2012

"We've got bigger fish to fry. ... It would not make sense for us to 
see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that 
have determined that it's legal." - Obama to ABC's Barbara Walters on 
Dec. 14 after voters in Colorado and Washington legalized 
recreational use of marijuana. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom