Pubdate: Fri, 21 Aug 2015
Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)
Copyright: 2015 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: Bob Egelko

OAKLAND LOSES BID TO KEEP POT SHOP OPEN

Oakland has no right to challenge the government's attempt to shut 
down the huge Harborside medical marijuana dispensary even though it 
would cost the city millions of dollars in tax revenues, a federal 
appeals court ruled Thursday.

U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag filed suit in July 2012 to confiscate the 
Harborside Health Center's property along the Oakland Estuary for 
violating the federal ban on marijuana. Harborside, which serves 
108,000 patients and is the nation's largest licensed pot dispensary, 
is fighting the forfeiture suit in federal court, saying it violates 
other federal laws and the Obama administration's stated policy of 
deferring to state medical marijuana laws. Its case has been on hold 
while the courts decide whether the city can intervene.

Oakland's suit against the Justice Department argues that it has a 
financial stake in Harborside's survival. The city said it collected 
more than $1.4 million in taxes from Harborside and three other 
city-licensed dispensaries in 2012. City officials said a shutdown 
would also increase crime by forcing many of the dispensary's 
patients to turn to street dealers.

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed Thursday that Oakland 
has interests of its own at stake, but said the federal government 
has the authority to decide when to seek confiscation of property for 
alleged legal violations, and neither the city nor any other outsider 
has the right to intervene.

Like a prosecutor's decision on whether to file criminal charges, the 
Justice Department's determination to file a forfeiture suit is 
"committed to agency discretion" and can't be challenged by anyone 
except the property owner, the court said in a 3-0 ruling, upholding 
a lower-court decision against the city. The ruling was written by 
Stephen Murphy, a federal judge from Detroit temporarily assigned to 
the appeals court.

The court did not mention the city's arguments that the shutdown 
conflicted with the Obama administration's stated policy on medical 
marijuana or with congressional budget restrictions prohibiting the 
Justice Department from interfering with a state's implementation of 
its medical marijuana law. Cedric Chao, a lawyer for Oakland, said 
the city would consider a further appeal.

The ruling means "Oakland and its citizens have been harmed but have 
no access to the courts," Chao said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom