In the last ten years we have seen the Federal Government’s view on medical marijuana evolve.
In 2000 President George W. Bush campaigned that he would let states make decisions about medical marijuana, saying “I believe each state can choose that decision as they so choose.” The number of dispensaries increased throughout his term in office. However during this period the DEA continued to raid dispensaries often without the assistance from local law enforcement. This was not the ideal situation for medical marijuana providers – Federal minimum sentencing was still in full effect and a guilty conviction in Federal court would mean a stiff prison sentence.
Obama Administration – Change? Think again. (March 2009)
In March of 2009, after President Obama took office, federal Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said the current administration was taking a new approach to federal drug laws and would end the frequent raids on distributors of medical marijuana that were commonplace during the Bush administration. Specifically, “Given the limited resources that we have, our focus will be on people, organizations that are growing, cultivating substantial amounts of marijuana and doing so in a way that’s inconsistent with federal and state law.” Everyone in the medical marijuana industry felt this was a giant win. Finally, providers and patients could breathe easy, for a little while, at least.
Prop 19 (November 2010)
On Nov 2nd 2010 Californians voted on the legalization of marijuana for recreational use. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder threatened to “vigorously enforce” federal marijuana laws even if California voters approved the ballot measure. In a letter to former Drug Enforcement Administration officials, Holder stated that “the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19.” And if passed, he said, it “would provide a significant impediment to … efforts by law enforcement to target drug traffickers who frequently distribute marijuana alongside cocaine and other controlled substances.”
Unfortunately, Proposition 19 lost 46.2% to 53.8%, but that showed that a substantial number of Californians want change and feel that there are many positives that would come from legalization. Our fingers are crossed that a modified proposition for legalization will pass in the near future.
Federal Prosecutors Attack Property Owners (October 2011)
In early October, 2011, the federal government did an about-face. At a news conference in Sacramento, Andre Birotte Jr., the Los Angeles-based U.S. attorney for the Central District, stated that (his) Southern California region is home to the highest concentration of dispensaries in the nation. “We have yet to find a single instance in which a marijuana store was able to prove that it was a not-for-profit organization,” he said.
“That is not what the California voters intended or authorized, and it is illegal under federal law,” he said. “It does not allow this brick-and-mortar, Costco-Walmart-type model that we see across California.”
California’s four federal prosecutors also sent a number of letters to the property owners of these dispensaries, giving them two weeks to shut down. This same tactic was used by the Bush administration to successfully close a number of dispensaries in 2007. The feds can legally seize these properties through civil forfeiture if push comes to shove. According to the letters signed by U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy in San Diego, “Real and personal property involved in such operations are subject to seizure by and forfeiture to the United States … regardless of the purported purpose of the dispensary.” Luckily, most of the recently sent letters were nothing more than empty threats.
Federal Government Closes Down Dispensaries and Threatens To Seize Property (April 2012)
In April 2012, the DEA raided and shut down Oaksterdam University, the main medical cannabis industry trade school that was founded by Richard Lee in Oakland, California. A number of dispensaries and grow facilities were also raided in Southern California around that time. In early May of 2012, federal agents raided two dispensaries in Santa Barbara and issued cease and desist letters to the ten remaining dispensaries in town. These dispensaries were given two weeks to shut down or face criminal prosecution and the loss of property. The federal government stopped making threats and is attacking the marijuana industry at a previously unseen level.
According to Americans for Safe Access, since the Obama administration has been in office, they have unleashed an interagency cannabis crackdown that goes beyond anything seen under the Bush administration, with more than 100 raids, primarily on California pot dispensaries, many of them operating in full compliance with state laws. Since October 2009, the Justice Department has conducted more than 170 aggressive SWAT-style raids in medical marijuana states, resulting in at least close to a hundred federal indictments.
Voter Approved initiatives in Colorado and Washington to Legalize marijuana (November 2012)
Colorado passed Proposition 64 and Washington passed Initiative 502 making it legal for anyone over the age of 21 to possess marijuana and for businesses to sell it. This took some pressure off the California medical marijuana as the Feds had a bigger problem to deal with. The federal government was adamantly opposed to these initiatives and stated they would continue to enforce Federal marijuana laws. This feds were put in a difficult position and something had to give.
In August of 2013 the Justice Department issued a statement saying it won’t challenge state laws that legalize marijuana and will focus federal enforcement on serious trafficking cases and keeping the drug away from children. The US Attorney General notified the governors of Colorado and Washington and said they will not seek to pre-empt those states’ laws allowing recreational marijuana use.
Federal prosecutors were directed to refocus on eight enforcement priorities, including preventing marijuana distribution to minors, preventing drugged driving, stopping drug trafficking by gangs and cartels and forbidding the cultivation of marijuana on public lands.
For entities operating in the marijuana business, the government expects “robust controls and procedures that are effective in practice (not just on paper). The size and profitability of these businesses will still be a factor prosecutors can consider, but there also must be additional illegal activities for prosecutors to take action.
Current Situation
With the recent legalizations in Colorado, Washington and now Oregon we are entering unchartered territory for marijuana industry and it is a great time to be a part of it. The federal government appears to be backing off a bit. In a January 2014 article in the New Yorker magazine President Obama stated that he didn’t “think (marijuana) was more dangerous than alcohol.” A few days later the deputy director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli, reluctantly agreed.
So it looks like the pendulum might be swinging back in our favor and medical marijuana (and marijuana in general) is gaining more mainstream acceptance. However you still need to stay vigilant as the Feds have said one thing and done another too many times in the past. There are still many years and milestones ahead for a national legalization. Keep in mind local police departments have their own agendas and can create just as many problems for you. Stay apprehensive, don’t take anything for granted and keep yourself out of trouble.
(December 2014)bipartisan Rohrabacher-Farr amendment which prevents the federal government from using funds to arrest and prosecute medical marijuana patients or distributors who are in compliance with their state’s laws. Some argue that this bill wasn’t written very clearly and leave some loop holes for the DEA to exploit. This was suppose to be a message from the House to back off legitimate medical marijuana providers.