|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
US: Feds: Marijuana busts still possible
My Desert Saturday 02 Jul 2011 The move could expose non-sanctioned medical marijuana clinics operating in the Coachella Valley to greater risk of law enforcement raids, Palm Springs City Attorney Doug Holland said Friday. "We've always understood that the activity is illegal under federal law, and anyone who's engaged in that activity has to deal with that potential ramifications," Holland said Friday. Palm Springs is the only valley city that sanctions medical marijuana facilities. The other eight valley cities have banned them. In a Wednesday policy memo to federal prosecutors, Deputy Attorney General James Cole said a 2009 memo by then-Deputy Attorney General David Ogden did not give states cover from prosecution. On Thursday night, Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler said that the medical marijuana statement by Cole does not represent a new policy, but rather clarifies the policy, as reflected in the recent letters by U.S. Attorney's Offices to officials in a number of states. Palm Springs' 2009 medical cannabis ordinance strikes a balance between competing state and federal laws, Holland said. He added that he did not believe the city's policy puts Palm Springs at risk of action by federal authorities. The Palm Springs law allows for three nonprofit dispensaries. But those medical pot facilities aren't the only ones in town. For several years, Palm Springs officials have wrangled in court with other local medical marijuana clinics, which intermittently spring up and assert they have the right to exist under state law even if they're not sanctioned by the city. Holland said those facilities face greater risk of federal prosecution because many of them operate commercially, instead of as the nonprofit cooperatives that state law allows. Cole cites "an increase in the scope of commercial cultivation, sale, distribution and use of marijuana for purported medical purposes" as a reason for his memo clarifying federal law. http://www.mydesert.com/article/20110702/NEWS01/107020313/Feds-Marijuana-busts-still-possible?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!