Calif. pot dispensaries told by feds to shut down

[TripleDraw27]

Its my opinion that You are self medicating. Alcohol is used for self medication by many, but can be a poor choice due to bodily damage. Im sure people who need Oxycontin do talk about quality of life it allows them.

We are enthusiastic, because we know this is a natural medicine, and has far fewer health consequences then most any other med. It is fun to grow, and what else has a flavor spectrum like it?
It helps us escape the pain and stress of a hard life brought on by the US Federal government with their intentional damages( wars, gun running, murder, persecution, dishonesty, theft,tyrany, economic destruction) they cause to the people of this planet, that are just minding their own business.

Maybe this just came out wrong....but really dude?" It helps us escape the pain and stress of a hard life brought on by US FED".

REALLY? Tell me, when you were 16/17 and smoking herb listening to whoever you listen to. You were like " oh broooo...this is helping the pain the FEDS brought on me". Or were you like, " oh man, this is good herb, lets go surf " etc. So, when you got older and leathery, you would take a rip and be like " oh man, thank god im high, i cant bare this oppression much longer"... etc etc.

I in no fucking way wanna be clumped into your weak ass excuse to get fucking stoned.

Will I smoke when im stressed sometimes? Yes of course, and sometimes Id prefer a Fanta and a magazine. Sometimes, I rebuild all my Kalashnikovs and polish Tantals, sometimes I masturbate, sometimes i just surf in evenings, sometimes sometimes sometimes

Im sorry man, but you say Alchol can be condsidered a self medication. So basically everything I enjoy in life, should I call it " Meds", or consider it medicinal??? Why cant it just be what it is, a good fucking timie... Should I be like...oh thats a hot chick...BRB I NEED TO GO MEDICATE with my hand in the bathroom? I mean...its scary if this is the train of thought you are actually buying into. But, yes it is " your opinion".

 

[huligun]

It's cool, everyone is and should be entitled to an opinion. As long as I can voice mine without a bunch of points deducted for rep. Some people smoke weed for medicine and others do it for fun. I am of the latter. I should be safe to call bullshit when I see it too. I think a lot of people are buying into a lot of bullshit. I know people personally that use the system to smoke pot so they are free from arrest. I suspect many of the dispensaries sell to those same people so that they are not out on the streets committing crimes to get their pot, and they are paying dearly for that safety.

 

[Weird]

weed is a good

medicine

social lubricant

mental stimulant

whatever your perceived desire or requirement it is far kinder to the human body and genome than any other substance we can manufacture

the cost of health care due to alcohol opiate food and nicotine additions is STAGGERING

25 billion dollar cigarette industry costs the US 100 billion plus in health care related costs

the cost and payload of all those addictions would be nullified if they were as safe as pot

YES EVEN MORE THAN FOOD MY DROOGS

obesity costs the US 168 billion a year

put that in your pipe and smoke it

 

[TripleDraw27]

It's cool, everyone is and should be entitled to an opinion. As long as I can voice mine without a bunch of points deducted for rep. Some people smoke weed for medicine and others do it for fun. I am of the latter. I should be safe to call bullshit when I see it too. I think a lot of people are buying into a lot of bullshit. I know people personally that use the system to smoke pot so they are free from arrest. I suspect many of the dispensaries sell to those same people so that they are not out on the streets committing crimes to get their pot, and they are paying dearly for that safety.

Of the 12ish people I know that have " cards", one truly benefits from it, has Parkensins. The other 10-11 do it so if they get pulled over, they are not commiting a crime.

Which is what bugs me about the whole thing. Gives true Medicinal users a shitty deal. Most around here are truly not sick that go to these hole in the walls. They use it for a pass. I agree with you boss.

I elected to not get a card long time ago. I got pulled over by Highway Patrol. He smelled my joint, asked if I have a card. I told him that shits a copout and an excuse. We shook hands, complimented each others mustaches and warned me about my traffic violation.

 

[megayields]

I would be interested to see the breakdown of revenues from medicine vs. Clones.

From what ive heard from their employees the average med buys spends around $100 per visit, Clone buyers spend on average $750 per visit with the clone limit at 72 @$13 +tax the largest purchases are around $1000.


my last visit I noted about 7 people waiting in the med Line, I also saw a 23 person deep line waiting for clones.

And if the Feds get a hold of the patients database from harborside just think of the data-mining they could do.

Headband1 I KNOW you know what is going on, I was wrong. I edited the numbers just now it should read;

2007 - $7m
2008 - $12m

Those number btw came FROM Harborside themselves.

I have no idea of the breakdown between dried meds, edibles, clones etc...BUT it would be interesting and as far as Steve and his brother rolling over on others to save their collective (get it lol) butt's, after meeting Steve in 2009 their is NO doubt in my mind he would do that in a nano-second. I am SOOO glad I never sold anything to that organization or registered with them, gives me shivers JUST to think of their patient/vendor database in the hands of the Fed's and what they could do with that information.

 

[Godless]

Maybe this just came out wrong....but really dude?" It helps us escape the pain and stress of a hard life brought on by US FED".

REALLY? Tell me, when you were 16/17 and smoking herb listening to whoever you listen to. You were like " oh broooo...this is helping the pain the FEDS brought on me". Or were you like, " oh man, this is good herb, lets go surf " etc. So, when you got older and leathery, you would take a rip and be like " oh man, thank god im high, i cant bare this oppression much longer"... etc etc.

I in no fucking way wanna be clumped into your weak ass excuse to get fucking stoned.
.

I am an American. I have no power over my life thanks to a thoroughly corrupt Federal government and the corporations/elites that control it. This causes me severe depression. Why should I continue to contribute to our sick society? I am sending the feds money so they can murder innocent people thousands of miles away for oil and empire. I make a lot of money = I pay for a lot of govt sponsored death. The more I make, the more they use my money to murder. I have never once in my life had the chance to vote for someone who represents 5% of my beliefs, much less 100%. I have no representation in our system. I am nothing. Half of my neighbors think I should be in prison for growing and smoking a plant. I turn on the TV and realize that my fellow man has lost his fucking mind. The candidates that the corporate controlled media proffers up are so ridiculous that anyone who doesn't know that this shit is theater has their head so firmly implanted up their ass that they will never again see the light - just like that "greatest generation" of cowards and sell outs that was so programmed by their government they believed refer madness and the red scare.

I could go on and on. My mind does that when I am trying to sleep. All that blood on my hands and no way to stop it, makes my stomach so tight that I get cramps and diarrhea.

Getting high helps me focus on the little things that I do have power over. It helps me in a myriad of ways that have kept me from putting a bullet in my head for the last 25 years. So I hope you'll excuse me when me and my "weak ass excuse" tell you to fuck the hell off.

 

[Hammerhead]

lol that somes it up pretty well.

 

[crazybear]

This attack by the Government is a call to americans to stand up & inform the government that their policy on cannabis is wrong & we will no longer let them take away our rights!
But we are only going to change this at the federal level, the states are always going to be undermined by the federal government I think the way to do this is a letter writing campaign to people in the government that will do the greatest good, with evidence from medical groups & other governments!!!!!!!!
This attack on medical marijuana is to take publicity away from the failures of the government in the selling of arms to mexican cartels !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But it won't change until we ALL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

 

[crazybear]

Some skinny jean wearing motherfucker, who walks into one of these, under his breath is moaning about his " back pain" then leaves the shop on his Skateboard, makes my WW2 hard working gramps roll over in his grave. Sorry for the places that have worked really hard to make a good name. But for places like Kush whatever in Venice with guys in Lab coats handing Business cards out to my 12yr old kid is not right, let alone randoms. What would happen if Pfizer did the same thing on corners? Thats right, they dont.

I am sure there is a few that actually care about its patients, but when I go by these places, its always 20 something skinny jean wearing kid who hasnt shaved his Neck in months.. This doesnt look good. Dispenses did it themselves with the whole " hey look at me".

Again sorry to the hard workers. This reminds me of some flamboyant Mafia Boss from the East coast who didnt give a shit about being in the " open". Little extreme, but you know...why be in your face about it right? The shit will be in your Cheerios in no time.

I must say I do enjoy when people call it " Meds" instead of referring to what it actually is. Such a cop out for those who really do need Cannabis as a " med". This whole calling it " Meds" is fucking warped. Hilarious when I see some younger kid who isnt unhealthy refer it to MEDS lol! Since Orange Juice is good for me, should I say..." damn...I need my meds"? Sort of like how our country is hooked on PILLS and Medication for everything, people feel its " justified" if they call ganja " meds". Glad this happend, now maybe this shit can get in order.

I am on the side of the MMJ movement, but like many things...quirks need to worked out, the loud mouths need to stfu, things need to be " tightened up". I have always believed this plant helps. My buddy has Parkensins...it helps him period, end of story. But atm, this shit is loose and needs to be tightened up is all. Sorry, but like I said earlier, these emo types with neck beards, and flatbilled hats cant be the face of this. People are to fucking impressionable. Sadly...looks truly play a role in some peoples eyes. Its sad..but to have some dude in his sweatpants and dirty fingernails just isnt what I call Medical.

On a side note, my sister in law had a kid last night. And so did the illegal alien family, they walked out free of charge in their King Ranch Ford.

It's true that a lot of people abuse the medical marijuana laws, just like talk about people abusing pills, but medical cannabis is not bullshit just like a lot of people need pain pills, & people die from drug overdoses because they have had enough of surviving in pain! Pisses me off that knee jerk politicians making laws to limit people dying from abusing medicines into policies that also hurt people that need those medicine's !
Also the big pharmaceutical companies push their drugs all over the place turn on the tv. open a magazine nothing but drug company adverts!
This problem was started by the federal government & continues to be the federal continuing the war on cannabis, that was started as racism & the gov. continues to bullshit the people of this country that their isn't any medical benefit to cannabis!

 

[crazybear]

I am an American. I have no power over my life thanks to a thoroughly corrupt Federal government and the corporations/elites that control it. This causes me severe depression. Why should I continue to contribute to our sick society? I am sending the feds money so they can murder innocent people thousands of miles away for oil and empire. I make a lot of money = I pay for a lot of govt sponsored death. The more I make, the more they use my money to murder. I have never once in my life had the chance to vote for someone who represents 5% of my beliefs, much less 100%. I have no representation in our system. I am nothing. Half of my neighbors think I should be in prison for growing and smoking a plant. I turn on the TV and realize that my fellow man has lost his fucking mind. The candidates that the corporate controlled media proffers up are so ridiculous that anyone who doesn't know that this shit is theater has their head so firmly implanted up their ass that they will never again see the light - just like that "greatest generation" of cowards and sell outs that was so programmed by their government they believed refer madness and the red scare.

I could go on and on. My mind does that when I am trying to sleep. All that blood on my hands and no way to stop it, makes my stomach so tight that I get cramps and diarrhea.

Getting high helps me focus on the little things that I do have power over. It helps me in a myriad of ways that have kept me from putting a bullet in my head for the last 25 years. So I hope you'll excuse me when me and my "weak ass excuse" tell you to fuck the hell off.

MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dr. Purpur]

Tell me, when you were 16/17 and smoking herb listening to whoever you listen to. You were like " oh broooo...this is helping the pain the FEDS brought on me".

I was at the park across the street from my High school, listening to my friends talk about whos numbers came up for the draft. From what I recall, 50,000 Americans were killed. People I knew died. I knew I might be living my last year. Some friends escaped to Canada and hid out. I was just going to go to Vietnam, and try to stay alive. Worthless fucking war.
Yes, when I was 17. I was very stressed out by what My Government was doing. At the same time, we were being told at school, by the Government that once we smoked Marijuana, we would be impotent and unable to have children.

 

[TripleDraw27]

I am an American. I have no power over my life thanks to a thoroughly corrupt Federal government and the corporations/elites that control it. This causes me severe depression. Why should I continue to contribute to our sick society? I am sending the feds money so they can murder innocent people thousands of miles away for oil and empire. I make a lot of money = I pay for a lot of govt sponsored death. The more I make, the more they use my money to murder. I have never once in my life had the chance to vote for someone who represents 5% of my beliefs, much less 100%. I have no representation in our system. I am nothing. Half of my neighbors think I should be in prison for growing and smoking a plant. I turn on the TV and realize that my fellow man has lost his fucking mind. The candidates that the corporate controlled media proffers up are so ridiculous that anyone who doesn't know that this shit is theater has their head so firmly implanted up their ass that they will never again see the light - just like that "greatest generation" of cowards and sell outs that was so programmed by their government they believed refer madness and the red scare.

I could go on and on. My mind does that when I am trying to sleep. All that blood on my hands and no way to stop it, makes my stomach so tight that I get cramps and diarrhea.

Getting high helps me focus on the little things that I do have power over. It helps me in a myriad of ways that have kept me from putting a bullet in my head for the last 25 years. So I hope you'll excuse me when me and my "weak ass excuse" tell you to fuck the hell off.

Boo-fucking-hoo.

 

[KSP]

Boo-fucking-hoo.

Hey O'Neill, take a break.

 

[greenpharmd]

Just be thankful you are not in Palestine, Syria, Libya, or a dozen other places that are a million times worse than the US, usually because of the US. Things could always be worse. I sure hope you find the peace you seek.

 

[dddaver]

So when do all these shut downs and raids start? More fucking FEAR. Great. Just what we all need more of.

 

[CanniDo Cowboy]

Big Trouble INn Little Cali

Big Trouble INn Little Cali

Holy cow! The shit has hit the proverbial gro-fan...To quote Slim Pickens: "What in the wide world of sports in a-goin on...?"Not sure where we'll be when the dust settles but one things for sure- it's on like Donkey Kong. As I speak, the Feds have left the reservation and are probably headed to close down a dispensary near you. Ive never been a real fan of dispensaries to begin with, but damn, what's next? Martial law? And where is our dear Gov Brown in all this? C'mn Jerry...grow a dick! We're dead-ass broke and youre going to let the Feds take away the only business keeping Cali afloat? Unbelievable...CC


Is Obama's Drug Policy Worse Than Bush's? The War on
Medical Marijuana Escalate

"Signaling an intensification of federal government targeting of medical marijuana providers, the four US Attorneys in California Friday announced a campaign of "coordinated enforcement actions targeting the illegal operations of the commercial marijuana industry in California." The announcement came at a Sacramento news conference.
The federal prosecutors said their enforcement actions would rely on pursuing civil forfeiture lawsuits against properties where dispensaries are located, threatening letters to dispensary landlords, and criminal prosecutions. The prosecutors said recent dispensary busts in Fresno, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Diego were part of the enforcement campaign.

The feds said that enforcement actions would vary across regions of the state and that they would be working with federal law enforcement and local officials to crack down. The Department of Justice in Washington made clear that this was not an instance of prosecutors going off the reservation.

"The actions taken today in California by our US Attorneys and their law enforcement partners are consistent with the Department's commitment to enforcing existing federal laws, including the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), in all states," said Deputy Attorney General James Cole. "The department has maintained that we will not focus our investigative and prosecutorial resources on individual patients with serious illnesses like cancer or their immediate caregivers. However, US Attorneys continue to have the authority to prosecute significant violations of the CSA, and related federal laws."

Medical marijuana supporters were quick to charge the Obama administration with waging a renewed war on them and reneging on its promises to not interfere in states where medical marijuana is legal.

"Aggressive tactics like these are a completely inappropriate use of prosecutorial discretion by the Obama administration," said Joe Elford, chief counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country's largest medical marijuana advocacy group. "President Obama must answer for his contradictory policy on medical marijuana." On the campaign trail and in the White House, President Obama pledged that he was "not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state [medical marijuana] laws."

"It is unconscionable that the federal government would override local and state laws to enforce its will over the will of the people," said ASA spokesperson Kris Hermes. "States must be allowed to enforce their own laws without harmful interference from the Obama administration."

"The Obama administration's latest moves strongly suggest that their medical marijuana policies are now being driven by overzealous prosecutors and the anti-marijuana ideologues who dominated policymaking in past administrations," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Barack Obama is betraying promises made when he ran for president and turning his back on the sensible policies announced during his first year in office. Instead of encouraging state and local authorities to regulate medical marijuana distribution in the interests of public safety and health, his administration seems determined to recriminalize as much as possible. It all adds up to bad policy, bad politics and bad faith."

Large medical marijuana dispensary operations are not health care providers but criminal organizations hiding behind patients, the prosecutors claimed Friday.

"Large commercial operations cloak their moneymaking activities in the guise of helping sick people when in fact they are helping themselves," said Benjamin Wagner, US Attorney for the Eastern District of California. "Our interest is in enforcing federal criminal law, not prosecuting seriously sick people and those who are caring for them. We are making these announcements together today so that the message is absolutely clear that commercial marijuana operations are illegal under federal law, and that we will enforce federal law."

"The California marijuana industry is not about providing medicine to the sick," claimed Laura Duffy, US Attorney for the Southern District of California. "It's a pervasive for-profit industry that violates federal law. In addition to damaging our environment, this industry is creating significant negative consequences, in California and throughout the nation. As the number one marijuana producing state in the country, California is exporting not just marijuana but all the serious repercussions that come with it, including significant public safety issues and perhaps irreparable harm to our youth."

The prosecutors said they had sent out "dozens" of threat letters to dispensary and grow-op landlords in the past few days. In the Southern and Eastern districts, they targeted building owners, while in the Central district they sent letters to landlords "in selected cities where officials have requested federal assistance." In the Northern district, they targeted their threat letters to landlords of dispensaries within 1,000 feet of schools or parks, but warned "we will almost certainly be taking action against others."

The prosecutors also said they had already filed seven civil forfeiture complaints against properties where landlords allow dispensaries to operate. One complaint alleged that an Orange County strip mall had eight dispensaries and that recalcitrant city officials had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to shut them down.

One letter targeted the landlord for the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana (MAMM) in Fairfax, which has been operating with the support of the city and without complaint since 1996. In a letter to MAMM's landlord, the US Attorney for Northern California warned that the dispensary was operating within a "prohibited distance of a park." The letter threatened MAMM's landlord with up to 40 years in federal prison, seizure of his property, and forfeiture of all rental proceeds for the last 15 years if he doesn't evict MAMM.

Similar letters have gone out to other dispensary landlords warning them of pending federal action because their tenants are too close to schools. The dispensaries are operating in accord with California law, which treats them like liquor stores and bars them from operating within 600 feet of a school, but federal law imposes additional penalties for the distribution of controlled substances with 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds, and public parks. MAMM is situated more than 600 feet but less than 1,000 feet from Bolinas Park in Fairfax.

"This is nuts," said Greg Anton, attorney for the Marin Alliance and its director, Lynnette Shaw. "There's a dispensary near where I live that sells guns, narcotics, alcohol and tobacco and it's full of children. It's called Walmart, and it's safe. So is Lynnette's place. She's proven that over 15 years."

"This is an outrageous abuse of law enforcement resources for the DOJ to use property forfeiture to enforce meddlesome, nanny-state regulations," said California NORML director Dale Gieringer. "The federal government has no business dictating local zoning decisions. No one has any problems with the Marin Alliance except the bureaucrats in Washington."

The DEA is also along for the ride. "The DEA and our partners are committed to attacking large-scale drug trafficking organizations, including those that attempt to use state or local law to shield their illicit activities from federal law enforcement and prosecution," said DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. "Congress has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug and that its distribution and sale is a serious crime. It also provides a significant source of revenue for violent gangs and drug organizations. The DEA will not look the other way while these criminal organizations conduct their illicit schemes under the false pretense of legitimate business."

And so is the IRS. "IRS Criminal Investigation is proud to work with our law enforcement partners and lend its financial expertise to this effort," said IRS chief of criminal enforcement Victor Song. "We will continue to use the federal asset forfeiture laws to take the profits from criminal enterprises."

Friday's announcement of a federal crackdown is just the latest in a series of moves against medical marijuana providers by the Obama administration. The Department of the Treasury has been busily scaring banks into shutting down the accounts of providers in California and Colorado, the Department of Justice is aggressively prosecuting dispensary operators in Montana and elsewhere, and the IRS is attempting to drive dispensaries out of business by denying them standard business expense deductions -- Oakland's Harborside Health center was just this week hit with a $2.5 million tax bill after the IRS disallowed its standard business deductions.

Meanwhile, the administration has continued to block federal approval of medical marijuana, with the DEA recently rejecting a nine-year-old petition to reschedule pot, saying it would only accept large-scale, controlled FDA trials. But at the same time, the DEA has acted to block such trials by refusing to allow a private production facility to supply marijuana for medical research. The only existing source for marijuana for research purposes is the National Institutes on Drug Abuse, but it recently blocked a request for marijuana to study its effects on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, saying it has no intention of allowing studies that would develop marijuana for medicinal purposes.

"How can the Obama administration say that it's fine for sick people to use this proven medicine, and yet tell them they can't have any legal place to get it?" asked Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project. "Medical marijuana isn't going away. Over 70% of Americans support making medical marijuana legal, and 16 states allow it."

But not the federal government. Not under George Bush and, it is increasingly clear, not under Barack Obama. With Obama facing no challengers in the Democratic primary and with reform-friendly Republicans unlikely to win the Republican nomination, it appears that medical marijuana is going to be condemned to wander through the political wilderness for the foreseeable future.

The question now becomes whether any sort of response can stem the federal onslaught, and just what that response might be. Or does the dispensary scene just wither away and die?"

 

[SeaMaiden]

Um... in 45 days from the announcement?

 

[crazybear]

So who should be on the list to write to with evidence, other than my own????????
1) The president!!!
2) Congressmen & women!!!!
WTF we need to do something to change this shit! People worked too hard to let the government get it's way!
Let me put it this way I do not fear death if our country keeps this shit up!!!!

 

[vta]

So who should be on the list to write to with evidence, other than my own????????
1) The president!!!
2) Congressmen & women!!!!
WTF we need to do something to change this shit! People worked too hard to let the government get it's way!
Let me put it this way I do not fear death if our country keeps this shit up!!!!

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=223059

 

[vta]

Gary Johnson On Fed Crackdown On Medical Marijuana Dispensaries: DOJ Has Better Things To Do

October 7, 2011Posted in Blog, Gov. Gary Johnson, Issue, Marijuana Legalization October 7, 2011, Santa Fe, NM — Responding to an announced Department of Justice “crackdown” on California medical marijuana dispensaries, former New Mexico Governor and presidential candidate Gary Johnson today warned that Americans who believe in states rights should be “extremely disturbed” by what he calls an “assault” on businesses operating legally under state law. In a statement released Friday morning, Johnson said, “With weapons being allowed to ‘walk’ to drug cartels in Mexico and Solyndra walking with $500 million of taxpayers’ money, I would think DOJ and the Administration have better things to do than mount an assault on medical marijuana dispensaries in California that are legal under state law. Regardless of one’s view of medical marijuana, Americans who believe in states’ rights should be extremely disturbed that the federal government is in the process of shutting down businesses, threatening criminal charges, and confiscating the property of small businesses operating under good faith according to state law.

“We have a drug war along the border that has taken tens of thousands of lives, and the federal government is spending its time and resources declaring war on small businesses whose only ‘crime’ is trying to dispense medical relief in a regulated, taxed, and legal manner. If there is a conflict between state law and federal law, maybe it’s time for the feds to just admit that their law is just wrong, and let the states decide for themselves how they want to handle the issue of medical marijuana.”

According to news reports, the Department of Justice has issued warnings to medicinal marijuana dispensaries, operating under California law, demanding that they shut down within 45 days or face not only confiscation of their property, but also criminal charges.