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Colorado Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Get Raided!
- Thread starter SCF
- Start date
barnyard
Member
CO's NORML Comment on the raids...
November 24, 2013
Colorado NORML’s Comment on the Federal Marijuana Raids in Colorado
Denver, CO – While we cannot speculate on what prompted the Federal Government to raid several businesses in Denver, Boulder, and Nederland on November 21, 2013, Colorado NORML believes the timing of these raids is not coincidental. The Federal law enforcement action, in coordination with the IRS’s Criminal Investigations Division, has undoubtedly struck fear in the hearts of legal, compliant, State-licensed marijuana business owners a mere six weeks before many will begin retail sale to adults 21 and older in Colorado.
The failure of the DOJ to provide more detailed information, as to what prompted these raids, or to specifically state which of the eight federal law enforcement priorities these raids are based on, is unfortunate. We can only hope that the federal government will keep its promise to respect the rights of a state where the people have determined that the regulation and taxation of marijuana is a better alternative to prohibition and the failed Drug War.
These raids again highlight the need for Congress to proactively address the conflicts between State and federal marijuana laws and the most urgent need for our government to reschedule marijuana into a more appropriate classification under the Controlled Substances Act. Unfortunately, the current conflict between state and federal marijuana laws, the sad failure of our federal government to recognize the obvious medicinal value of marijuana, and the federal government’s denial of access to banking and deductible business expenses under IRS Code Section 280E continues to have the unfortunate consequence of incentivizing criminal behavior and a black market which not only survives, but also thrives in many states.
November 24, 2013
Colorado NORML’s Comment on the Federal Marijuana Raids in Colorado
Denver, CO – While we cannot speculate on what prompted the Federal Government to raid several businesses in Denver, Boulder, and Nederland on November 21, 2013, Colorado NORML believes the timing of these raids is not coincidental. The Federal law enforcement action, in coordination with the IRS’s Criminal Investigations Division, has undoubtedly struck fear in the hearts of legal, compliant, State-licensed marijuana business owners a mere six weeks before many will begin retail sale to adults 21 and older in Colorado.
The failure of the DOJ to provide more detailed information, as to what prompted these raids, or to specifically state which of the eight federal law enforcement priorities these raids are based on, is unfortunate. We can only hope that the federal government will keep its promise to respect the rights of a state where the people have determined that the regulation and taxation of marijuana is a better alternative to prohibition and the failed Drug War.
These raids again highlight the need for Congress to proactively address the conflicts between State and federal marijuana laws and the most urgent need for our government to reschedule marijuana into a more appropriate classification under the Controlled Substances Act. Unfortunately, the current conflict between state and federal marijuana laws, the sad failure of our federal government to recognize the obvious medicinal value of marijuana, and the federal government’s denial of access to banking and deductible business expenses under IRS Code Section 280E continues to have the unfortunate consequence of incentivizing criminal behavior and a black market which not only survives, but also thrives in many states.
barnyard
Member
more feedback from a local...
Monday, November 25, 2013
THC NEWSLETTER UPDATE from JESSICA LEROUX - November 25, 2013
I hate the DEA... I blame the MMED for us seeing them.
I wanna state something on my posotion on last week's raids...
It enrages me that local regulatory incompetence has brought us to the problems faced in other states with federal scrutiny...
I personally have no problem with who was targeted. long time readers of my newsletter know I warned about the target being somebody to avoid repeatedly... as i have watched these guys cut a swath of destruction across many good clients of my business. many of us have been waiting and hoping the $$$ paid to the STATE regulatory agency in good faith would be used to clear out this cancer from our industry... I am positive of at least a dozen formal complaints about Lazlo Baggi filed with the MMED going back to early 2012... In my one on one meeting with then new director Laura Harris in Feb of 2012 I was questioned about his business practices and told the truth of what I knew... YET we must wait over 20 months and two directors of the STATE agency with NO action taken or proof any investigation ever happened, and its a jewelery bust and some damn guns that finally take the dirtbag down??? SO basically the do nothing MMED allows this fuck with dozens of complaints of flagrant violations of regulations to swallow up a dozen honest mom and pop operators for over a year, and their incompetence brings in the FEDs instead of the proper regulatory agency doing their job using their funds to clean up the ranks and protecting local industry from Federal scrutiny... BTW Vertical integration is what lead to this guy (with the big ass yucky buggy grow of weed too nasty to sell instate) stealing businesses from the orginal owners... And the fuck Lazlo didnt even get arrested...
Monday, November 25, 2013
THC NEWSLETTER UPDATE from JESSICA LEROUX - November 25, 2013
I hate the DEA... I blame the MMED for us seeing them.
I wanna state something on my posotion on last week's raids...
It enrages me that local regulatory incompetence has brought us to the problems faced in other states with federal scrutiny...
I personally have no problem with who was targeted. long time readers of my newsletter know I warned about the target being somebody to avoid repeatedly... as i have watched these guys cut a swath of destruction across many good clients of my business. many of us have been waiting and hoping the $$$ paid to the STATE regulatory agency in good faith would be used to clear out this cancer from our industry... I am positive of at least a dozen formal complaints about Lazlo Baggi filed with the MMED going back to early 2012... In my one on one meeting with then new director Laura Harris in Feb of 2012 I was questioned about his business practices and told the truth of what I knew... YET we must wait over 20 months and two directors of the STATE agency with NO action taken or proof any investigation ever happened, and its a jewelery bust and some damn guns that finally take the dirtbag down??? SO basically the do nothing MMED allows this fuck with dozens of complaints of flagrant violations of regulations to swallow up a dozen honest mom and pop operators for over a year, and their incompetence brings in the FEDs instead of the proper regulatory agency doing their job using their funds to clean up the ranks and protecting local industry from Federal scrutiny... BTW Vertical integration is what lead to this guy (with the big ass yucky buggy grow of weed too nasty to sell instate) stealing businesses from the orginal owners... And the fuck Lazlo didnt even get arrested...
Search warrants follow legal proceedings, so there have obviously been some. And it's not over until it's over. Part of what was seized were business records, which the Feds will be examining with microscopes. In a Med State, it takes a lot more to get a conviction than it takes to get a warrant, which provides evidence on which to actually build a case.
It seems clear that the Feds have no intention of prosecuting on the basis of cultivation alone- if they did, these guys would all be in jail or out on bond awaiting trial. They want something else- racketeering or tax evasion or both, which are a little harder to prove, obviously.
barnyard
Member
OK J (citizen?), the feds are coming to your house next. They are going to trash your house and take all of your weed, your computer and whatever other records they choose to take. But they aren't going to take you into custody or charge you with anything, but they'll get back with you if they find something. They are just gathering evidence to build a case for now.
You seem to be OK with that...because hey, they just might find something on you.
Oh, and don't worry, there's a warrant for them do this but it just doesn't specify what crime was supposedly committed.
You seem to be OK with that...because hey, they just might find something on you.
Oh, and don't worry, there's a warrant for them do this but it just doesn't specify what crime was supposedly committed.
I'm pretty sure we are on the same page here... the scene could use some sunlight, some disinfectant too.
I'm in no way DEFENDING the "cartels" or columbians or just plain criminals bringing the heat down on CO, in this case, i am also in no way DEFENDING the feds for taking this action... fuck the feds for making this illegal in the first place, and waging the war on it for this long (echo retrogrow)
personally I'm somewhat with LeRoux on this one, if the state had cracked down on these people earlier, the feds wouldn't have...
that is IF the state had any evidence/reports/leads to go on implying these folks, which leroux claims they had.
so it seems co drops the ball the feds swoop in, it's to be expected, but not to be condoned, imvho.
and "ball swinging fucks" ; sorry i don't follow, wanna clarify? sorry.
as for plant counts... I will stand by the fact that there are PLENTY of 5k+ plant count grows in the denver/boulder area that are fully legal mip or opc sites.
sorry for implying that you didn't know what's going on out here....
And that warrant is sealed so unless you are charged you'll never be able to see even the paper thin probable cause they CLAIMED to have
really?unless one of us legal colorado growers goes over the border the feds pretty much leave us the fuck alone. i know there aint much drama in that but it's the fucking truth.
these dicks that you feel sorry for are not going to guantanamo and the feds won't be knocking at my door anytime soon. OK?
are you from colorado?
finally some agreement
seems like "we" as an online cannabis community SHOULD be able to reach some sort a consensus on this....
brother if you are gonna try to make me responsible for things that you make up in your head my only option is to start by telling you to get a fucking grip
East DC ? like in District of Columbia?
I didn't really get that from what he said....
but i agree, if someone said that it would be fukd up...
but he said this:
I think what he was saying was that the feds have been pretty stand off ish in co, aside from cherry top farms there really has been VERY VERY Little fed. intervention INSIDE of CO.
AND
that the average CO med/rec grower working withing confines of the regulatory framework (legally) does not have to fear federal intervention...
I'll expand on that and say that even the "average" CO dispensary owners have very little to fear if they are working within the framework setup by hb1284 back in 2010. the whole seed to sale tracking and all that.
if you are a disp. owner (or employee) , selling lbs out the back door, or to un-liscenced people or growing WAY over your plant count or working with shady out of state investors... whose loose lips and other shady dealings could really fuck things up.... ya maybe a lil wake up call these fed. raids in CO are to some who have been lulled into thinking that state regs will save you in CO, even if you do not follow the regs.
let's all play nice, im pretty sure we are all on the same page here.... more or less
IMHO things like this will slow down full legalization. they are stopping people because they are finding things often enough to make it worth the money to stop them. the voters in next state trying to get anything going as far as legalization are going to get bombarded with facts and figures about what all us criminals are doing in colorado and might decide it's a bad thing
our mistakes will be used against people who dream of having the rights we do
barnyard
Member
how about this poor bastard...
"This past Saturday, November 23, 2013, officers arrested a man for possession of Marijuana with the intent to distribute across state lines. The suspect was waiting to board a train at the Amtrak station when he suffered a seizure. Paramedics and firefighters responded and while treating him, a firefighter opened his suitcase to determine his identity, and discovered approximately five pounds of Marijuana. District 6 officers responded, and following their investigation, placed the suspect into custody."
Now that's having a bad day!
"This past Saturday, November 23, 2013, officers arrested a man for possession of Marijuana with the intent to distribute across state lines. The suspect was waiting to board a train at the Amtrak station when he suffered a seizure. Paramedics and firefighters responded and while treating him, a firefighter opened his suitcase to determine his identity, and discovered approximately five pounds of Marijuana. District 6 officers responded, and following their investigation, placed the suspect into custody."
Now that's having a bad day!
I hate the whole plant count/number thing. No matter how many plants you have, its about watts/lumens and genetics. You can only average so much per watt, before no matter what, it wont get past ???grams per watt indoors.
Whats the difference if you do a quick, end of season SOG outdoors with 10,000 clones,
or do a full season grow with 24 monster plants?
The yield still ends up the same. This law needs to change. It should be about final wieght numbers. Not about plant count.
This will take the small yielders off the market and hurt future generations of possible genotype combinations to be found. I would rather take higher quality genetics that yield less, and add a plant or two to make up the dif, than grow cash croppers all the time.
If you go over the weight count, then it gets donated to another compassionate care center for the poor, where its sold to those with government funded health insurance for super cheap.
IMO....ignorant people that are in charge of regulating marijuana grows, will only hurt this plant in the long run. Either make it as legal to grow MJ as it is a corn stalk or keep things the way they are. Nothing has changed in the game with these new laws...
...Its grown. Its sold at $50 an 1/8th. End of story.
So because you can go to a store and buy it makes things different? Ide rather go to my buddys house and give him the money for his hard work, and see him prosper in his life, instead of it all being syphoned off by the government who will use this money to terrorize its own people and strengthen the war on drugs.
Whats the difference if you do a quick, end of season SOG outdoors with 10,000 clones,
or do a full season grow with 24 monster plants?
The yield still ends up the same. This law needs to change. It should be about final wieght numbers. Not about plant count.
This will take the small yielders off the market and hurt future generations of possible genotype combinations to be found. I would rather take higher quality genetics that yield less, and add a plant or two to make up the dif, than grow cash croppers all the time.
If you go over the weight count, then it gets donated to another compassionate care center for the poor, where its sold to those with government funded health insurance for super cheap.
IMO....ignorant people that are in charge of regulating marijuana grows, will only hurt this plant in the long run. Either make it as legal to grow MJ as it is a corn stalk or keep things the way they are. Nothing has changed in the game with these new laws...
...Its grown. Its sold at $50 an 1/8th. End of story.
So because you can go to a store and buy it makes things different? Ide rather go to my buddys house and give him the money for his hard work, and see him prosper in his life, instead of it all being syphoned off by the government who will use this money to terrorize its own people and strengthen the war on drugs.
A
AlterEgo860
ill be joining the Colorado Thread for GOOD no later then 4/20 im going to make a point to get down there before 420.. so.. its going to be a hard hard hard working winter..
