).This might make for some interesting news in the coming months, and we're right in the middle of it:
Medical marijuana: Federal pressure stirs legal confusion
Raids in other states lead to uncertainty for Arizona
by Mary K. Reinhart and Craig Anderson - Apr. 21, 2011 12:00 AM The Arizona Republic
Threatened medical-marijuana crackdowns by federal prosecutors in other states have stoked fears about whether state employees, dispensary owners and others could be punished for operating under Arizona's fledgling law.
Although the Justice Department said in 2009 that it would not prosecute sick people using medical marijuana, U.S. attorneys in California and Washington state have told officials there that they do intend to enforce federal laws that prohibit manufacture and distribution of the drug.
That has led to more confusion as Arizona officials begin implementing a voter-approved law allowing medical-marijuana dispensaries, which took effect April 14.
Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke's office says it will offer guidance this week for state officials.
Arizona's medical-marijuana statute, like those in 14 other states, conflicts with federal laws outlawing the cultivation, sale or use of marijuana. U.S. attorneys in Washington state say a bill expected to reach the desk of Gov. Chris Gregoire this weekend could open landlords, dispensary owners and even state employees to prosecution under federal drug laws. A U.S. attorney in California made similar comments about a city law in Oakland allowing marijuana warehouses.
The uncertainty surrounding the new state law increased reluctance for landlords to lease to dispensaries and unsettled state Department of Health Services workers. Arizona employees have processed more than 700 applications for medical-marijuana cards for users in the past week, approving 80 percent of them, and are preparing to license dispensaries and cultivation sites. Opponents of Proposition 203, which narrowly passed in November, predicted that the conflict between state and federal law will be its downfall. The employees are facilitating drug trafficking, said Carolyn Short, a retired attorney who led the campaign against Prop. 203.
"You can't allow our state employees to be criminals," Short said. "The only question is when this program gets shut down."
The 'Ogden memo'
Deputy U.S. Attorney General David Ogden sent a letter to U.S. attorneys in October 2009 indicating that, in light of the burgeoning industry and the variety of state laws, the administration didn't intend to prosecute sick people who used medical pot or the caregivers who provided it to them. But the "Ogden memo" made clear that marijuana remains illegal and that federal prosecutors will go after drug traffickers. Ogden said U.S. attorneys should decide whether to prosecute on a "case-by-case basis." Some say the memo lifted the lid on the industry. Operations in Colorado, California and elsewhere took off after it was issued.
But opponents of Arizona's Prop. 203 say those hoping to capitalize on the medical-pot industry assumed prosecutors would overlook dispensaries and growing operations.
Officials with the Justice Department said the administration's position hasn't changed. State policy makers are seeking more guidance, however, as laws are implemented, new legislation is proposed and the industry grows.
"The department has been consistent in its focus on enforcement and investigative activities involving marijuana on large-scale drug traffickers, not on individual patients with cancer or other serious diseases," said Jessica Smith, a spokeswoman for the department.
"We have made clear . . . we are not going to look the other way while significant drug-trafficking organizations attempt to shield their illegal efforts from investigation and prosecution through the pretense that they are medical dispensaries."
Other states
Washington state Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles sponsored a bill this session to regulate the state's medical-marijuana program, which voters approved in 1998. It would set up a voluntary patient registry and license medical-pot growers and sellers.
Washington's U.S. attorneys said the legislation appears to violate federal law and could put state workers at risk for prosecution. Kohl-Welles said that the Washington memo is little more than a restatement of the Ogden memo and that she doesn't believe the feds would arrest state employees. "The thought of federal agents going into an office building and arresting people who are sitting at their desks reviewing applications, that just makes no sense at all," she said.
Oakland's city attorney raised concerns in January about a city ordinance that allows marijuana-growing warehouses. Melinda Haag, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California, said in a Feb. 1 letter that her office would consider prosecuting anyone who set up such a warehouse. "Others who knowingly facilitate the actions of the licensees, including property owners, landlords and financiers, should also know that their conduct violates federal law," Haag wrote.
The latest request for clarification came Tuesday from New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow, who said officials were concerned about the correspondence as they prepared to finalize rules for their 2010 medical-marijuana law. A key concern, she said, was whether state employees could be subject to prosecution.
Smith said the Justice Department had not yet responded to Dow's letter.
Federal agents have recently raided dispensaries in Montana, Michigan and California.
Landlord concerns
In Arizona, fear of federal prosecution may have put a damper on the industry, although proponents say that anyone who follows state law has nothing to worry about. Commercial-property owners have been reluctant to talk publicly about whether they would accept marijuana-related businesses as tenants. But brokers say most landlords are turning them away.
Despite hundreds of inquiries on behalf of aspiring medical-marijuana growers and sellers, brokers said they were aware of only one lease deal being signed.
"It doesn't matter what I think personally," said Greg Herzner, owner of Bell Plaza office complex, at 99th Avenue and Bell Road in Phoenix. "That's too great of a risk for us to take."
Earlier this month, Michael Ormsby, U.S. attorney for Washington's Eastern District, sent notices to 40 property owners that house dispensaries, warning that they could be violating drug-trafficking laws. Ormsby told the landlords to evict the tenants within 30 days or face the risk of prosecution.
Scottsdale, AZ attorney Jordan Rose said she is not aware of any prosecutions of dispensary owners or landlords around the country who have been in compliance with state law. Still, she said, the possibility of prosecution can't be ruled out.
"It is a risk that no one can dismiss," Rose said.
Arizona response
Robbie Sherwood, a spokesman for Burke, said the U.S. attorney plans to release a statement this week to clarify enforcement of federal law in Arizona. "This office will very soon provide our own guidance regarding state medical-marijuana laws in accordance with the October 2009 Ogden memorandum," Sherwood said.
The state health department has given potential dispensary owners some advice when they've asked about how much marijuana they can grow: Call an attorney.
Arizona law limits to 12 the number of plants an individual can grow. Dispensary owners, however, are allowed to operate separate cultivation sites, and the law places no limit on the number of plants they can grow. Federal officials say large-scale operations might attract more federal scrutiny than smaller ones.
Voice of optimism
Kip Criter hopes to open a dispensary later this year in Phoenix, but he's not concerned about getting busted. Those who have been the subject of federal raids in other states were operating outside state laws, he said. "There is a threat. But if they go after you, they have to go after the state," Criter said. "The more rules they put in place, the more protection that gives us."
