Federal attorneys issued a warning to all who pledge allegiance to the leaf that dozens, if not hundreds, of marijuana dispensaries throughout the state will have to shut down or face criminal prosecution as part of the state’s exploding medial marijuana industry.
Why? Apparently, and predictably, U.S. attorneys have found out that many of these dispensaries are actually money-making operations. Landlords are renting space and growing for-profit drug sales under the guise of medical marijuana operations. Medical marijuana was made legal in California and 15 other states have followed suit.
“This is not what the California voters intended or authorized,” said André Birotte Jr., the United States attorney in Los Angeles. “It is illegal under California law.”
“Some will allow you to consume the marijuana right there and then presumably leave and drive,” said Melinda Haag, the United States attorney in San Francisco. She said that several dispensaries accepted only cash and placed A.T.M.’s in the stores. “There’s no wonder that there are guards here — where there is marijuana, there is a lot of money.”
Weed advocates say such a crackdown will do little to stop the growth and distribution of weed in the state, except to push those with legitimate medical reasons to use the project into the unsafe underground market.
“They are really pushing people into the illicit market,” said Kris Hermes, a spokesman for Americans for Safe Access. “This is federal interference for thousands of patients in the state.”
It’s hardly going out on a limb that the likes of Snoop and Wiz are hoping federal authorities are merely issuing idle threats. We’re not saying that Snoop or Wiz are growing and selling marijuana. But …
–terry shropshire
