Feds may lift forfeiture threat from medical marijuana clinics
by Mary Spicuzza
May 24, 2009
The letters sent to landlords renting to medical marijuana facilities in recent years were quite specific.
They warned that federal law prohibited renting to or housing dispensaries involved in manufacturing, storing, distributing or using a controlled substance — and added that violating those laws could result in criminal prosecution, imprisonment and fines as well as seizure and forfeiture of real estate and other assets. "Federal law takes precedence over State law," reads one letter sent by a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official to a dispensary's landlord.
But those letters all seem to have been mailed before President Barack Obama took office — and well before he issued a memorandum last week for the heads of executive departments and agencies addressing preemption. The May 20 memorandum notes longstanding practices reflect that executive departments have shown respect for state prerogatives, but adds that in recent years federal authorities "sometimes announced that their regulations preempt State law, including State common law" without sufficient basis.
"The purpose of this memorandum is to state the general policy of my Administration that preemption of State law by executive departments and agencies should be undertaken only with full consideration of the legitimate prerogatives of the States and with a sufficient legal basis for preemption," it reads. "Executive departments and agencies should be mindful that in our Federal system, the citizens of the several States have distinctive circumstances and values, and that in many instances it is appropriate for them to apply to themselves rules and principles that reflect these circumstances and values."
His memorandum was released just two days after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from two California counties that argued they were being forced to allow violations of federal law. The counties basically were challenging Proposition 215, a 1996 state voter initiative that says patients can use medical marijuana after getting a recommendation from a licensed physician. The law has since become a model for medical marijuana laws in a dozen other states, although the subsequent laws vary from state to state.
While attitudes toward medical marijuana seem to be shifting under the Obama Administration, it's still unknown how exactly federal law enforcement policies dealing with medical marijuana will change. For example, the DEA website still has a page titled, "California Medical Marijuana Information," aimed at presenting its views on cannabis use. "Local and state law enforcement counterparts cannot distinguish between illegal marijuana grows and grows that qualify as medical exemptions," it reads. "Many self-designated medical marijuana growers are, in fact, growing marijuana for illegal 'recreational' use.
All of this brings to question whether those DEA letters sent to landlords warning of potential forfeiture actions and other penalties are still valid. Asked about the issue several weeks ago, a spokesperson for Attorney General Eric H. Holder did not give a clear answer about the Justice Department's intentions.
When asked whether landlords who rent to medical marijuana cooperatives are still at risk of asset forfeiture, a U.S. Department of Justice official said it's not a priority to target those who follow state laws. Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said in an email that "as part of the federal government's efforts to best employ its resources, the Department focuses its investigative and enforcement activities involving marijuana on large-scale drug traffickers whose conduct is often inconsistent with both federal and state law."
All of this, of course, comes as welcome news to medical marijuana advocates, who say that more than 300 letters were sent by the DEA to landlords in 2007 and 2008. "Since Obama has taken office, we have not seen any letters disseminated," Americans for Safe Access spokesperson Kris Hermes said.
But Hermes added there was recent "activity" in Santa Barbara, which involved warning letters mailed to landlords renting to dispensary operators telling them that had 45 days to evict their tenants or face the consequences. Two clinics shut down after their landlords received the letters, he added, but both have since reopened. "There have been no landlords that have lost their property or have been civilly/criminally prosecuted under Bush or Obama stemming from those letters, underscoring the main reason for their dissemination: to instill fear and intimidation among property owners such that evictions would take place without further action by the federal government," Hermes said in an email.
Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, said he had no comment beyond the information provided by Justice Department headquarters.
Letters warning landlords of possible forfeiture may have already led to closures of as many as seven San Francisco medical marijuana facilities last year, according to a 2008 article in San Francisco Chronicle. Statewide it's unclear exactly how many facilities were shuttered as a result of landlords frightened off by the possibility forfeiture.
DEA spokespeople said they had no comments to add to the Justice Department's statement about forfeiture issues.
Submitted by Anonymous () on Thu, 05/28/2009 - 12:59.
medical marijuana and forfeiture
Feds may lift forfeiture threat from medical marijuana clinics
by Mary Spicuzza
May 24, 2009
The letters sent to landlords renting to medical marijuana facilities in recent years were quite specific.
They warned that federal law prohibited renting to or housing dispensaries involved in manufacturing, storing, distributing or using a controlled substance — and added that violating those laws could result in criminal prosecution, imprisonment and fines as well as seizure and forfeiture of real estate and other assets. "Federal law takes precedence over State law," reads one letter sent by a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official to a dispensary's landlord.
But those letters all seem to have been mailed before President Barack Obama took office — and well before he issued a memorandum last week for the heads of executive departments and agencies addressing preemption. The May 20 memorandum notes longstanding practices reflect that executive departments have shown respect for state prerogatives, but adds that in recent years federal authorities "sometimes announced that their regulations preempt State law, including State common law" without sufficient basis.
"The purpose of this memorandum is to state the general policy of my Administration that preemption of State law by executive departments and agencies should be undertaken only with full consideration of the legitimate prerogatives of the States and with a sufficient legal basis for preemption," it reads. "Executive departments and agencies should be mindful that in our Federal system, the citizens of the several States have distinctive circumstances and values, and that in many instances it is appropriate for them to apply to themselves rules and principles that reflect these circumstances and values."
His memorandum was released just two days after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear appeals from two California counties that argued they were being forced to allow violations of federal law. The counties basically were challenging Proposition 215, a 1996 state voter initiative that says patients can use medical marijuana after getting a recommendation from a licensed physician. The law has since become a model for medical marijuana laws in a dozen other states, although the subsequent laws vary from state to state.
While attitudes toward medical marijuana seem to be shifting under the Obama Administration, it's still unknown how exactly federal law enforcement policies dealing with medical marijuana will change. For example, the DEA website still has a page titled, "California Medical Marijuana Information," aimed at presenting its views on cannabis use. "Local and state law enforcement counterparts cannot distinguish between illegal marijuana grows and grows that qualify as medical exemptions," it reads. "Many self-designated medical marijuana growers are, in fact, growing marijuana for illegal 'recreational' use.
All of this brings to question whether those DEA letters sent to landlords warning of potential forfeiture actions and other penalties are still valid. Asked about the issue several weeks ago, a spokesperson for Attorney General Eric H. Holder did not give a clear answer about the Justice Department's intentions.
When asked whether landlords who rent to medical marijuana cooperatives are still at risk of asset forfeiture, a U.S. Department of Justice official said it's not a priority to target those who follow state laws. Department spokeswoman Laura Sweeney said in an email that "as part of the federal government's efforts to best employ its resources, the Department focuses its investigative and enforcement activities involving marijuana on large-scale drug traffickers whose conduct is often inconsistent with both federal and state law."
All of this, of course, comes as welcome news to medical marijuana advocates, who say that more than 300 letters were sent by the DEA to landlords in 2007 and 2008. "Since Obama has taken office, we have not seen any letters disseminated," Americans for Safe Access spokesperson Kris Hermes said.
But Hermes added there was recent "activity" in Santa Barbara, which involved warning letters mailed to landlords renting to dispensary operators telling them that had 45 days to evict their tenants or face the consequences. Two clinics shut down after their landlords received the letters, he added, but both have since reopened. "There have been no landlords that have lost their property or have been civilly/criminally prosecuted under Bush or Obama stemming from those letters, underscoring the main reason for their dissemination: to instill fear and intimidation among property owners such that evictions would take place without further action by the federal government," Hermes said in an email.
Thom Mrozek, public affairs officer of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, said he had no comment beyond the information provided by Justice Department headquarters.
Letters warning landlords of possible forfeiture may have already led to closures of as many as seven San Francisco medical marijuana facilities last year, according to a 2008 article in San Francisco Chronicle. Statewide it's unclear exactly how many facilities were shuttered as a result of landlords frightened off by the possibility forfeiture.
DEA spokespeople said they had no comments to add to the Justice Department's statement about forfeiture issues.