Pot Raids Come Early to California
June 29th, 2009 by Rick
The feds are ramping up their efforts to bust illegal grow sites within California by way of a state sanctioned marijuana eradication team, comprised of federal, state and local officers — known as the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP).
A state Department of Justice spokeswoman, Special Agent Michelle Gregory, said:
They’re planting earlier, we might as well get out there and start picking them. [...] Hopefully, we can get some more grow sites.
CAMP is looking to break their record from last year of 2.9 million plants (reportedly worth $11.6B) seized from across California. Meanwhile, at a federal level, 5.2 million plants had been confiscated within the state. According to local authorities, 44,000 outdoor marijuana plants have already been uprooted, a figure way up (three times) from last year — Lake County being the number one area for the grow sites, for the third year in a row.
The grow sites that are raided (especially the large public ones) are believed to be operated by Mexican nationals that think growing pot and then distributing it within the United States is safer than growing it in Mexico and trying to smuggle it across the border. Apparently greed is behind the sheer increase of crops.
And All the Dispensary Owners Exhaled
February 27th, 2009 by PerryFor those waiting to see when Obama was to stay true to his word about ending medical marijuana raids — the time is now.
And to Obama’s credit, it’s only a couple months into his first term, not a couple years into his second one. Good for him, good for us and even better for dispensary owners who are being locked up for legally providing medicine to people.
US Attorney General Eric Holder hinted this would be new policy, but officially announced it at a press conference yesterday.
Obama’s First Good Step Regarding Federal Raids
February 12th, 2009 by Perry
Recently, Obama’s White House showed he might live up to the promise of change that swept him into office.
In response to federal raids on several Los Angeles-area dispensaries, White House Spokesman Nick Shapiro said, “federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws,” and as the Obama cabinet takes shape, he expects new policies to reflect the new prioritization.
It could have been smoke-and-mirrors political gobbledygook; granted. However, a sliver is more than anyone would have ever hoped for from the previous administration.
It’s also, as the Alternet blog points out, a good first step.
Changes in Policy Inevitable
February 5th, 2009 by Silvio
Although the Department of Justice and the DEA are very aware (or at least should be) of the change in policy regarding MMJ raids with federal resources under the new government, the harassment continues.
One raid in South Lake Tahoe on January 22 and four simultaneous raids in the Los Angeles area on Tuesday, seem to indicate that President Obama’s pledge to end federal interference with state medical marijuana laws are still being ignored by some government branches.
To quote White House Spokesman Nick Shapiro:
The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind.
The sheer number of raids under the Bush administration went through the roof, and it seems this is one last uproar of his die-hard followers. A number of organizations like Americans for Safe Access (ASA) are already on the case. And as it seems, the issue won’t be swept under rug. There is dialog, and it’s being taken seriously.
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New President, Same Old DEA Raids
January 27th, 2009 by Perry
The DEA raided a dispensary on Jan. 22, the first such act by federal law enforcement since Obama’s inauguration earlier this week.
The raid flies in the face of campaign promises made by Obama, who said he would rein in this type of behavior from federal agencies. Holistic Solutions is was the name of the dispensary, and while cash and marijuana were seized, no arrests were made.
Senator Obama said in an August 2007 statement:
I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It’s not a good use of our resources.
I’m not quite sure if kicking down the doors of an unoccupied, state-sanctioned medical facility is the biggest waste of federal tax dollars (see: Bridge to Nowhere), but it has to be up there.
According to a statement on the Americans for Safe Access Web site, the raid is just one of more than 100 in California in the last two years (roughly two per week for those without a calculator). No surprise, since CA has received an overwhelming share of federal scrutiny for its pioneering of federally-outlawed efforts at medical marijuana.
New Mexico, which recently adopted a MMJ card program, was threatened by the DEA for its plan, according to the same release.
