The Summer of Cannabis
Summer 2013
July - Starting in my own backyard, the city of Los Angeles welcomed a new Mayor and City Attorney into office on the first of the month. City Attorney Mike Feuer had quite the task at hand when he was inaugurated. Back in May the city voted and passed Proposition D. This new ordinance states that no more than the 135 collectives open and registered with the city in the fall of 2007 shall remain open. The first and only real action that the city has made to enforce the ordinance was a round of letters sent to the shops that do not comply, warning them of the risk of civil or criminal action, and daily fines. Of the many shops in LA that I am familiar with, I know of one shop that closed voluntarily after receiving the letter, that same collective is now looking for a new location to reopen in the city of Los Angeles. However, one of the shops that decided to stay open informed me of some unconstitutional behavior by the Los Angeles Police Dept., waiting in unmarked cars outside dispensaries, stopping patients as they exit, asking for their ID’s and recommendations, opening their bags of medicine and taking photos. I would like to take this time to remind every American that reads this that the police do not have the right to stop you on the street and ask for your ID, you do not have to share any information, ask “Am I being detained or am I free to go?”, do not consent to a search, and stand your ground. Now it is early September and the city has not taken any serious action.
August 8, 2013 - CNN health correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta released his statement that he had made a U-turn in his opinion on the Medical benefits of Marijuana. He wrote on his CNN column, ”I apologize because I didn’t look hard enough, until now. I didn’t look far enough. I didn’t review papers from smaller labs in other countries doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis. Instead, I lumped them with the high-visibility malingerers, just looking to get high. I mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a schedule 1 substance because of sound scientific proof.” He continues to go on about his opinions about risks, and the challenges that scientist face in trying to study cannabis. But the real purpose of his article is to promote the documentary that he and CNN had been working on for the past year. “I traveled around the world to interview medical leaders, experts, growers and patients. I spoke candidly to them, asking tough questions. What I found was stunning.”
I admit, at first I was 100% against Dr. Sanjay Gupta’s change of heart, I think that he is jumping on a money train and that he could really care less about people if it’s taken him this long to be willing to see the truth. I still believe that his motive is greed, but I am glad that he and CNN made the documentary. I am glad that eyes will be opened by the story of a little girl in Colorado named Charlotte who’s life has been saved by high CBD oil. There are thousands of children like Charlotte who deserve the right to medicine and the more people that know the benefits, the better our world will be.
August 12 - Attorney General Eric Holder announced the Justice Department will avoid charging certain low-level and nonviolent drug offenders with crimes that carry mandatory minimums. He also said that the Justice Department is giving U.S. attorneys throughout the country a greater amount of prosecutorial discretion.
"Some issues are best handled at the state or local level," Holder said. "And that’s why I have directed the United States Attorney community to develop specific, locally-tailored guidelines — consistent with our national priorities — for determining when federal charges should be filed, and when they should not."
August 21 - After dismissing a question the previous day regarding whether or not the President’s stance on Medical Marijuana had changed after the release of Dr. Gupta’s “Weed” Documentary, White House Spokesman Josh Earnest was prepared with a statement when asked again. Reading from his pre-written response Mr. Earnest said “The administration’s position on this has been clear and consistent for some time now, that while the prosecution of drug trafficking remains an important priority, the president and the administration believe that targeting individual marijuana users, especially those with serious illnesses and their caregivers, is not the best allocation of federal law enforcement resources.”
August 29 - The Huffington Post called it ”a historic step back” from the war on drugs when Attorney General Eric Holder called the governors of Colorado and Washington to inform them that the Department of Justice would allow them to regulate and implement the ballot initiatives that legalized the use of recreational marijuana, but reserve the right to sue them at a later date.
Deputy Attorney General James Cole also issued memo to U.S. attorneys across the country. “The Department’s guidance in this memorandum rests on its expectation that states and local governments that have enacted laws authorizing marijuana-related conduct will implement strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems that will address the threat those state laws could pose to public safety, public health and other law enforcement interests,” it reads. “A system adequate to that task must not only contain robust controls and procedures on paper; it must also be effective in practice.”
The memo outlines priorities for federal prosecutors enforcing marijuana laws. The DOJ will prosecute individuals or entities to prevent the distribution of marijuana to minors; revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels; the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some form to other states; state-authorized marijuana activity from being used as a cover or pretext for the trafficking of other illegal drugs or other illegal activity; violence and the use of firearms in the cultivation and distribution of marijuana; drugged driving and the exacerbation of other adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use; growing of marijuana on public lands and the attendant public safety and environmental dangers posed by marijuana production on public lands; and preventing marijuana possession or use on federal property.
It is my hunch that the Department of Justice, the United States Government, and cities like Los Angeles simply do not have the man power or the funding to continue to the war on drugs. Like it or not, “The Cannabis Machine” has become an unstoppable movement. I think the Department of Justice would like the country to believe that they are choosing a “trust but verify approach” as Eric Holder says, but it is my opinion that they know they no longer have control and are only trying to save face.
Last week the state of Washington announced in will start issuing licenses for growers on December 1st so crops can be expected approx. 60-75 days later.
On Monday, Colorado officially became the first state in the country to finalize and adopt the rules for recreational marijuana sales. The first recreational marijuana retail shops in Colorado are expected to open around Jan. 1, 2014.
Tuesday, Attorney General James Cole told Congress that The Justice Department and federal banking regulators will help clear the way for financial institutions to transact business with the legitimate marijuana industry without fear of prosecution.
Starting October 1st representatives from California Cannabis Hemp Initiative 2014 will begin a campaign to collect 1,000,000 signatures in 150 days to have their initiative added to the ballot in November 2014.
Alaska, Arizona, Oregon, and Montana all have campaigns that hope to go to vote in 2014. While supporters in Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont hope for advancements over the 2-4 years. While many other states are continuing to campaign for medical rights to cannabis.
As I said, “The Cannabis Machine” has become unstoppable, it’s only a matter of time now. Hope you enjoyed your Summer!!
