Recent DEA raids in California are once again raising questions about the Obama Administration's commitment to respecting state laws:
San Diego, CA -- Federal agents raided at least three San Diego-area medical marijuana dispensaries [Friday] in the early morning hours. Sources say that Green Kross, Unified Collective and Kush Lounge were all served federal search warrants and were subjected to aggressive SWAT-style raids which resulted in the arrest of as many as 12 people and the seizure of money, medical marijuana and patient records. These raids come as the City of San Diego is deliberating an ordinance to regulate the local distribution of medical marijuana. [Americans for Safe Access [3]]
It's possible, of course, that there were violations of state law taking place here, in which case the DEA's involvement would be consistent with Obama's policy. But it remains unclear why California police would need federal assistance enforcing their own laws. The cynical interpretation would be that the tendency of local juries to acquit medical marijuana defendants has led San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis to have the feds do her dirty work.
Meanwhile in Mendocino:
A marijuana activist group on Friday protested a federal law enforcement raid on a Mendocino County pot farm, saying it was protected by the county’s new medical marijuana cultivation ordinance.
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The Covelo farm owned by Joy Greenfield, 68, was registered with Mendocino County authorities under an ordinance that allows medical marijuana collectives to grow up to 99 plants.
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Federal agents removed 99 plants and took a computer and cash, the group said. Greenfield wasn’t there at the time.
Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman confirmed Friday that the property owner had the proper paperwork and the marijuana was legal in the eyes of the county. [Press Democrat [4]]
Once again, there could be more to the story, but it sure sounds like classic DEA craziness. The grower's relationship with local law-enforcement casts doubt on the possibility of impropriety, so we're left wondering what the hell is going on here.
Events like these are inevitable under a vague federal policy left to the whims of the DEA's bullying cowboy mentality. Only a change in federal law will bring an end to this, but for the time being, the Obama Administration would do well to eliminate all apparent departures from the well-received hands-off approach they've promised the American people. I don't see what's so hard about that. If circumstances emerge that absolutely necessitate DEA activity involving medical marijuana, then it shouldn’t be too hard to provide an explanation for why federal resources were needed. That's the very least you can do.
Obama's pledge to respect medical marijuana laws enjoys broader public support than almost anything else he's done since taking office. Screwing that up would be stupid, cruel and pointless.
