Aggressive Police Actions Taken Against SLO Medical Marijuana Delivery Services

High bails, child endangerment charges being used to intimidate state law-compliant providers

San Luis Obispo County, CA -- A Narcotics Task Force (NTF) made up of local and state law enforcement agencies aggressively raided 5 collectively-run medical marijuana delivery services on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week, arresting at least 13 people on felony charges and holding them on bails of up to $100,000. Several of those arrested were charged with child endangerment, after Child Protective Services (CPS) removed at least 6 children from the homes of 3 different families. One of the people arrested on Monday suffered a heart attack because of the police raid and was taken to a local emergency room before being arrested. As of Thursday afternoon, at least four people were still in jail unable to raise bail.

Medical marijuana delivery services have increased in San Luis Obispo County -- up to 20 collectives by some estimates -- mainly as a result of local hostility, which has resulted in federal raids and prosecutions against storefront dispensary operators, further resulting in an absence of dispensaries in the county. Delivery services, as long as they are run in compliance with the 2008 Attorney General Guidelines, also serve a critical need for those patients that cannot travel to obtain their medicine. Helpful Remedies, Harmonic Alliance, and Trilogy Holistic Health Services were local collectives raided this week and which operate mainly out of Paso Robles and Pismo Beach. Most of the collectives raided were state-registered nonprofit Mutual Benefit Corporations.

"It's wasteful to spend taxpayer dollars to aggressively raid state law-compliant collectives," said Kris Hermes, media spokesperson with Americans for Safe Access, the country's leading medical marijuana advocacy organization. "But, it's a greater tragedy that local officials would resort to taking people's children away because they don't agree with the state's medical marijuana law." Advocates are vowing to hold a protest at the first set of arraignments scheduled for Tuesday, January 11th at 8am in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court. A second set of arraignments will be held the following day.

In 2007, a licensed storefront dispensary in Morro Bay was raided by the San Luis Obispo Sheriff and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), abruptly halting safe access to medical marijuana in the county. The dispensary operator, Charles C. Lynch, was later charged and prosecuted in federal court without a means to defend himself. Lynch was ultimately convicted and sentenced to a year-and-a-day, but is currently appealing.

In one report of this week's raids, the police kept people handcuffed face-down on the ground, including a grandmother and two children, who were later hauled off by CPS after their parents were taken to jail. In addition to seizing medical marijuana, money, and other property, police have also frozen some bank accounts. Undercover police also reportedly used legitimate and verifiable physician recommendations to obtain medical marijuana from the targeted delivery services.

Coordinated police raids on medical marijuana delivery services occurred earlier in the year in the San Jose area, based on an interpretation of state law similarly held by local San Luis Obispo law enforcement agencies, namely that everyone in a collective must participate in the cultivation and no money can exchange hands in the procurement of medical marijuana. "Now that we have stopped law enforcement from hiding behind federal law, hostile police agencies are stooping to flawed interpretations of state law and heavy-handed tactics to further undermine the effort of getting medicine to sick people," continued Hermes.

LA Court Rejects Strict Dispensary Ordinance, Officials Respond with Greater Restrictions

by Kris Hermes, Americans for Safe Access

On December 10th, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mohr ruled in the case Americans for Safe Access v. City of Los Angeles, which involves more than 100 plaintiffs, that the city’s medical marijuana dispensary ordinance was too restrictive. Relying on the recent landmark decision in Qualified Patients Association v. City of Anaheim, Judge Mohr held that state law forbids such onerous restrictions on local distribution. However, some LA City Council Members must not have read the decision.

Judge Mohr’s 40-page ruling was a shot in the arm for advocates of safe access to medical marijuana. Though unpublished, Judge Mohr’s ruling clearly emphasized the need for local distribution and called for a functional regulatory in Los Angeles scheme to implement it.

Specifically, Judge Mohr found that:

“[T]he State of California authorized certain people to operate collectives,” and “the [Los Angeles] Ordinance denies without due process of the law the statutorily conferred right to operate a collective.”

Going out of his way to make the point, Judge Mohr warned all California cities that wholesale or de facto bans against local medical marijuana dispensaries are in violation of state law:

“[I]n discharging its powers and duties under the police power, the City must not lose sight of the fact that the People of the State of California have conferred on qualified patients the right to obtain marijuana for medical purposes. No local subdivision should be allowed to curtail that right wholesale or regulate it out of existence.”

The ruling also weighed in on the issue of “sales,” or reimbursements for the cost and expense of running a medical marijuana dispensary. Contrary to the position that “sales” are illegal under state law held by staunch medical marijuana opponents like Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley who recently lost a bid for State Attorney General, Judge Mohr pointed to the 2008 Attorney General Guidelines, stating that:

“[U]nder proper conditions…a storefront dispensary can be a legitimate medical marijuana collective. The Guidelines also suggest that under proper circumstances, an exchange of money for medical marijuana is allowed.”

In granting the preliminary injunction against enforcement of the city’s ordinance, Judge Mohr also struck down the sunset clause banning dispensaries in two years unless the ordinance is reauthorized, and barred the city from disclosing to police the personal information of patients as a violation of their privacy rights.

Bernard Parks

Jan Perry

However, instead of embracing Judge Mohr’s order, and his rejection of an overly restrictive ordinance, Los Angeles City Council members Bernard Parks and Jan Perry introduced a motion to completely ban distribution within the city limits. Completely ignoring Judge Mohr’s ruling issued five days before the ban motion was filed, Parks and Perry claimed that it was “in the best interest of the City…to ban medical marijuana dispensaries,” pointing to crime as the rationale.

Parks and Perry also apparently ignored the crime data of their own Police Chief, Charlie Beck. In a 2009 study, Chief Beck found that 71 robberies had occurred at the more than 350 banks in the city compared to 47 robberies at the more than 500 medical marijuana facilities. In response to his report, Chief Beck observed that:

“banks are more likely to get robbed than medical marijuana dispensaries,”

and the claim that dispensaries attract crime:

“doesn’t really bear out.”

Parks, Perry and the rest of the Los Angeles City Council ought to reconsider what’s in the best interest of the City and heed Judge Mohr’s order. Furthermore, the Council should work better with the patient community to craft an ordinance that will meet their needs and one that is not overly restrictive or simply a sweeping reaction to sensationalized safety concerns.

The case will now proceed to trial as long as Judge Mohr’s decision isn’t appealed by the City of Los Angeles, an action that is unwarranted but likely.

San Diego Dispensary Operator Sentenced, Advocates Vow to Appeal

By: Kris Hermes, Americans for Safe Access

On Wednesday, San Diego Superior Court Judge Howard H. Shore told a crowded courtroom of patient advocates: “Medical marijuana is a scam.”

During his vitriolic rants, Judge Shore found time to sentence Jovan Jackson, a dispensary operator who was recently convicted after being denied a defense at trial. Judge Shore harshly sentenced Jackson to 180 days in jail, and imposed a $5,000 fine and three years of probation, during which time Jackson is prohibited from using marijuana to legally treat his medical condition.

Unsurprisingly, Judge Shore also denied ASA’s motion for a new trial, based on double jeopardy and the denial of Jackson’s defense. This was the second time Jackson had been tried on the same charges– the first time he was acquitted. Not satisfied with just skirting double jeopardy laws, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis fought to exclude Jackson’s defense on the most dubious grounds. Though not written into law, nor part of the 2008 California Attorney General guidelines on medical marijuana, the court held that most or all of Jackson’s patient membership must participate in the cultivation to be afforded a defense.
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Medical Marijuana Advocates Argue for New Trial Wednesday in San Diego Dispensary Case

District attorney & court use double jeopardy, deny defense to unfairly convict dispensary operator

San Diego, CA -- Medical marijuana patient advocates will argue for a new trial tomorrow in the case of Jovan Jackson, who was convicted on September 28th after he was tried for the second time in less than a year on the same charges of marijuana possession and sales. After District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis failed to convict Jackson the first time, she was able to block his use of a medical marijuana defense at the second trial, virtually guaranteeing his conviction. Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country's largest medical marijuana advocacy group, will move for a new trial at Jackson's sentencing hearing Wednesday, December 15th before San Diego Superior Court Judge Howard H. Shore on the basis that double jeopardy and the denial of a defense was used to unfairly convict Jackson.

What: Motion for new trial & sentencing hearing in the case of San Diego dispensary operator Jovan Jackson
When: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 9am
Where: San Diego Superior Court, 202 W. Broadway San Diego, Department 15

ASA Chief Counsel Joe Elford will be available for interviews immediately following Jackson's sentencing & new trial hearing.
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CA Supreme Court Denies Law Enforcement Request to Review Landmark Case

By: Joe Elford, Americans for Safe Access

After years of wrangling in the Court of Appeal, medical marijuana patients, on August 18, 2010, obtained a published decision affirming that federal law does not preempt California law regarding medical marijuana collectives. Dissatisfied with this outcome, numerous law enforcement organizations, including: five former DEA Administrators, the Drug Free America Foundation, and the California State Sheriff’s Association, along with numerous cities and counties, filed requests for the California Supreme Court grant review and reach an opposite conclusion. On Thursday, this came to and end, as six of the seven Justices of the California Supreme Court voted to decline review.

This denial of review bodes well for medical marijuana patients, as there are now at least four published decisions affirming that federal law does not preempt California’s medical marijuana laws. This has been an argument made by numerous localities to avoid abiding by California’s medical marijuana laws. Although this latest decision does not officially put the matter to rest, it signals that the California Supreme Court does not seem to buy the federal preemption argument. Chalk one up for the patients.

SD ASA Holiday Party Dec 15 Portugalia Restaurant

Mark your calendars and get ready to have a great time, and make a significant difference in our community in San Diego this holiday season.

San Diego ASA has teamed up with a number of amazing organizations in town to bring you this year’s Holiday Party!

The party will be held on Wednesday December 15th 2010 form 6:30pm -9:30pm at the Portugalia Restaurant located in Ocean Beach, CA (4839 Newport Avenue San Diego, CA)

The night will be filled with Karaoke Caroling, Food, Laughter and Cheer!

WHAT: San Diego ASA Annual Holiday Party

WHEN: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 – 6:30pm-9:30pm

WHERE: Portugalia Restaurant 4839 Newport Ave SD, CA

Please bring a toy you wish you had gotten as a child for our community toy drive. This year we have teamed up with The Green Door Collective who will be bringing out the Toys for Tots Marines at 6:30pm to the restaurant to collect toys. The Green Door conducted a toy drive last year at their collective which was able to collect hundreds of toys and helped bring a positive light to our community.

$10 at the door / For more information please visit http://www.safeaccesssd.org/p/events.html

This event is proudly brought to you by: San Diego ASA, Legal Cannabis Institute, The Green Door Collective, Law Offices of Kimberly R. Simms, Association of Clinical Dispensaries, KUSH Magazine, NUG Magazine, Proteus 420, The Women of Marijuana, and The Law Offices of Melissa Bobrow, and many others!

Get Involved, get active, make a difference!

Join ASA - www.safeaccessnow.org
Join us on Facebook www.facebook.com/SanDiegoASA

Medical Marijuana Patient Advocates Fight for New Trial in San Diego Dispensary Case

District attorney & court use double jeopardy, deny defense to unfairly convict dispensary operator

San Diego, CA -- Medical marijuana patient advocates filed a motion for a new trial today in the case of Jovan Jackson, who was convicted on September 28th after he was tried for the second time in less than a year on the same charges of marijuana possession and sales. After District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis failed to convict Jackson the first time, she was able to block his use of a medical marijuana defense at the second trial, virtually guaranteeing his conviction. Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the country's leading medical marijuana advocacy group, argues in its motion that double jeopardy and the denial of a defense was used to unfairly convict Jackson. The motion for a new trial will be heard at Jackson's sentencing hearing, currently scheduled for December 15th at 9am before Judge Howard H. Shore.

"Embarrassed by her earlier loss and desperate for a conviction, District Attorney Dumanis manipulated the criminal justice system to unfairly try Jackson a second time," said Joe Elford, ASA Chief Counsel, and the attorney who filed Jackson's motion for a new trial. "To make matters worse, the court deprived Jackson of the defense that was used to gain an acquittal in his first trial, and a defense to which he's entitled." In December of 2009, Jackson was acquitted by a jury of marijuana possession and sales charges stemming from a 2008 arrest. By denying Jackson a medical marijuana collective defense at his second trial, the court virtually assured his conviction.

For years Jackson had operated his San Diego medical marijuana dispensary, Answerdam Alternative Care Collective, before being raided in September 2009 by a multi-agency task force dubbed "Operation Green Rx." Although more than 60 people were arrested in several raids coordinated by Dumanis in collaboration with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Jackson was one of only two defendants Dumanis chose to prosecute in state court. The case against the other defendant, Eugene Davidovich, resulted in a jury acquittal of similar charges earlier this year.

Much of the opposition to local distribution from Dumanis and other detractors like Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley, who recently lost his bid for Attorney General, is based on an interpretation which holds that patients cannot use money to obtain their medical marijuana, or that "sales" are somehow illegal under state law. This interpretation that patients must take part in the cultivation, must "till the soil," is strenuously held by a few rogue officials despite guidelines issued in 2008 by the California Attorney General's office and legal case law to the contrary. In Jackson's case, the court held that the dispensary operator must cultivate the marijuana sold by the dispensary.

"Jackson should not have been denied a defense and should not be used as a scapegoat for the District Attorney's misguided position that medical marijuana sales are illegal," said Eugene Davidovich, who also heads the San Diego chapter of ASA. In an effort to keep medical marijuana out of Jackson's second trial, Judge Shore ordered people in the audience to remove articles of clothing that displayed an Americans for Safe Access logo, including tote bags carried into the courtroom.

Notably, the San Diego City Council has been working for more than a year on a local medical marijuana distribution law, which would regulate the same activity for which Jackson was convicted. A San Diego grand jury issued recommendations in June calling on city and county governments to implement the state's medical marijuana law. In particular, the grand jury urged development of a "program for the licensing, regulation and periodic inspection of authorized collectives and cooperatives distributing medical marijuana."

Further information:
Jackson's motion for a new trial filed by ASA: http://AmericansForSafeAccess.org/downloads/Jackson_New_Trial_Motion.pdf
San Diego grand jury recommendations on medical marijuana: http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/grandjury/reports/2009-2010/MedicalMarijuanaReport.pdf

Judge Grants Emergency Injunction against St. Bernard’s Provisions San Marcos Medical Marijuana Collective

By: Eugene Davidovich

SAN MARCOS – On Friday of this week, San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert Dahlquist granted an emergency injunction against St. Bernard’s Provisions medical marijuana collective located in the City of San Marcos in San Diego County forcing the collective to close its doors.

Despite numerous demands by patients, advocates, and concerned citizens, the City of San Marcos has refused to accept Proposition 215 as law and is engaged in a medical marijuana eradication campaign.

In 2006 the San Marcos City Council adopted an ordinance prohibiting medical marijuana dispensaries in all zones within the city’s jurisdictional limits and specifically instructed the city’s business tax office not issue permits conditional or otherwise for such use.

Advocates, patients, and concerned citizens alike have called the San Marcos Ban unconstitutional and a slap in the face of California voters who overwhelmingly passed Proposition 215 in 1996. Since 1996 support for medical marijuana across California has continued to grow with the most recent polls showing over 70% of Californian’s in support of medical use.

To date this patient eradication campaign has cost the city millions of dollars and has included criminal and civil action against legitimate patients. The latest example in the city’s spending furry is the filing of this restraining order and demand for an “Emergency Injunction” against St. Bernard’s Provisions.

Just in the last couple months the City of San Marcos has spent several hundred thousand dollars on this effort with the cases against MMSC, Inc., and now St. Bernard’s Provisions.

St. Bernard’s Provisions - Emergency Injunction San Marcos

COURT SUPPORT ALERT!

St. Bernard’s Provisions a medical marijuana collective located in the City of San Marcos is under attack by the City Attorney's office.

The City of San Marcos has sued the collective to try and shut them down. The City has asked for an “emergency” restraining order to shut them down immediately while they try to fight their case in court. It would significantly help influence the judge to see that this case is not just about one collective but about the community of medical marijuana patients in North County San Diego.

The Honorable Judge Robert Dahlquist will decide whether to grant the City’s request at 2:30, Dept. 29 of the Vista Courthouse on Friday December 3.

Please come out and help us show the Judge that we want Safe Access in our communities! Help us pack the courtroom!

WHAT: Court Support St. Bernard's Provisions

WHEN: 12/3/3010 - 2:30pm

WHERE: Vista Courthouse Department 29 - 325 South Melrose Vista CA

San Diego Americans for Safe Access
www.SafeAccessSD.org

Get Involved, get active, make a difference!
Join ASA - www.safeaccessnow.org