C.O. Clinics Support Pot Sales Crackdown

More than 30 county district attorneys along with Oregon’s U.S. Attorney, Dwight Holton, all signed a notice warning dispensaries they’d better not be selling marijuana or they’ll face criminal prosecution.

Owners and managers of marijuana clinics NewsChannel 21 talked with about Friday’s warning said they know its illegal to sell pot and are against those who do sell it on the black market.

Some are worried that it might affect places like their clinics.

“We’ve known since the very beginning of this program that it was not legal to sell marijuana in any way, shape or form,” said Tristin Reisfar, office manager of MAMA, or Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse, an educational group in Bend.

MAMA says they help patients end their abuse of prescription drugs and only help patients register for the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program.

Holton and DAs from all over Oregon, along with sheriffs and police chiefs, served a notice to businesses selling marijuana that the sale of the drug for any purpose — including for medical purposes — violates both federal and state law.

“We’re worried that its going to start adversely affecting places like us that (are) really just trying to help the patients and not profit off them,” Reisfar said.

Another place that agrees with the crackdown is Bend’s Best Buds. It only opened up shop about two weeks ago.

“Trying to eliminate the black market and make a safe place for patients to come,” David Tomlinson, co-owner of Bend’s Best Buds, said.

David and the other owner, Sunday, are both medical marijuana patients themselves, and say they just want to help others like them and actually appreciate the warning from police.

“They should crack down on the black market and stop it from being in little kids’ hands. And that’s what happens if you don’t legalize something, a big black market,” Tomlinson said.

That’s exactly why Holton says this is important.

“The brain science is very clear, that exposure to marijuana at the age of between 12 to 14, when you are trying to learn, it impairs your ability to learn and develop,” Holton told NewsChannel 21.

Holton said dispensaries are fueling this exposure of access to marijuana.

“We now have 50,000 card holders, of those, 30,000 of them got their cards from 10 clinics. I think that tells you it’s pretty serious,” Holton said.

But places like Bend’s Best Buds say they are just trying to help the patients that need it most.

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More on the announcement released Friday:

Law enforcement officials stressed that individuals and businesses that conduct sales of marijuana face the risk of prosecution, civil enforcement action and seizure of assets.

?Oregon and federal law make it illegal to sell marijuana ? period, end of story,? said Holton in a news release. ?The breathtaking surge in manufacture and distribution of marijuana in Oregon is putting marijuana in the hands of more and more healthy kids — and dispensaries are fueling this crisis.”

“We are confident that responsible landlords and property owners will remove the operators of illegal dispensaries and ‘cannabis clubs.’?

Marion County District Attorney Walt Beglau explained that Oregon district attorneys are seeing the problem statewide:

?Drug traffickers are hiding behind the medical marijuana law to protect their sham operations,” said Beglau, president of the Oregon District Attorneys Association. “We have to rein in this outlaw atmosphere before any kid can walk into a storefront on Main Street in any town in Oregon and buy marijuana illegally.?

?This is a growing crisis we need to meet head on,” said Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin, president of the Oregon State Sheriff?s Association.

Bergin and Newport Police Chief Mark Miranda, president of the Oregon Association of Chiefs of Police, also joined the statement.

The notice to businesses is in keeping with the Department of Justice guidance to federal prosecutors and agents in States that have enacted laws authorizing the medical use of marijuana.

That guidance articulates the department?s balanced approach, which effectively focuses the limited federal resources on drug traffickers and organizations as opposed to individuals with serious illnesses who use marijuana as part of a recommended treatment regimen consistent with applicable state law.

The guidance also makes clear that federal officials will not tolerate those who hide behind claims of compliance with state laws to mask activity that is clearly illegal.

Holton told NewsChannel 21 it’s increasingly clear that some “dispensaries are selling marijuana quite openly,” to the point of offering coupons, such as “14 grams free with five referrals.”

They “seem to have missed entirely that voters resoundingly rejected dispensaries,” the U.S. attorney said.

“The names tell it all — Wake n Bake, High Society, Ganja Garage, Club 420, Club Pitbull — and a new club, ‘My Connect,” Holton said. “Are we supposed to believe that people go to places like ‘Wake n Bake’ to get medicine?”

“Oregonians, who adopted a medical marijuana law in good faith, deserve an answer: Are these places where people go to get medicine, or are these just drug dealers hiding behind the medical marijuana law?” the U.S. attorney said.

“Today’s notice makes clear that Oregon law enforcement — federal and state — stands ready to enforce the law, and will not tolerate illegal marijuana dispensaries,” Holton told NewsChannel 21.

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Here’s the text of the notice:

NOTICE TO OWNERS, OPERATORS AND LANDLORDS OF OREGON MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

JUNE 3, 2011

The sale of marijuana for any purpose — including as medicine — violates both Federal and Oregon law and will not be tolerated. People and businesses that conduct sales of marijuana face the risk of prosecution, civil enforcement action, and seizure of assets.

Knowingly financing a marijuana dispensary or allowing one to operate on your property also violates federal law and could subject financiers and landlords to civil and criminal penalties ? including forfeiture of any assets used in support of the criminal enterprise.

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act, adopted by Oregon state voters in 1998, does not permit the sale of marijuana in any form. Although its provisions protect medical marijuana users who comply with its requirements from state criminal prosecution for drug crimes, the Act does not restrict seizure of marijuana plants, nor does it protect individuals or organizations from federal criminal prosecution under the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Prosecuting individuals and organizations involved in the cultivation and distribution of controlled substances, including marijuana, are core priorities of the United States Department of Justice. Consistent with federal law, the United States Attorney?s Office for the District of Oregon may pursue criminal and civil actions for violations of the Controlled Substances Act when such action is warranted. Such criminal actions may include charges for the illegal manufacture, distribution or possession with intent to distribute marijuana in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841; charges for knowingly opening, leasing, renting, maintaining, or using property for the manufacture, storage, or distribution of marijuana, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 856; as well as charges under the federal money laundering statutes.

Similarly, under Oregon law, violators may be prosecuted for manufacturing marijuana under ORS 475.856, delivery of marijuana under ORS 475.860, and money laundering under ORS 164.170. Instrumentalities or proceeds associated with unlawful activity may be subject to Civil Forfeiture under ORS 131A.005 or Criminal Forfeiture under ORS 131.550.