A frightening development in the MMJ industry.

For immediate release, March 17, 2011

Feds Threaten State Dispensaries Nationwide

Read the Department of Justice's "Haag Memo" here:
http://www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com/legal/feds/doj.haag.memo.pdf

For more information, contact the:
Cannabis Therapy Institute
877-420-4205

In a little-publicized memo, the federal government has indicated that the
gloves are off with regards to medical marijuana dispensaries, "regardless
of state laws." Previous memos had indicated a loosening of federal
prosecutions of medical marijuana, however the new memo states very clearly
that the feds consider all dispensaries illegal under federal law and that
their prosecution is a "core priority" of the feds.

The "Haag Memo" was written on Feb. 1, 2011 from United States Attorney
Melinda Haag (Northern District of California) to John A. Russo, Esq.,
Oakland City Attorney, in response to an Oakland City Council request for
guidance regarding medical marijuana and federal law. The memo was written
with consultation and approval from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

The "Haag Memo" clarifies the "Ogden Memo", which was written by former
Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden on Oct. 19, 2009 for the Department
of Justice. The "Ogden Memo" seemed to indicate that the new Obama
administration would restrict federal prosecution of medical marijuana
providers in states that had medical marijuana laws. This was heralded by
many as giving them the green light to pursue medical marijuana activities,
as long as they were in compliance with state law.

The "Haag Memo" clears up that misconception with some very unambiguous
statements. The memo says clearly that the feds will not look the other way
on medical marijuana. The "Haag Memo" states very clearly that the feds
will continue to investigate, arrest and prosecute medical marijuana
dispensaries in every state "regardless of state laws."

In addition, the memo calls prosecuting medical marijuana dispensaries a
"core priority" for the feds.

According to the memo, medical marijuana commercial activity is still
considered by the Department of Justice to be "a violation of federal law
regardless of state laws permitting such activities."

The memo may be the cause of the recent increase in federal raids at
medical marijuana dispensaries. Only 4 days after the memo was issued, the
DEA raided 4 dispensaries in California Just this week, the DEA raided
more dispensaries in California and Montana. They arrested dozens of
people, and seized the assets and bank accounts of several dispensaries.

IMPLICATIONS FOR COLORADO

"Maybe this will wake people up who think that it can't happen here," says
Kathleen Chippi of the Colorado-based Patient and Caregiver Rights
Litigation Project (cannabislawsuits.com), who is trying to raise money to
file lawsuits to uphold Colorado's Constitutional right to cannabis
medicine. Many legal observers agree that Colorado has the best chance of
fighting the feds in court because Colorado is the only state whose medical
marijuana law is actually in the state Constitution.

However, last year the state of Colorado set up a regulatory scheme that
required caregivers to surrender their Constitutional rights. The state
created a new entity called a Medical Marijuana Center (MMC). However, in
order to apply to become an MMC, the applicants had to surrender their
Constitutional rights to be caregivers, leaving them with no Constitutional
protection.

MMC applicants also had to sign their power of attorney over to the state
Department of Revenue for extensive investigations of every aspect of their
lives, including family, spouses, children, and bank accounts. Over 700
people applied to become MMCs last July 1, 2010. The investigations on
these applicants are in full swing, and no licenses to applicants have yet
been granted.

MORE QUOTES FROM THE HAAG MEMO

"We will enforce the CSA vigorously against individuals and organizations
that participate in unlawful manufacturing and distribution activity
involving marijuana, even if such activities are permitted under state
law."

"Others who knowingly facilitate the actions of the licensees, includmg
property owners, landlords, and financiers should also know that their
conduct violates federal law."

"As the Attorney General has repeatedly stated, the Department of Justice
remains fumly (sic) committed to enforcing the CSA in all states."

READ THE DOJ MEMOS:

"Haag Memo" (Feb. 1, 2011)
http://www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com/legal/feds/doj.haag.memo.pdf

"Ogden Memo": Oct. 19, 2009
http://blogs.usdoj.gov/blog/archives/192

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Please copy and redistribute this announcement.

Copy of origional memo:

http://www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com/legal/feds/doj.haag.memo.pdf

Wonder how many landlords are going to start trying to evict the legal MMC's and off site grow facilities because of the threat of being charged as a conspirator.

quietguy420 said:

Wonder how many landlords are going to start trying to evict the legal MMC's and off site grow facilities because of the threat of being charged as a conspirator.

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I just copied it to one (a friend of mine) and he was not worried about it ???

and people wonder why MMJ patients and caregivers didnt want to go on a registry with the state. Easy access for the fed swhen they decide to come and round up all the people who dont conform.

good read C. thnx for posting it.

"the gloves are off" wtf? this whole thing makes me sick!

while we all will continue to live in fear of the feds until they fix all the BS, we are in a better position here in Colorado. like I've said before, CO and CA and the 2 main states that everyone else is looking at. California clearly has their heads up their ass when it comes to the grey/black market and too many step outside the bounds and are therefor targeted. Colorado on the other hand is trying to create a solid industry (like it or not) via regulation and enforcement, and is trying to get rid of the grey/black market.

That said, a recent email with Matt Cook comes down to this: Since 1284 passed, the DEA has not raided any CO MMJ/MMC facilities that are following State law, but has instead turned over information to the CO DOR for them to follow up on investigation and enforcement of facilities/people they have found have 'issues' (compliance, back door sales, other illegal activities).

So I believe we are in a better position here, as long as we follow the laws and don't give the DEA the finger publicly. However, those laws are constantly being changed and updated and it's up to US to scrutinize those laws and help guide them to workable laws for everyone. If you do not know who your local and state representatives are, you better get on the bandwagon and help push them in the right direction. keeping quiet doesn't fix anything.

the less you have to do with government or big business, the better you are off.

Your disavowal of the principle enunciated in the Ogden memorandum has not gone unnoticed. We the People of the United States demand the resignations of Attorney General Holder and US Attorney Melinda Haag. The dissolution of the DEA and the repeal of the Controlled Substances Act are essential elements of our determination that America become once again "the land of the free". Our status as the leading prison-nation in the world is a completely unacceptable outrage, and drastically reducing our prison population must be America’s first priority.

Haag's memo reveals the so-called "United States Justice Department" to be an illegitimate institution waging war against the people of the United States, and an enemy of American liberty. Real Americans will act against the criminal gang of fascists controlling the Congress, many state legislatures, the courts, and their Schutzstaffel, the Injustice Department. No terrorist or serial murderer threatens our society more than rabid animals like Haag and the dupes who continue to prop them up.

Your failure to resist fascism renders you unfit to serve a second term. People who use cannabis read, think, and vote. I for one am done with the kind of political expediency which has allowed the Greater and Lesser Fascist Parties to control our private lives. To whatever extent you are motivated by pragmatism, please consider that my contention that millions of your core voters will simply not accept your retreat from respecting states' medical cannabis laws may be true.




Robert Chase
Colorado Coalition for Patients and Caregivers
[email protected]




[Please read the two-page memo at: http://www.cannabistherapyinstitute.com/legal/feds/doj.haag.memo.pdf]

Robert - you are an attorney, correct? Can you help me understand why a cannabis manufacturer or retailer (i.e., MMC in Colorado) would not drag the state into court with them when raided by the DEA? If someone is abiding by state law, and paying taxes to the state, the state should be considered an accomplice in the "crime". This comment in the Haag memo especially makes me feel like that would be a viable consideration:
"Federal money laundering and related statutes which prohibit a variety of different types of financial activity involving the movement of drug proceeds may hkewise be utilized. The govemment may also pursue civil injunctions, and the forfeiture of drug proceeds, property traceable to such proceeds, and property used to facilitate drug violations."

I feel like the states are doing their citizens a HUGE disservice by collecting money from them and then letting the DEA arrest them for that very same tax-generating activity. If the AGs of MMJ states were to take on the DEA with the same zeal Suthers and his cronies are using to attack "Obamacare" we may actually get some traction on neutering the DEA. If there is a states' rights violation going on in this country this is it. Feds arresting and imprisoning people who the states consider to be law abiding citizens is a much bigger deal than forcing people to pay for health care...

Medshed, I am sometimes mistaken for our courtroom champion Rob Corry; you may be thinking of him. I am not an attorney, but I try to understand all legal ramifications of the issue. It may be that there is a legal basis for claiming State complicity to the advantage of defendants, but as to the prospects of even partial success for such an argument I have no idea. In light of likely seizure of property and assets, and the operation of our fascist forfeiture laws, MMCs could easily be put permanently out of business and owners and investors beggared irrespective of whether criminal charges are dropped, dismissed, or not even filed in the first place. As for AGs suing, it is entirely different in the case of cannabis (isn't it always?) -- the SCOTUS has pretended to abrogate our Fourth Amendment rights in particular in its perverse, quixotic, and fascist quest to control private behavior, and until the fascists are removed from it, no change is possible. As a matter of political pragmatism, the tentative endorsement of in most cases highly restricted medical cannabis programs by several states does not begin to threaten the entrenched position of the agency of blood-sucking parasites known as the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Funny how the Federal Government denies Medical Marijuana but hold a US patent until 2021 on marijuana

The U.S. Patent Office issued patent #6630507 http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6630507.html to the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services filed on 2/2/2001. The patent lists the use of certain cannabinoids found within the cannabis sativa plant as useful in certain neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and HIV dementia.

Since cannabis sativa (or marijuana as we like to refer to it) contains compounds recognized and endorsed by an agency of the U.S. government why is it that marijuana remains on the Federal Schedule One list of drugs?

The issuance of patent #6630507 is a direct contradiction of the governments own definition for classification of a Schedule 1 drug.

I guess the bigger question may be why hasn't Norml or some other legal entity sued the Feds to have marijuana removed from the Schedule 1 list based on this patent granted?


They cant regulate it...they cant control it....thats why its illegal.....but they make sure they have a patent on it....

I love this part:

"The government may also pursue civil injunctions, and the forfeiture of drug proceeds, property traceable to such proceeds, and property used to facilitate drug violations."

Colorado's governor dipped into the proceeds from MMCs to the tune of 9 million last year to help balance the state budget (ref: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_15873063). So I guess if the DEA wants to raid an MMC in Colorado, they'll have to confiscate the roads, schools, and anything else that money is used for. Thanks for that little gem.

screw the goverment grow weed in such numbers they cant make enough weedeaters to cut them all down im going on aroad trip with a bag of about 30k seeds and im going to be the next jonny canna seed lol might make a few laps around the white house

Ignorant fuck,

Besides making all Marijuana users look like thugs, you will pollinate everyone else's weed with you shit bag weed.

Bummed about this because alot of those people that work at "Good" dis put there heart and soul into there product. For patients
who are in pain and would rather use mmj then OC or all the other heroin that docs peddle as cure alls. When did this country become
so dependent on pills. Just that as an early 20's libertarian with the fiscal views of the "Right Wing" that most of my peers that I talked to
were so willing to vote this guy on no basis of prior achievement just hype. Some of my fellow med users even said they were voting for him
only because he is gonna legalize weed......Just another lie like the Stimulus, the impeachable war in Libya, extending the patriot act, and on and on and on and on.........All lies....No change really
SNAFU Situation Normal All Fucked Up

Shane! said:

SNAFU Situation Normal All Fucked Up

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quoting rob van winkle are we?

djruiner said:

quoting rob van winkle are we?

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Don't know who that is..The headless horsemen maybe? No just a military thing
SNAFU FUBAR CONUS POTUS MRC MAF really to many to list