Patient Access Could Suffer after Feds Raid Lake Forest Medical Marijuana Dispensaries

As part of a major enforcement blitz, the feds are making no promises that medical marijuana patients in Los Angeles and elsewhere will be able to get the medicine to which they are legally entitled under state law.

The raid on the Raymond Way strip mall in Wake Forest targeted 8 dispensaries and the building’s owner. More than $130,000 was seized from the bank accounts of the building owner. The feds cite the more than $500,000 spent by the city trying to close the dispensaries as reason for the enforcement action. Wake Forest Medical Marijuana Attorney Damian Nassiri represents two of the dispensaries.

There’s no indication yet that the feds intend to target individual patients.

“We will not likely use our limited resources toward individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses, or their individual caregivers, if they use marijuana based on a doctor’s recommendation,” said Melinda Haag, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.

But neither are they promising access — And by targeting the retail end of California’s medical marijuana system, they threaten to deny patient access and destroy dispensaries and collectives in the process. Dispensaries, collectives and growers need to have an experienced law firm in their corner. The CANNABIS LAW GROUP continues to believe there is strength in numbers and is representing numerous medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles, Lake Forest, Riverside and throughout Southern California.

“It’s outrageous,” said Stephen Downing, a retired deputy chief of Los Angeles Police Department and a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, a group of police officers who support medical marijuana. “It’s going to send the people who need their medical marijuana to the black market … It’s going to send more money to the gangs and the drug cartels.”

Officials with the Justice Department are also targeting dispensaries in Rancho Santa Margarita, Dana Point, Laguna Hills and Laguna Niguel in Orange county.

Targets in Riverside County include Murrieta, Wildomar and Temecula. Inland Empire enforcement efforts are occurring in Chino, Pomona, Montclair, Upland and Claremont.

Landlord defense will be necessary in some of these cases. Attacking the economic welfare of real estate owners is a new low in this battle against voter and patient rights being conducted by state and federal authorities. Protecting your rights to rent to the viable and legal business of your choosing can help ensure your financial well-being and the value of your real property.

The CANNABIS LAW GROUP offers experienced and aggressive representation to the medical marijuana industry in Southern California– including growers, dispensaries and collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call 949-375-4734 for a confidential consultation to discuss your rights.

Additional Resources:

CANNABIS LAW GROUP Fighting Federal Medical Marijuana Enforcement in Wake Forest, Oct. 13, 2011.