Federal Pot Policy Shift Could Have Local Fallout

A U.S. Department of Justice memo released last week could complicate the already knotty relationship between local governments and the medical marijuana community. 

In the June 29 memo, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole hints that the federal government may crack down on "persons who are in the business of cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such activities."

The memo comes in the midst of a debate about medical marijuana across the county.

An unlicensed Newark dispensary at 7180 Thornton Ave. was raided by state and local law enforcement officials  one day before the memo was released. The two owners of NBD Cannabis Collective were arrested.

The pair was originally scheduled to be arraigned on five counts of drug charges on June 30, but the arraignment was canceled pending the filing of formal charges. It's unknown if or when charges will be filed.

Calls to the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, the attorney forthe two owners of the collective, and the City of Newark had yet to be returned as of Wednesday afternoon.

According to a March article in the Long Beach Press-Telegram, Newark doesn't allow dispensaries and refused to issue the group a permit, but NBD opened anyway in 2009, and the dispute ended up in court. of owners told Patch on June 30 that “NBD has done nothing unlawful and plans to re-open.” The collective has been closed since the June 28 raid.

A public hearing to consider a conditional use permit for NBD is scheduled to be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in City Council Chambers, 37101 Newark Blvd.

Earlier this year, the Eden Area unincorporated community , including , which was raided in 2008. Berkeley and Oakland have each floated plans to allow large-scale industrial grows. 

The San Leandro City Council narrowly  in May, opting to wait for Oakland to decide whether or not to authorize industrial-scale pot farms. The federal government threatened legal action against Oakland late last year.

Meanwhile, and even more massive illegal fields in parks have continued to proliferate across the county.

Some medical marijuana advocates say the Cole memo released last week contradicts a pledge made by President Obama to end dispensary raids, as well as a previous Justice Department memo that seemed to establish a truce with the medical marijuana industry.

"It is disingenuous of the Obama administration to say it is not attacking patients while obstructing the implementation of local and state medical marijuana laws," Steph Sherer, executive director of Americans for Safe Access, said in a statement. Americans for Safe Access is a Washington, D.C.-based marijuana advocacy group. 

Sherer accused the president of "using intimidation tactics to stop elected officials from serving their constituents, thereby pushing patients into the illicit market."

Nevertheless, Deputy Attorney General Cole wrote that the memo merely clarifies the government's position as laid out in 2009 by then-Deputy Attorney General David W. Ogden. At that time, Ogden wrote that drug policy enforcement should not focus on "individuals with cancer or other serious illnesses who use marijuana...or those caregivers in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state law who provide such individuals with marijuana." 

Cole wrote that his predecessor's memo was never meant to protect large-scale growers.

"Some of these planned facilities have revenue projections of millions of dollars based on the planned cultivation of tens of thousands of cannabis plants," Cole wrote.

"The Ogden memorandum was never intended to shield such activities from federal enforcement action and prosecution, even where those activities purport to comply with state law." 

Those who welcome dispensaries say they could generate much-needed tax revenue, while detractors believe they would bring increased crime and tempt young people. 

Richard Pio Roda, assistant city attorney for San Leandro, said he didn't think the recent memo indicated a change in federal policy.

"I don't think it says much," he said.

"The risks are still the same," including for public officials who approve medical marijuana operations, he added. Pio Roda's firm, Meyers Nave, was hired by the City of Oakland analyze that city's risk in authorizing large-scale marijuana production. 

Pio Roda said he doubted a federal raid on medical cannabis dispensaries was coming anytime soon. 

"As long as the use remains within the bounds of California laws, I don't think the feds are going to step in at this point," he said.

However, everyone's waiting for a test case, he said.