Feds Shut Down Marin Pot Club, (California's) Oldest

[Newsjock]

Source: NBC Bay Area

Barack Obama's Justice Department have done what top attorneys for former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton could never do -- silenced the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana.

The modest medical cannabis dispensary -- which has operated since 1996, making the Fairfax-based pot club the state's oldest -- quietly shut down over the weekend under heavy pressure from federal prosecutors, according to the Marin Independent Journal.

Marin Alliance was sent letters by U.S. Attorney for Northern California Melinda Haag instructing the club to shut down or face stiff penalties, including asset forfeiture and prison terms.

The club had operated in Marin with full knowledge of local authorities and even a resolution of support from the town council in Fairfax, according to reports. But since then, the federal government began asset forfeiture proceedings against the landlord, and the founder of the club -- Lynette Shaw -- has stopped responding to press inquiries and has severed her ties with the Marin Alliance, according to reports.

Read more: http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Feds-Shut-Down-Marin-Pot-Club-States-Oldest-135923288.html

[comipinko]

1. Must make way for the New big pharma canaboid pills!!

Goooooo wall street!!!!!

[KansDem]

4. They have the mono-pot-ly on medicinal marajuana

Yay for Big Pharma!!!

[Civilization2]

2. sad news, more backwards motion from this corporatist administration.

This is one of the issues that I follow to know the direction things political are moving,. any culture that allows this simple and helpful plant to be outlawed is moving in the wrong direction. This administration pushing back against public opinion, in an utterly destructive system of control over people growing and consuming plants is anti-human and anti-progress.

[99th_Monkey]

27. Shredding any pretense of "states rights" ~nt

[Webster Green]

3. Disgusting!

I worked at the Marin Alliance for awhile.

Obama is a regressive. Much worse than the chimp on the phony war on drugs. How fucking cruel can he possibly be, to keep this medicine from people who need it?

I'm beyond pissed at this dude. He is clueless!

[Laelth]

5. Depressing. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth

[Freddie Stubbs]

6. Once again the Obama administration has succeeded where the Bush Administration has failed

[closeupready]

15. lol

[abq e streeter]

7. C'mon, don't you all feel safer knowing that fewer cancer partients are gonna be able to get high?

I know I do and I'm a thousand miles away from there. God bless Eric Holder and his on the ball justice department for showing us they know who the truly dangerous members of our society are.
(Hope I don't need the sarcasm thingy)

[randome]

8. I am not cheerleading the government on this.

But until they state in court -or elsewhere but so far they have not- why they chose the dispensaries they have, it seems premature to assume it's just because someone in the DOJ hates pot smokers.

[Romulox]

9. Obama "silent" on MMJ policy, my eye. Actions speak WAY louder than any words. nt

[red dog 1]

10. Obama's Justice Department Should Be Going After Real Criminals....(like gang stalkers)

Since he took office in 2009, Obama and his DOJ have totally ignored the pleas of hundreds of thousands of victims of organized stalking, also known as "gang" stalking.
Letters, e-mails, & phone calls to DOJ and the White House on the subject of organized stalking go unanswered.
Stalking victims reporting multiple stalkers are refused any help by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), which is part of DOJ.
("OVC does not provide any direct assistance to victims of multi-stalking incidents&quot

In a 2009 DOJ Special Report "Stalking Victimization in the United States".
(Pub # NCJ 224527), the Justice Department estimated that the number of stalking victims who reported multiple stalkers during the 12 month study period to be in excess of 180,000.
However, Freedom Of Information Act documents prove that the 180,000 figure is artificially low; and that the actual number of victims reporting multiple stalkers during the 12 month study period is between 500,000 and 600,000....Three times the figure estimated by DOJ!
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/gang-stalking-new-doj-foia-documents-prove-doj-knows-truth/

Why would DOJ not want the American people to know the true extent of this type of stalking?

Why has DOJ never prosecuted a multi'-stalker case?

The methods used by the criminals who engage in organized stalking closely match those methods used by the FBI decades ago in the COINTELPRO program, which was determined to be illegal by Congress and was supposed to have been shut down in 1971.
However, many former intelligence agents claim that COINTELPRO was NOT shut down, but continues to this day, "under a new code name, more sophisticated , with access to modern weapons"
http://www.examiner.com/human-rights-in-national/let-s-kill-all-the-good-guys/
http://www.boblevin.org/
http://www.examiner.com/civil-rights-in-cleveland/cointelpro-evidence-collected-by-bob-s-attorney/

So, not only is Obama's Justice Department in total denial about organized stalking...it might well actually be INVOLVED in organized stalking, and the American taxpayer might be paying for it all, with no Congressional oversight, since COINTELPRO was, (and still probably is,) a "black-budget program" hidden deep within the intelligence community.

Obama, Holder, and DOJ are spending taxpayer dollars to go after voter approved medical pot dispensaries....but they won't spend a dime to investigate organized stalking, which they don't even consider to be a crime at all, in spite of the fact that their own documents prove it to be a very real crime with 1/2 million very real victims each year.

if the many reports from former intelligence officers are true, namely, that secret, illegal COINTELPRO type operations are still taking place, and that the United States Government itself is in some way involved in organized stalking, Obama, Holder, and other top Administration officials are subject to prosecution themselves, and the Republicans would have a field day if that ever happens.

Best and most informative website on organized stalking is:
http://www.multistalkervictims.org/

[RainDog]

11. k&r n/t

[boppers]

12. Break enough laws, and you will get shut down.

Selling pot is not a free pass to break any other laws at your own discretion.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19585813

[Webster Green]

14. What laws were broken?

I read the entire article you linked to, but there is nothing there about "other laws". what are you referring to, and why are you defending this outrage?

[boppers]

21. Sorry, didn't link to all the articles (I had read about 15).

Marin Alliance was operating as a for-profit marijuana dispensary business (broken laws).
The landlord was notified that their property was at risk of seizure, because their current tenants were selling substances that cannot be legally sold with 1000 feet of a school or public park (broken laws), and the landlord was also profiting from it (broken laws).
The landlord told Marin Alliance to vacate, they did not (broken laws).

The similar situation keeps being repeated, where these operations are violating laws left and right, but claim persecution when they're shut down.

[Webster Green]

28. The state laws are at odds with the federal laws.

The feds are out to lunch. They need to mind their own beeswax. They claim there are no medicinal benefits to cannabis, which is false, and damn near everyone knows it. Cannabis has such a wide range of medicinal benefits, that it is difficult to think of anything that even comes close to helping people with so many different ailments. New studies discovering new uses for the plant are published all the time. Cannabis is arguably the most useful plant known to man, yet is it prohibited due to lies perpetrated by federal agents, who depend on demonizing drugs to protect their jobs. They also get a kick out of bashing hippies.

The Marin Alliance has been operating with the blessing of the town of Fairfax, and playing by all the rules. The feds have decided to challenge the right of the states to decide if they want to allow medicinal cannabis. It is so sad to see all the hard work that has been done being destroyed by this clueless administration, and their DEA thugs. 15 years of enlightened attitude toward medicinal cannabis is being destroyed very quickly by the liars who insist that pot has no known medicinal value.

The landlord was fine with MAMM until the feds started putting on the pressure....threatening to confiscate his property. The feds are denying cannabis providers from claiming legitimate business expenses. That is absurd. The dispensaries have plenty of operating expenses, just like any other business.

I can't imagine why you would defend the DEA on this issue. If you ever wind up having to do a couple courses of nasty chemotherapy, I'll bet you will change your views pretty quickly. Meanwhile, don't believe everything you have been told about this. The feds are lying once again. Surprise, surprise. That's what they do.

Obama is fucking clueless. I can't believe he can be so cruel.

[Mojeoux]

32. Thank You for setting this straight Webster and I am furious at Obama too.

But as of right now, I will still vote for him.

Also the "Obama is always WRONG," Obama Haters can fuck off if they think that they can co-op us into voting for crazy old Libertarians or Republicans. For us, Obama is not left wing and caring enough, for the right wing Obama is the symbol of all they hate including all of us with cancer who "delude" ourselves that the pot helps.

The Fairfax Club was also involved with workshops, for things like quilt-making, living with chronic diseases and anger-management. They were pro-active about being a warm inviting and healing asset to the community.

[boppers]

33. "They claim there are no medicinal benefits to cannabis" is FALSE.

Such a thing has never been said by this administration.

Ever.

Try as you might, you cannot come up with such a claim.

The closest you can possibly come up with is about accepted treatment regimens, which is not the same thing.

Picking apart other logic errors in the above message would be redundant.

[Webster Green]

34. The DEA claims just that, and they are part of the executive branch of the government.

President Obama has the power to stop this policy, because the DEA is part of the executive branch of the federal government. All he has to do is simply direct the DEA to stop prosecuting the sale of medical marijuana in states where it has been legalized. The DEA, along with other federal agencies, have long claimed that cannabis has no medicinal value whatsoever. They are enjoying the tacit approval of the president, as they get their rocks off with this insane hippie-bashing. While campaigning, Obama stated that federal resources would not be used against medicinal cannabis providers. He lied about that, it would seem. It is within his powers to cause these agencies to stop making these horrible raids a high priority.

Many people are being harmed by this cruel war on pot, and the president is silent. It makes no sense. He seems clueless and aloof, like he does on so many other issues. A president who had a little vision, would himself suggest that perhaps listing pot as a schedule 1 "drug" makes no sense, since there have been so many medicinal uses discovered. But no.....we get the same tired old 'Reefer Madness' propaganda. It isn't like this issue is still some kind of political "third rail". Damn near everyone is aware that pot has medical uses.

[boppers]

36. Selling pot is not illegal, nor is dispensing it.

"have long claimed that cannabis has no medicinal value whatsoever" is a blatant lie.

[Webster Green]

39. Wow! A blatent lie?

That is their position, and has been for some time.

I can't imagine where you get your info from.

Here, read their position for yourself:

http://www.time4hemp.com/uploads/marijuana_position_july10.pdf

[boppers]

40. The derived synthesis you posit is simply not in their literature.

Some quotes from that PDF:

"The DEA and the federal government are not alone in viewing smoked marijuana as having no
documented medical value. Voices in the medical community likewise do not accept smoked
marijuana as medicine"

"The American Medical Association (AMA) has always endorsed ―well-controlled studies of
marijuana and related cannabinoids in patients with serious conditions for which preclinical,
anecdotal, or controlled evidence suggests possible efficacy and the application of such results
to the understanding and treatment of disease. In November 2009, the AMA amended its
policy, urging that marijuana‘s status as a Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed ―with
the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based
medicines, and alternate delivery methods. The AMA also stated that ―this should not be
viewed as an endorsement of state-based medical cannabis programs, the legalization of
marijuana, or that scientific evidence on the therapeutic use of cannabis meets the current
standards for prescription drug product."

"The American Cancer Society (ACS) ―does not advocate inhaling smoke, nor the legalization
of marijuana, although the organization does support carefully controlled clinical studies for
alternative delivery methods, specifically a tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) skin patch"

"The Drug Enforcement Administration supports ongoing research into potential medicinal uses of
marijuana‘s active ingredients."

"Sativex®, an oromucosal spray for the treatment of spasticity due to Multiple Sclerosis is already
approved for use in Canada and was approved in June 2010 for use in the United Kingdom. The oral
liquid spray contains two of the cannabinoids found in marijuana – THC and cannabidiol (CBD) - but
unlike smoked marijuana, removes contaminants, reduces the intoxicating effects, is grown in a
structured and scientific environment, administers a set dosage and meets criteria for pharmaceutical
products."

...

So, the postulate "have long claimed that cannabis has no medicinal value whatsoever" is directly refuted, multiple times, in multiple ways, by your own provided link. They even go as far as to directly point out recognized medicinal values of cannabis.

[Webster Green]

41. You are just wrong.

The DEA, as well as the others mentioned will pay lip service to advocating further research. That is a distraction. Of course further research is a good thing, as long as the researchers are objective. The US has been preventing that sort of research for quite a while now. They have no problem with "research" that will arrive at their desired conclusions however.

The current position of the DEA is that cannabis has no medicinal value. That is one of the reasons it is still classified as schedule 1. One of the criteria for that schedule is that the substance has no medicinal value.

The cannabis-based products you mentioned are not approved in the US.

Neither the AMA or the American Cancer Society are being honest about this. As a matter of fact, the Cancer Society had posted information about research indicating the anti-cancer effects of cannabis on their website, but then mysteriously removed the information from the site. I wonder who compelled them to delete that rather important information?

Anyone who denies the medical benefits is uninformed or dishonest. When I did 9 months of chemotherapy, while waiting to get my injections, my oncologists would clue other waiting chemo patients that I was out on the fire escape toking up, and that they might want to join me. That was in 1978. The benefits of cannabis to combat the nausea associated with chemo are undeniable, and have been well known for some time.

The current position of the US government is that cannabis has no medicinal value. You can deny that all you want, but you are simply incorrect. I've been a cannabis activist since 1966. I follow it closely. I was very active in getting CA 215 passed, as well as the successful Marin County initiative that preceded it. I know what I'm talking about, and you are incorrect.

[Mojeoux]

43. Wow, to say the Feds disrespect and deny the health benifits makes me a "blatant" liar?

Thanks Webs, what a duffass thing for this guy to argue.
Of all things.

When the Oakland Club 's case went to the Supreme Court, they were not even allowed to present any evidence regarding the health benefits of weed.

With the list of heinous side effects from the drugs they push on TV, it just amazes me how the general public sees no problem with all those creepy possibilities, but still thinks Marijuana is "of the devil."

[boppers]

49. You are incorrect about how drugs are scheduled.

"When it comes to a drug that is currently listed in schedule I, if it is undisputed that such drug has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States and a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision, and it is further undisputed that the drug has at least some potential for abuse sufficient to warrant control under the CSA, the drug must remain in schedule I. In such circumstances, placement of the drug in schedules II through V would conflict with the CSA since such drug would not meet the criterion of "a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States." 21 USC 812(b)"

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2001_register&docid=01-9306-filed

It's not about medicinal "value". At all.

[Webster Green]

54. fail

I feel the need to wake and abuse. Have a nice day on whatever planet you live on.

[Webster Green]

47. "The derived synthesis you posit"

Do you realize that this group of words is very strange? They are actual words, but It seems you don't know what they mean.

I don't recall positing any derived synthesis, whatever the fuck that might be.

You are in way over your head here, my friend.

[boppers]

48. I was trying to explain how you possibly wound up making a common logic error.

"have long claimed that cannabis has no medicinal value whatsoever" Is demonstrably false, (as was demonstrated with your own arguments). I think you may have inadvertently taken bits of one argument (derived) and used them to make a new argument (synthesis).

Here would be a longer, but much more accurate, statement:
"have long claimed that using unregulated marijuana products has no known and accepted medicinal treatment protocols"

See how different that reads, with much more specific qualifiers? It's easy to get from one to the other, but it's also problematic to equate the two statements.

You can take a car apart and make a bicycle out of the parts, but that doesn't make every car a bicycle.

[Webster Green]

52. You are indeed hopeless

and clueless.

Carry on though.

[i_sometimes]

24. Crock o'crap

That poster was dishonest at best.


http://www.marketplace.org/topics/life/prosecutors-marijuana-dispensaries-make-too-much-money


Nothing more than the Feds being Feds. No laws were being broken, not a non profit, no schools.

[boppers]

26. They claimed to be a non-profit.

That's part of the problem.

[i_sometimes]

18. I read the article...

Did you? I saw no mention of any laws broken, did you?

[boppers]

22. See #21.

Zoning laws, business charter laws, MMJ laws were all being broken.

[i_sometimes]

23. Too easy...

http://www.marketplace.org/topics/life/prosecutors-marijuana-dispensaries-make-too-much-money

Read it.
You will learn that it was non profit, the proof is in the twice a year audits the City of Fairfax did. The Fed's say...but they say quite few things, don't they? Near a school, park or where children congregate? Its been there since 1990, permitted since 1996, there are no schools nor parks nor "places where children congregate" near by.



I won't bother with the rest of the bullshit you spouted because you well know none of it is true.
15 links? I searched 8 ways from Sunday and found nothing to back up what you stated.
Some of us take the truth seriously.
Go push your apologist agenda on some other sucker.

[boppers]

25. You can claim to be non-profit, but that doesn't make it true.

I read it. A $25 sale? That better be an *ounce* or more. I'm guessing it wasn't, though, because these operations tend to rape the medically needy, and I'd assume (yes, I know) huge amounts of cash are being spread about and hidden as "costs".

Oh, and being audited doesn't mean you're operating within the law, it means your books are consistent, legally or illegally.

"there are no schools nor parks nor "places where children congregate" near by."

http://tinyurl.com/7pawvhe

It was *across the street* from Bolinas Park. Not nearby, *across the street*.

"I searched 8 ways from Sunday and found nothing to back up what you stated."

Maybe you should have googled their name, and pulled up a map?

[i_sometimes]

31. Lol, a park?

I have a feeling you don't know shit about how these things work.
As a Caregiver to 16 patients, I do. As a former black market grower, I do.

I now get 3200 to 4500 an lb again due to these raids in Cali, last year I was getting 1800 to 2600 but I would much rather get less and not worry about all of these people going to prison.
Here in Oregon, we haven't been raided, we had local undercover out to our grow site just Monday, clean as a whistle.
What's the difference?
A selective DOJ, fronted by Holder, appointed by Obama. Going against the will of the voters.



Fuck your excuses, really.
Good bye.

[Webster Green]

35. $25 an ounce?

Really?

Perhaps you should stick to subjects that you actually have some knowledge of.

Got any idea what it costs to rent commercial space in Marin County, CA? Dispensaries have normal business operating costs, just like any other endeavor.

Lynette has run the MAMM by the books, and with the blessings of the town of Fairfax for 15 years. Everything was fine until the federal thugs arrived. Keep in mind that the DEA is nothing but a bunch of corrupt drug peddlers themselves. They prefer this stuff to be limited to the black market, as that's where they make their real money (and justify their phony jobs).

[boppers]

37. I grew up in Tucson.

It's a weed. Cheap to make, and grow.

Doesn't take much money to grow.

If you make money from it, yeah...

[Webster Green]

38. It is not cheap or easy to produce the quality of product available in the dipensaries.

Not to mention the expenses involved in running the business.

You aren't making much sense here, because you are woefully misinformed.

[Webster Green]

42. I have no idea what growing up in Tucson has to do with this dialog.

The term "weed" usually refers to plants that have vigorous growth, and are undesirable. Pot is certainly vigorous, but it is only undesirable to the unenlightened. It is arguably the most useful plant known to man.

You seem to have the notion that tossing a bunch of seeds around and coming back in the fall, to harvest the results, is all that's required to produce the awesome nuggets available at cannabis dispensaries. Wrong!! Producing high-quality sinsemilla buds requires knowledge, lots of nutrients, a good deal of time and energy, and lots of love. The incredibly potent strains that are popular today were achieved by highly motivated hippie guerilla botanists like myself, who spent many hours of selective breeding and humping countless bags of organic fertilizers uphill, while running from fucking helicopters. The product sold in clubs and dispensaries, as well as the most highly desired black-market pot needs to be dried and cured properly (like tobacco), and beautifully manicured to fetch a decent price. Like most things, you get out of it what you put into it.

Cannabis dispensaries and providers are not real big on seeded Mexican dirt weed, if indeed that is what you are referring to when you mention that you grew up in Tucson. If you told me that you grew up in the hills of Mendocino County, CA that would impress me a little more, and indicate that you might have a clue about the subject. To the experienced growers and consumers of high grade sinsemilla, who might be reading this, it's fairly obvious that you are just blowing it out of your ass.

Can't imagine why you would choose to try to defend this crap. Cannabis is such an amazing plant, with so many uses. It's prohibition is relatively recent. In the past it was used for clothing, rope, paper, oil, medicine, and many, many other things. The reasons for its prohibition in 1937 were/are complete lies, yet the insane reefer madness persists to this day. It's disgusting!

[boppers]

50. You can buy a $1,500 bottle of wine, or a $1 bottle.

Both are, well..... wine.

I grew up in a huge MJ corridor, and got used to seeing absurd markups, and cachet, and branding, being added to a product. Same product, different marketing. I saw lots of hilarious sales, though, where "dirt weed" could be sold at a huge range of prices, because people like brands, and marketing. Sell the same damn buds, from the same damn plant, as "dirtweed" and "primo organicsticky 2011 first-cut vintage", and get 100 fold price change.

Kind of sad, really, but that's part of the game.

[Webster Green]

55. Nobody that I know is that fucking stupid.

Maybe that's why we live in Northern California instead of Arizona.

[Shoe Horn]

13. It's not about more or less taxes, it's about using our tax dollars effectively.

This is NOT an effective use of tax dollars.
And it feeds many people's idea that 'all government is intrusive and corrupt'.

Obama, I feel has lost control over the DEA, if he ever truly had them bridled to begin with.
I still support him as the most viable candidate, and head and shoulders better than ANY GOP, Libertarian candidate. Maybe a Green Party or Something would catch my attention as well, but, that's for another forum...

[image][/image]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

"Incarceration in the United States is one of the main forms of punishment and/or rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world. At year-end 2009 it was 743 adults incarcerated per 100,000 population.[2][3][4][5][6]

According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) 2,292,133 adults were incarcerated in U.S. federal and state prisons, and county jails at year-end 2009 — about 1% of adults in the U.S. resident population.[2][3][7][8] Additionally, 4,933,667 adults at year-end 2009 were on probation or on parole.[2] In total, 7,225,800 adults were under correctional supervision (probation, parole, jail, or prison) in 2009 — about 3.1% of adults in the U.S. resident population.[1][2][9] In addition, there were 86,927 juveniles in juvenile detention in 2007.[10][11]"

(...)


"Nearly three quarters of new admissions to state prison were convicted of nonviolent crimes. Only 49 percent of sentenced state inmates were held for violent offenses. Perhaps the single greatest force behind the growth of the prison population has been the national "war on drugs." The number of incarcerated drug offenders has increased twelvefold since 1980. In 2000, 22 percent of those in federal and state prisons were convicted on drug charges. [21][22]"

[Hell Hath No Fury]

16. What bullshit.

Hey Feds, why don't you go after FUCKING WAR AND FINANCIAL CRIMINALS like you go after pot clubs???

[Shoe Horn]

17. Maybe if Pot Clubs started buying lobbyists by the truckload? [nt]

[noiretextatique]

19. all they are doing is decreasing sales tax revenues

and driving the business underground. really stupid and short-sighted.

[sarcasmo]

20. Along with the federal government, biig pharma has it's hands in all of these crackdowns.

I don't have a link but it's the only thing that makes sense. A pharmaceutical company is going to make a lot of cash from marijuana in the near future.

[sendero]

29. It's great to know..

.. that Obama has his priorities straight.

[QC]

30. kick

[tooeyeten]

51. Sick people

Have legislators had sick people in their families? Law enforcers? Lawyers, judges? Have they witnessed people wither away, suffer, have they ever been sick themselves? Do they realize the benefit of medmarij can be over overpriced nonresponsive drugs/chemicals? Have they, do they? What's behind this?

[AlwaysQuestion]

53. All I can say is Praise the Lord

I am ever so relieved that the place has been shut down. Surely you must agree that by no longer having to be exposed to a "gateway drug" we should all feel so much safer today than yesterday. That people who relied on this "heinous" drug to relieve pain may think otherwise is just something I choose to ignore. I'd much rather have a big drug company kill me with their drugs of a thousand adverse side effects for which they charge me exorbitant prices cuz I know that at least these companies fall under the scrutiny of the FDA. Might sound a bit counter-intuitive, but c'mon wasn't the FDA not set up as our protector. And as good citizens, aren't we honor bound to support our government institutions? So yoose guys who must now suffer your pain without benefit of that tacky Cannibis club, do so with honor--for the country--for the drug companies--and for yourselves--all in the realization that at least you live in a free and compassionate country. Little wonder those Muslims abroad hate us for our freedoms. Now, doesn't what Bush said make more sense to us?. Sheeeesh.

[hobbit709]

56. did you leave off the sarcasm thingie on that rant?

[Brother Buzz]

57. Just a bunch of misguided Marin county hot-tubbers