Federal Pot Policy Shift Could Have Local Fallout

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

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 in San Leandro over whether to authorize and tax medical marijuana dispensaries.

The City Council narrowly  in May, opting to wait for a decision from Oakland on whether or not to go ahead with its plans to authorize industrial-scale pot farms. The federal government threatened legal action against Oakland late last year.

At the same time, incidents around the county have brought to light the pros and cons of the medical pot business. Un unlicensed Newark dispensary . Earlier this year, the Eden Area unincorporated community , including , which was raided in 2008. 

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." 

Though San Leandro is far from authorizing large-scale grows, the recent Justice Department memo could be a factor in any discussion of licensing medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. 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. 

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