SHAKEDOWN FROM FEDS IMPERILS MEDICINAL MARIJUANA

DEA Allegedly Tells Landlords To Evict Pot Club Tenants - Or Else

Not too long ago, critics were likening the medical marijuana
movement in Santa Barbara to the cannabis culture equivalent of the
Wild West: more dispensaries than Starbucks, no city oversight, and
law enforcement without a clear mandate. Things have changed quickly,
however, with the city stepping in earlier this spring to craft an
ordinance outlining the dos and don'ts of dispensary operation. Now,
just last week, the federal government's Drug Enforcement Agency
(DEA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) paid a visit to Santa Barbara
and threatened the people who rent their properties to
California-approved cannabis clubs with hefty fines, property
seizure, and criminal charges for violation of federal law.

According to local attorney Joe Allen, who sat in on at least one of
the several meetings between federal officials and landowners on
August 5 and 6 at the Santa Barbara District Attorney's office, "In
very clear terms, they said this is the last warning: The government
is going to shut all of these clubs down and the government is going
to prosecute anyone involved."

The visits, which Santa Barbara District Attorney Christie Stanley
coyly refused to confirm or deny, leave in their wake a questionable
future for the eight or so medical marijuana shops that operate in
Santa Barbara and the thousands of patients who visit them each week
to seek relief from a wide variety of conditions. In the opinion of
Allen, who is considered a go-to guy within the state for the hazy
landscape of medical marijuana law, the heat turned up by the DEA this
week has worked so well that he suspects "virtually every cannabis
operator" will receive or has already received an eviction letter from
his or her landlord.

Adding to the fallout is the city's aforementioned cannabis ordinance,
which essentially voids business permits for any clubs that suspend
operations for 30 days. It is feasible that most operators will not be
able to reopen even if they succeed in the uphill battle of finding a
landlord willing to rent to them.

One of those who has already received his eviction order is Josh
Braun. His dispensary, the third locally when it opened in 2005, had
been operating on the 3500 block of State Street, nestled among
restaurants, a coffee shop, and a gardening store. But after his
landlord's lawyers met with federal authorities last week, his days of
operating Hortipharm Caregivers are numbered. His doors will close by
September. "I've got 20 employees with salary and health benefits-most
of them with families-who are going to be out of work in a crappy
economy," explained Braun recently before adding with marked
frustration, "And for what? Because the feds don't want to respect the
people of California? "

Braun's landlord, John Friese, said the eviction didn't result from
bad behavior on Hortipharm's part but from the threat of property
seizure and thousands in fines. "I was basically being told by the DOJ
. that I better get them out and get them out in a hurry or else."

Adding insult to injury, Santa Barbara Bank & Trust called Braun the
day after the meeting last week to inform him that his accounts with
the bank, or at least those associated with Hortipharm, would have to
be terminated because of his line of work. "For years, it wasn't a
problem but now, all of a sudden, the same day the feds come to talk
to my landlord, it is," scoffed Braun. According to him, at least one
other dispensary in town received similar word from Bank of America
last week.

The United States Attorney General's office did not return calls for
this story. The DEA office referred calls to the Attorney General.