U.S. WANTS 5-YEAR TERM FOR MEDICAL POT SELLER

The Obama administration says it wants the owner of a Central
California medical marijuana dispensary to be sentenced to at least
five years in prison, despite his assertion that he was following state law.

Responding to federal judge's query about the case of Charles Lynch,
former operator of Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers in Morro
Bay (San Luis Obispo County), a Justice Department official said
Lynch's prosecution and conviction were "entirely consistent with the
policies of (the department) and with public statements made by the
attorney general," Eric Holder.

Holder, citing President Obama's campaign pledge to respect medical
marijuana laws in California and 12 other states, told reporters
March 18 that federal agents would arrest only those who violated
both state and federal law.

He didn't say, however, how his policy would apply to defendants
awaiting trial or sentencing, or whether the administration would
defer to local authorities' decision that a marijuana dispensary was
complying with state law.

The Justice Department's filing late Friday in Lynch's case, its
first since Holder's comments, did not explain its position. But by
saying that the prosecution followed the attorney general's policy,
the department appeared to be asserting that Lynch had been breaking
state law, even though he was convicted only of violating federal law.

"They're not allowing local politicians, local police departments to
handle the issue ... of who is violating state law," Reuven Cohen, a
deputy federal public defender who represents Lynch, said Monday.

He said the Lynch case showed that "the federal government from
Washington, D.C., ... through its (local) branches will be the arbiter."

Lynch, 47, is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday in Los Angeles for
distributing marijuana from a dispensary that federal agents raided
in 2007. The sentencing was postponed for a month after U.S. District
Judge George Wu noted Holder's recent comments and asked for a
written statement of the department's prosecution policy.

The new statement is also consistent with comments by the U.S.
attorney in San Francisco, Joseph Russoniello, that his office will
target marijuana suppliers and traffickers who violate state as well
as federal law, even if they hold local operating permits.

Operators of two locally licensed pot dispensaries in Alameda County,
raided during President George W. Bush's administration, face trial
on charges filed by Russoniello's office. Advocates say at least two
dozen defendants in California are in the same situation.

In Lynch's case, federal law requires at least a five-year sentence.
But Cohen said he would argue that the judge has the authority to
grant probation, with no prison time, following the example of a San
Francisco federal judge nearly six years ago in the Ed Rosenthal case.

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer sentenced Rosenthal, a prominent
marijuana advocate, to a day in jail rather than the five-year
mandatory minimum in June 2003 for cultivating marijuana. The judge
said Rosenthal had reasonably believed he was acting legally, as a
designated supplier for Oakland's medical cannabis program.

Lynch makes a similar claim, saying elected officials and police in
Morro Bay welcomed his dispensary during the one year of its operation.

Dale Gieringer, California coordinator of the National Organization
for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said he has photos of the mayor and
City Council members attending the grand opening in 2006.

The latest court filing shows "business as usual at the Justice
Department ... tremendous institutional inertia on the side of the
status quo," Gieringer said.

Prosecutors said in court papers that Lynch had sold $2.1 million in
marijuana products for profit. "Any 'care' existed only on paper," they said.