SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT CLAIMS POT COLLECTIVES ARE ILLEGAL

Dunsmuir, Calif. - Members of the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Department
maintain that the medical marijuana collectives in Siskiyou County
are operating illegally and they want these establishments to be
investigated and shut down.

Detective Darrel Lemos and Capt. John Villani of the Sheriff's
Department attended a Dunsmuir City Council meeting on Nov. 10 to
participate in the public hearing, which was scheduled to give
community members a chance to voice opinions about an ordinance the
city council is considering that would impose regulations on medical
marijuana establishments.

Lemos also attended the city council's meeting on Oct. 27 when
council members voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance to impose a
45-day moratorium on the issuance of business licenses for marijuana
dispensaries.

At the public hearing, Lemos stated, "The law clearly states that you
cannot sell marijuana. You cannot make a profit. It is not for people
to group together to make a monetary gain."

Lemos explained that medical marijuana establishments are by law
supposed to be nonprofit organizations and that only a medical
marijuana patient's primary caregiver is legally allowed to receive
financial reimbursement for the exchange of marijuana.

According to Section 2 of the Attorney General's "Guidelines for the
Security and Non-Diversion of Marijuana Grown for Medical Use," a
primary caregiver is a person who is designated by the qualified
patient and "has consistently assumed responsibility for the
housing, health or safety" of a patient.

According to Lemos, since dispensary owners do not fall under the
primary caregiver category, it is unlawful for them to accept money
from patients in exchange for marijuana.

"To authorize or open this kind of business is a criminal activity.
There is no way they can operate legally without violating the law,"
he said.

A public hearing attendee asked Lemos if law enforcement officers
plan to shut down the Siskiyou County medical marijuana
collectives.

"Yes," Lemos responded. "We're going to shut all of them
down."

Leslie Wilde, owner of the Green Collar Compassionate Collective in
Dunsmuir, asked Lemos if he was referring to the federal law rather
than the state law, which legalized medical marijuana use.

Lemos responded that if he was referring to the federal law, "I'd be
at your door with a search warrant."

Capt. John Villani stood up to address the city council and community
members.

"Marijuana is a drug," he began, "and every drug has the potential of
being abused."

Villani said that the federal government is caught in a quandary and
must determine how to go about maintaining public safety as marijuana
dispensaries open up in communities.

Lemos agreed about the community-safety aspect of dispensaries and
said there is an increase of crime in communities where dispensaries
open.

"It's guaranteed there will be a homicide or a home invasion," he
said.

Villani stated that the sheriff's department will work with the
county's district attorney's office.

"We will investigate these dispensaries and we will bring them down,"
he said. "It's not an ‘if.' We're going to have to take
enforcement action."

During a telephone discussion with Sheriff Rick Riggins after the
meeting, he said, "It is our opinion that the dispensaries are not
running legally."

Between the primary caregiver issue and the notion of profit, there
are a lot of issues that need to be investigated, he remarked.

He made a point of noting that it is not the department's intention
to take medicinal cannabis resources away from sick people who truly
benefit from it. But he said he has observed that doctors are
writing recommendations for people whose conditions do not warrant
it.

Riggins stated that closing down the dispensaries "is not something
that is going to happen right away" and that the sheriff's department
will move forward with closing the establishments only if they are
sure that the district attorney's office will be behind the sheriff
department's efforts.

"This is far from being over. This will be an ongoing issue," he
said.

District Attorney Kirk Andrus said that rather than lump all the
marijuana dispensaries together as "illegal," his office would
consider any cases coming to the DA's office on a case-by-case basis.

Americans for Safe Access (ASA), headquartered in Oakland, is a
national organization which promotes safe access to medical cannabis
and provides legal support to patients and caregivers. Kris Hermes is
the ASA public relations spokesperson.

Hermes was asked by the Dunsmuir News to provide clarification on the
patient and caregiver legal issue surrounding the sale of medical
marijuana.

Hermes responded, "There is a lot of controversy surrounding the sale
issue."

He explained that to operate in compliance with state law and be a
valid cooperative or collective, the operator must be a (medical
marijuana) patient or a primary caregiver.

Hermes stated that the Medical Marijuana Program Act of 2003, also
known as SB 420, allows for nonprofit collectives and cooperatives to
operate storefronts and receive reimbursement for the sale of medical
marijuana to qualifying patients. He said that although these
organizations are classified as nonprofit organizations, they can
accept financial reimbursement to pay employee wages and standard
operating costs.

"The law requires operators to obtain a seller's permit," Hermes
said, and collectives must report and pay taxes on marijuana sales.

Joe and Gina Munday successfully opened and are currently operating
three medical marijuana dispensing collectives in the area.

Although they were not present at the public hearing when Lemos and
Villani made their statements, they were contacted by the newspaper
after the meeting and asked to give their insight on the matter.

"They're misled," Joe said about the sheriff's department
representatives who made the statements. "If they try to shut me down
I will sue the County of Siskiyou."

"We have a mutual benefit, nonprofit organization," said Gina. She
stated that she and her husband's collectives are licensed through
the Board of Equalization and that they carry a legitimate business
license.

Gina commented that the way society is responding to the needs of
medical marijuana patients is "appalling."

"These patients have the right to obtain their medicine," she said,
adding that the sheriff's department should focus on stopping real
drug dealers who are causing harm to communities.

"These are legitimate medical patients," Gina said about the
collective members, and "the medicine is really, truly helpful. These
patients don't cause any problems."

Mount Shasta Police Chief Parish Cross was also contacted and asked
if his department plans to shut down the medical marijuana
dispensaries in the city of Mount Shasta. He answered "No" and
explained that the police department works under the direction of the
city council. Since the city council approved for the dispensaries
to operate in Mount Shasta, he said, "We are going to go with that."