SHERIFF SHUTS DOWN MEDICAL MARIJUANA SHOPS

On Thursday, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department served seven
medical marijuana shops with orders, forcing them to shut down for
not being in compliance with federal laws.

The checks were in accordance with a recently enacted Tulare County
law that applies to unincorporated areas.

Operators, like Melanie Mendes, were provided copies of the new
ordinance that requires they comply with unaligned county, state, and
federal laws.

"Right now they are out of compliance," Lt. Keith Douglass said.
"They have to obey all state and federal laws, and federal law says
you can not [provide medical marijuana]."

They were given 10 days to stop offering medical marijuana or face
criminal charges.

"It was like a funeral at the shop yesterday," Mendes said, while
holding back tears. "I've got people that drag their pain pumps in
and come in wheel chairs. They're asking me for help that I can't
give them anymore."

Mendes, who operates Tipton-based Earth Meds, said she will clear out
the medical marijuana, but keep providing information about how to
grow the plants and where to find the medicine elsewhere. There are
two shops in the city of Tulare, she said.

When Tulare County supervisors adopted the ordinance in November,
they said it was a preventative step in case the federal government
recognizes that marijuana has legitimate medicinal values. The
ordinance restricts where the marijuana can be smoked, how many
plants can be grown, does not allow for edible or drinkables and
caps the number of distribution outlets to three.

The ordinance took effect Thursday.

According to the federal government, smoking marijuana for medical
purposes is illegal. A California law enacted by voters in 1996,
however, prevents law enforcement from punishing marijuana users when
a physician has recommended its use to treat serious medical conditions.

Local law enforcement agencies throughout the state have struggled
with the conflict in the law.

In the past, federally led criminal raids took place to halt the
drug's distribution, but the Obama administration recently declared
it would stop cracking down on the 14 states that allow medical marijuana.

"The fact that this in place does not mean that your board has
authorized the activity, it does not change the state law regulation,
and all of this is still illegal under federal law," said County
Counsel Kathleen Bales-Lange.

The only distribution sites currently permitted in California are
collectives and cooperatives, where transactions of medical marijuana
between cardholders are facilitated without incurring a profit.
Dispensaries, or other for-profit shops, are illegal.

To obtain medical marijuana at Earth Meds, Mendes said people provide
monetary donations, soil and nutrients for growing, or their edibles
and drinkables are not provided and the buds are not smoked, or even
grown, inside the building.

"I've got 10 days to try to help my patients and to see if there is
anything my attorney can do," she said. "The entire ordinance is
ambiguous. I'm not doing anything wrong under the attorney general's
guidelines and state law."

Earth Meds used to service approximately 25 South County residents
daily. Each one of them had a doctor's recommendation, according to
Mendes.

"We did everything possible to comply with their ordinance, the only
thing we're not in compliance with is the two words 'federal law,'"
she said.