MEDICAL-MARIJUANA ADVOCACY GROUP SEES LOOPHOLE FOR DISPENSARIES IN
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MEMO

PROVIDENCE -- The head of the state's largest medical-marijuana
advocacy group remains optimistic that someday, in the not too
distant future, a cannabis dispensary will open its doors to licensed
patients suffering from myriad illnesses such as cancer, glaucoma and
chronic pain.

JoAnne Lepannen, executive director of the Rhode Island Patient
Advocacy Coalition, said on Tuesday that she has carefully reviewed
the two-page memo that the Justice Department issued last week,
"Seeking to Authorize Marijuana for Medical Use." In it, she sees a
silver lining because there is no specific threat by federal
authorities to prosecute state employees who have anything to do with
the licensing or oversight of marijuana dispensaries.

"I think there is a ray of hope here," Lepannen said. "We have to
read into this letter what [the government] didn't say. That speaks volumes."

The memo does warn that those who "facilitate" large-scale
medical-marijuana production are violating the federal Controlled
Substances Act.

Rhode Island is one of 16 states and the District of Columbia that
have legalized the medical use of marijuana. In March, after more
than two years of review and public hearings, the state Health
Department went one step further. It selected three dispensary
organizations to cultivate and sell marijuana to patients in the state program.

A month later, Peter F. Neronha, the U.S. Attorney for Rhode Island,
delivered a letter to Governor Chafee warning him that those involved
with the dispensaries could be subject to criminal and civil
prosecution if they engaged in large-scale marijuana-cultivation and
distribution. Chafee immediately placed the dispensary program on
hold, saying that he was fearful that the Justice Department would
raid the facilities and possibly prosecute state employees affiliated
with the program.

Chafee's fear was based on a recent development in Washington state.
There, U.S. Attorneys Mike Ormsby and Jenny Durkan said that state
employees involved in the licensing or regulation of medical
marijuana could be subject to arrest or prosecution. As a result,
Gov. Chris Gregoire vetoed key pieces of the medical-marijuana law,
saying she didn't want to place state employees at risk.

Chafee and Claire Richards, his chief legal counsel, have repeatedly
referred to Gregoire's response in Washington.

Mike Trainor, Chafee's spokesman, said that the governor's legal
staff is reviewing the latest memo and it's possible that Chafee will
issue a statement next week after he returns from a family vacation
in Maine. "We have to be very careful in our analysis here," Trainor said.

The memo by James M. Cole, deputy attorney general, states that the
Justice Department "has determined that marijuana is a dangerous drug
and that the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious
crime that provides a significant source of revenue to large-scale
criminal enterprises, gangs and cartels."

Cole expresses concern about "large-scale, privately operated
industrial cultivation centers" that have "revenue projections of
millions of dollars based on the planned cultivation of tens of
thousands of cannabis plants." He also wrote that those people "who
knowingly facilitate" the marijuana industry are in violation of federal law.

It's unclear whether the "knowingly facilitate" could be a reference
to state employees.

Jessica A. Smith, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department in
Washington, declined to speculate on whether prosecutors would target
state employees, but she did mention Neronha's letter to Chafee and
the three dispensaries selected for operation in Rhode Island.

"There has been an increase in the scope of these activities, and
this memo makes clear that they are subject to potential
law-enforcement action," she wrote in an e-mail.

She also wrote that the Justice Department has no interest in
prosecuting seriously ill patients or their caregivers who smoke or
ingest marijuana for medicinal reasons.

The message is clear: big marijuana dispensaries are going to be
targeted for federal prosecution.

At least one, and possibly two of the three dispensaries selected by
the state Department of Health fall into that category. The Summit
Medical Compassion Center in Warwick projected having 8,000 patients
and bringing in $24.7 million by 2013. They also predicted that the
staff would grow to 80 employees. Meanwhile, the Thomas C. Slater
Compassion Center in Providence forecast revenues of $3.9 million
within two years. The third dispensary, Greenleaf Compassionate Care
Center in Portsmouth, projected revenues of $1.2 million during the
third year of operation.

Jim Martin, Neronha's spokesman, declined to comment on the Cole
memo. He referred all inquires to the Justice Department.

Lepannen, RIPAC's executive director, said that she believes the
three Rhode Island dispensaries can "modify" their projections and
still serve the growing population of patients in the
medical-marijuana program. Statistics from the Health Department show
that there are now 3,689 patients and 2,317 licensed caregivers, or
marijuana providers, in the program.

In the past month alone, 109 new patients and 54 caregivers have been licensed.

Lepannen said the need for dispensaries is greater than ever. She
emphasized that many patients have a hard time finding a reliable
person to provide them with the drug at a reasonable price.

"We keep getting more patients, and they keep wondering where they
are going to get their medicine," she said. "What are we going to tell them?"

Lepannen said that she is in the process of setting up a meeting with
Richards, Chafee's legal counsel. She wants to ask Richards to advise
the governor to allow the Health Department to license the
dispensaries because of the absence in the memo of a specific threat
to prosecute state employees involved in a dispensary program.

In a related development, a bill to decriminalize marijuana died in
the recently completed session of the General Assembly. The
legislation called for possession of an ounce or less to be a civil
offense punishable by a $150 fine.

Under current law, possession of any amount could land an offender up
to a year in jail.

Larry Berman, spokesman for House Speaker Gordon D. Fox, said that
legislators held a public hearing in late May, but Fox did not feel
any urgency to act on the proposal to ease criminal penalties.

Berman said that Fox was consumed with pension reform and other
issues in the just-completed legislative session.

"It just wasn't the year to focus on [decriminalization]," Berman
said. "The timing wasn't right."

Last month, Connecticut passed legislation to decriminalize the
possession of small amounts of marijuana, and Gov. Daniel P. Malloy
has promised to sign it into law. Massachusetts took the same step in 2008.