DEA TARGETS POT CLUB LANDLORDS

LOS ANGELES -- Raising the stakes in the federal government's war
against medical marijuana, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
has warned more than 150 Los Angeles landlords that they risk arrest
and the loss of their property if they continue renting to cannabis
dispensaries.

The two-page letter dispatched last week by Timothy Landrum, DEA
special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office, has whipped up
worries among landlords and dispensary operators in a region that has
seen a proliferation of the businesses in the past two years.

"I'm devastated," said Lisa Sawoya, who left her job selling
high-tech hospital equipment to open a dispensary 18 months ago in Hollywood.

"My landlord believes in cannabis as medicine. But they're taking the
letter very seriously. So I'll be closing my doors at the end of this month."

Sarah Pullen, a DEA spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said the purpose of
the letters is to "educate" property owners at risk because they are
housing marijuana dispensaries.

"By renting their property to individuals violating fed drug laws,
they are in and of themselves violating federal law," she said.
"These are definitely meant to serve as a notice."

The move by the DEA has focused entirely on Los Angeles. Activists
suspect the logistics and timing -- more than a decade after state
voters legalized medical marijuana -- is intended to thin the ranks
of Los Angeles dispensaries on the eve of new city regulations.

A proposed city Advertisement ordinance would cap and regulate the
number of outlets, which now number more than 400.

Medical marijuana activists say most landlords are taking the threat
seriously and have asked the dispensaries to move out.

"Raiding dispensaries and arresting patients hasn't worked to end
medical marijuana, so the DEA is trying a new tactic and claiming a
new victim in this war," said Steph Sherer of Americans for Safe
Access, a group that supports medical marijuana.

Dale Gieringer of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana
Laws said the DEA crackdown will not stop patients' marijuana use.

Instead, he said, the ill could be driven to find drugs in the
illegal market, potentially putting themselves at risk.

In recent years, courts have upheld the federal government's ability
to seize assets. After the DEA raided the Los Angeles Cannabis
Resource Center in 2001, the federal government seized more than
$300,000 that West Hollywood had loaned the center to buy its building.

Gieringer said the most likely outcome of Landrum's letter would be
numerous evictions and shutdowns followed by a few select forfeiture
prosecutions "to scare remaining landlords."

Hap Kent, who runs Therapeutic Medicinal Health Resources in the
Sherman Oaks district of the city, said he hopes the DEA would
consider letting dispensaries continue to operate for six months.

"I don't want to put my landlord in jeopardy. I refuse to do that,"
said Kent, whose dispensary serves patients with AIDS, multiple
sclerosis, spinal-cord injuries and other serious afflictions. "All
we want is an amicable amount of time."

Although the possibility of eviction looms for many dispensaries,
Kent sees a possible silver lining -- a political outcry that could
get the state to respond to voters' wishes and take on the role of
directly supplying medical marijuana.

"That's the way it should have been from the beginning," he said.