L.A. LANDLORDS RISK ARREST, LOSS OF PROPERTIES IF THEY CONTINUE
RENTING TO MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

LOS ANGELES - Raising the stakes in their war against medical pot,
federal officials have warned more than 150 L.A. landlords that they
risk arrest and the loss of their properties if they continue renting
to marijuana dispensaries, it was reported Tuesday.

The two-page letter sent last week by Timothy J. Landrum, Drug
Enforcement Administration special agent in charge of the Los Angeles
office, has whipped up worries among landlords and dispensary
operators in a region where dispensaries have proliferated in the
last two years, the Los Angeles Times reported.

"I'm devastated," Lisa Sawoya, who left her lucrative job selling
high-tech hospital equipment to open a dispensary 18 months ago in
Hollywood, told The Times. "...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 was to "educate" property owners at risk.

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

The DEA move has focused entirely on Los Angeles, The Times reported.
Activists suspect that the logistics and timing -- more than a decade
after state voters legalized medical marijuana with the passage of
Proposition 215 -- is intended to thin the ranks of Los Angeles
dispensaries on the eve of new city regulations.

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

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