DEA TARGETS LANDLORDS OF POT OUTLETS

About 150 L.A. Owners Are Told They Could Face Jail and Lose
Properties Rented to Dispensaries.

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 properties if they continue renting to cannabis dispensaries.

The two-page letter sent last week by Timothy J. 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 last two years.

"I'm devastated," said Lisa Sawoya, who left her lucrative 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 was to "educate" property owners at risk because they
were housing marijuana dispensaries.

"By renting their property to individuals violating fed drug laws,
they are in and of themselves violating federal law," Pullen said.
"These are definitely meant to serve as a notice. What might happen
as to the continuing investigations, we'll just have to see."

The DEA move has focused entirely on Los Angeles. 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.

"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 won't stop patients' marijuana use.
Instead, he said, they 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 purchase 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 Sherman
Oaks, said he hoped that the DEA would consider letting dispensaries
operate for another six months, so patients weren't immediately
pushed out on the streets.

"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."

Though the possibility of eviction looms for many of the
dispensaries, Kent sees a possible silver lining -- a political
outcry that could get the state to finally 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.