Feds Move to Shut Down West Coast's Largest Medical Marijuana Dispensary

Feds move to shut down West Coast's largest medical marijuana dispensary

Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary on the West Coast, is the latest and biggest target of a federal crackdown on pot clubs. The dispensary's employees learned federal prosecutors are trying shut to down the club when they arrived at work on Monday. From Harborside's press release: Yesterday morning, taped to the front doors of the nation's model medical cannabis dispensary, Harborside Health Center in Oakland and San Jose, was an official 'Complaint for Forfeiture of Property.'

The complaint is signed by U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, Assistant U.S. Attorney Arvan Perteet, and DEA Agent David White, filed on July 6, 2012, in the District Court San Francisco Division and received by the court on Sunday, July 9. The complaint seeks forfeiture of real estate and improvements on the grounds that cannabis is being distributed on the premises, in violation of federal law. The crackdown on pot clubs began last October, when the state's four U.S. Attorney's office announced they would target "the illegal operations of the commercial marijuana industry in California." Melinda Haag, U.S. attorney for California's Northern District, told The Bay Citizen at the time that her office was targeting dispensaries near schools, but said she couldn't promise "that we will not bring actions against dispensaries that are not close to schools and parks and playgrounds but for some other reason we felt that it was appropriate to expand our look."

Today, Haag said in a statement: "I now find the need to consider actions regarding marijuana superstores such as Harborside. The larger the operation, the greater the likelihood that there will be abuse of the state's medical marijuana laws, and marijuana in the hands of individuals who do not have a demonstrated medical need." In March, the Berkeley Patients Group, one of the largest medical marijuana dispensaries in the state, shuttered as a result of the federal crackdown, in part because of its proximity to two schools. In its statement, Harborside said, "This latest federal action to seize property flies in the face of promises made by Haag to exclusively target dispensaries less than 1000 feet from a school." Last year, the Internal Revenue Service ruled that Harborside owed millions of dollars in taxes. The pot club was also the subject of a reality TV series, "Weed Wars," which aired last fall on the Discovery Channel. SOURCE: The Bay Citizen