New Justice Department Memo Raises Specter of Criminal Charges for Dispensaries

SPOKANE, WA, July 12, 2011 (Press-News.org) On June 29th, 2011 the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. issued a memorandum to local federal prosecutors clarifying that medical marijuana dispensaries are not off-limits when it comes to federal prosecutions. This memorandum was somewhat contradictory of an earlier Justice Department memorandum by Attorney General Eric Holder implying that federal prosecutors would not pursue criminal charges against medical marijuana dispensaries. The policy change has many dispensary owners nervous, particularly in Washington State, where medical marijuana has been legal for over a decade.

When President Obama ran for president in 2008, he gave the impression that medical marijuana prosecutions would not be a priority in his administration. The federal government does not recognize medical marijuana although 16 different states now have some legislation allowing patients to use the drug. Since Obama was elected, medical marijuana dispensaries have become popular and common in such states as California, Colorado and Washington State. In states where medical marijuana is tolerated no clear avenue is provided for where sick patients can obtain the drug. Criminal defense lawyers often find themselves in court defending people who have operated within these gray areas of the law.

Medical marijuana dispensaries have grown unpopular with federal prosecuting attorneys as the number of medical marijuana patients grow. In California the number of authorized medical marijuana patients is nearing one million. Montana has also seen an increase in the number of their patients. The June 29th memorandum makes it clear that certain medical-marijuana related activities should not be prosecuted, and makes clear that other activities should be prosecuted. The memorandum gives the example that sick cancer patients and their caregivers should not be prosecuted, and this is not very surprising. The memorandum then complains that "several jurisdictions have considered or enacted legislation to authorize multiple large-scale, privately-operated industrial marijuana cultivation centers" and that some of these centers have "revenue projections of millions of dollars based on the planned cultivation of tens of thousands of cannabis plants."

Obviously there is a large gray area between the one sick cancer patient and the large multimillion dollar dispensary. The legal opinion has left many lawyers and many small dispensary owners wondering whether the federal government will continue to tolerate commercial dispensaries in any form. Since the beginning of the year in Washington State, the federal authorities have stage raids on most of the dispensaries in eastern Washington where as the dispensaries in western Washington have been left alone. The U.S. Attorneys in various districts seem to be allowed to exercise their discretion as they see fit. Criminal marijuana lawyers are watching closely to see what the next step will be on the part of local federal prosecutors.

Steve Graham is a Spokane criminal lawyer defending people in the state courts of eastern Washington.

Website: http://www.grahamdeense.com