Why is Colorado different?

[Colodonmed]

I have asked myself this many times over the last year and I cannot come up with an answer that convinces myself.

Dispensaries are raided in other states but not here. Is it because the state legislature has decided to regulate the industry? I don't think so because law makers in the other states have attempted to embrace the industry and try to regulate, but they are almost immediately threatened by the DOJ..ie..Oakland mega grows and now Washington state.

What is it? I must be missing something, but can't figure it out.

Anybody?

[canaguy27]

They are building cases, connecting the dots, and when they have more than enough info, they will come down like a fucking sledge hammer.

[DenverRelief]

They are building cases, connecting the dots, and when they have more than enough info, they will come down like a fucking sledge hammer.

Many of the raids that are taking place have more to do with taxes and the IRS (backdoor deals) and less to do with the MJ itself.

Colorado's industry is relatively new and we do have the most extensive regulations in place. (Although they are yet to be fully implemented.) July 1st much of the Colorado Medical Marijuana Code will go into effect which will allow a local Colorado authority to begin conducting audits.

Perhaps, if the Feds feel the Colorado Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division is doing a sufficient job of finding shops that are making illegal sales or are using product from illegal grows, and that only legal patients are being given access to the medicine, they might just leave Colorado alone.

That's definitely more hope than prediction, but only time will tell.

[HighPopalorum]

I think the Feds are deferring to our state government, although they might take the odd Bartkowicz from time to time. I wouldn't be surprised if they raided a center in conjunction with the state to make an example for the rest. Regime change in Denver or DC might change the equation.

[CDS]

See No Weed (http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-4930-see-no-weed.html)

This article came out last week and does a great job of covering the federal involvement in CO. Here's a long quote, emphasis added:


Jeff Dorschner, spokesperson for Colorado U.S. Attorney John Walsh, declined to comment on Polisâ?? statements. But he insists that the Haag memo does nothing to change the fedsâ?? approach to medical marijuana in Colorado. He says the DEA and his office continue to follow the guidance set by the Ogden memo.

According to Dorschner, each U.S. attorney has â??a fair amount of discretion,â?� and the Haag memo applies only to the California district for which it was written.

â??It has no bearing on what Coloradoâ??s situation is,â?� he told Boulder Weekly. â??It certainly doesnâ??t supersede the Ogden memo. It doesnâ??t clarify the Ogden memo. It only applies to Oakland. Nothing has changed in Colorado because of the issuance of that letter.â?�

Dorschner agreed that from a federal perspective, there is less protection for commercial distributors of medical marijuana than there is for individuals.

Asked how dispensaries could avoid drawing attention from the feds, he would only say that his office and the DEA follow the Ogden memo, its â??clear and unambiguous complianceâ?� standard, and its list of complicating factors that would make a dispensary non-compliant. If the DEA encounters a dispensary where one of those factors is at play, they will contact Walshâ??s office for guidance, Dorschner says.

Dorschner says the Bartkowicz incident occurred before Walsh took office, and that initial reports that the Highlands Ranch resident could face up to 60 years in prison were not realistic. Walsh offered Bartkowicz a plea deal of five years in prison, which in Walshâ??s analysis was a fair sentence, according to Dorschner.

Mike Turner, a Colorado spokesperson for the Drug Enforcement Agency, agrees that the Haag memo doesnâ??t change anything for Colorado dispensaries.

â??There is no change in our status,â?� Turner told Boulder Weekly. â??We donâ??t go after sick people.â?�

The situation in which the DEA would go after a dispensary is â??if folks get way over the lineâ?� under the parameters set by the Ogden memo. He compared it to speeding while driving:

Those going 20 miles per hour over the speed limit are more likely to get pulled over than those only a few miles per hour over the limit. He also used the analogy of having a bunch of flies in your house and only trying to swat the one that begins to annoy you.

â??Weâ??re going after the biggest and the baddest,â?� Turner says. â??Weâ??re typically not spending time going after dispensaries. Thereâ??s been no change for us. â?¦ Medical marijuana is not something we sit here and chat about every day.â?�

[Colodonmed]

Thanks for the input folks

[Colodonmed]

Many of the raids that are taking place have more to do with taxes and the IRS (backdoor deals) and less to do with the MJ itself.

Colorado's industry is relatively new and we do have the most extensive regulations in place. (Although they are yet to be fully implemented.) July 1st much of the Colorado Medical Marijuana Code will go into effect which will allow a local Colorado authority to begin conducting audits.

Perhaps, if the Feds feel the Colorado Medical Marijuana Enforcement Division is doing a sufficient job of finding shops that are making illegal sales or are using product from illegal grows, and that only legal patients are being given access to the medicine, they might just leave Colorado alone.

That's definitely more hope than prediction, but only time will tell.

Hope this is the case

[Colodonmed]

They are building cases, connecting the dots, and when they have more than enough info, they will come down like a fucking sledge hammer.

unfortunatley, that has been on the back of mind, I sure hope not

[Colodonmed]

I think the Feds are deferring to our state government, although they might take the odd Bartkowicz from time to time. I wouldn't be surprised if they raided a center in conjunction with the state to make an example for the rest. Regime change in Denver or DC might change the equation.

I would not be surprised either, just hope not

[canaguy27]

The DEA is here and they are working hard. DONT BE NAIVE.

[CDS]

There's a difference between naiveté and realistic. :thumbsup:

[MakeSense]

I would not be surprised either, just hope not

It's pretty straight forward folks.
If you follow the state regulations. The Feds will leave you alone. That is of course for now.
If on the other hand your MMJ is finding it's way accross state lines. Or you are venturing out
on another limb. You might not act too surprised when you get busted.
I am all for legalization, but we are far from that at this point.

Stay between the lines.

[Greenergy]

There's a difference between naiveté and realistic. :thumbsup:
:thumbsup:

[Greenergy]

Was Berkowitz a caregiver or a dispensary? makes you wonder who they really want.

[GratefulMeds]

:stoned:
I have asked myself this many times over the last year and I cannot come up with an answer that convinces myself.

Dispensaries are raided in other states but not here. Is it because the state legislature has decided to regulate the industry? I don't think so because law makers in the other states have attempted to embrace the industry and try to regulate, but they are almost immediately threatened by the DOJ..ie..Oakland mega grows and now Washington state.

What is it? I must be missing something, but can't figure it out.

Anybody?

The Feds are really pulling the strings and directing this while the other States fall in like sheep and follow Colorado, sad but true Colorado is not the way to go if any of you other States are listening.

[HighPopalorum]

It's all about perspective, or lack thereof. In many states, including Alabama where I grew up, you would face the death penalty for selling marijuana in the amounts you do. We have the most progressive marijuana laws in the nation, as well as a large and permissive MMJ program. I think all states would do well to follow our lead and liberalize MJ laws.

[GratefulMeds]

Colorado is making it so difficult for the little guy it is not the model to go by, I myself did years for 1 pound, so I am aware of different State laws as well as federal. Dont be fooled the Feds are force feeding Colorado's State legislation to make it easy for themselves as all the other 49 fall in line, don't let false promises make you feel like you need to follow Colorado, Michigan and many other States are debating this right now, and the people are not keen to give it all to big money interest, so they are doing their best to come up with their own rules,(which I am proud to be helping with).

Fight for complete legalization, medicine, recreational whatever complete legalization in 2012! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[GratefulMeds]

It's all about perspective, or lack thereof. In many states, including Alabama where I grew up, you would face the death penalty for selling marijuana in the amounts you do. We have the most progressive marijuana laws in the nation, as well as a large and permissive MMJ program. I think all states would do well to follow our lead and liberalize MJ laws.

your State should go legal in 2012 and it has allot more bad karma on it then killing pot dealers, Alabama has a long history of killing people they disagree with!

[HighPopalorum]

Indeed they do, which is why I left. I expect marijuana will always be illegal in Alabama.



Fight for complete legalization, medicine, recreational whatever complete legalization in 2012! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

Always have, always will.

[Toastyroadie]

I think it has more to do with the legal aspect of the Colorado MMJ movement. It's written into the highest laws of our state.

If I'm not mistaken, Colorado is one of the only states whose medical marijuana law is actually in the state Constitution.

[HighPopalorum]

True, but our const is loaded up with all kinds of junk. Practically, there's not much difference between const law and statutory law in this state because we change our const so frequently, (dozens of times in my memory, hundreds of ballot initiatives). Just because something is in the const doesn't mean it is immutable. For example, the const outlaws spring bear hunting as well, but that has not prevented the GA from taking up the issue this session. Ditto TABOR. Ditto equality for gays. Because it's easy to get things on the ballot, many laws that should be statutory have made their way into the const, and lawmakers have grown adept at doing end-runs around voter-approved initiatives. The feds couldn't care less what legislative vehicle was used to enact MMJ laws, and the fact that it's part of our const means much less than most people believe. I'm not an attorney, but if someone out there is, chime in.

[senorx12562]

It actually makes a huge difference in evaluating statutory and/or regulatory schemes which impact the exercise of a right that is now enshrined in the constitution, at least on the state level. For a statute or regulation that has a negative impact on a constitutional right to survive a legal challenge typically requires that the AG meet a much higher burden than if the right were merely statutory. On a Federal level, since the Roosevelt Supreme Court construed the Commerce clause to have eviscerated the Ninth and Tenth amendments, it probably doesn't matter. There are a couple of cases pending construing Obamacare that give some hope that the question of the expansive reading of the Commerce clause may come back before the Supremes, in which case it may also turn out to matter a great deal down the road in the context of a conflict between a state constitution and a Federal statute.