Calif. pot dispensaries told to shut down - US news - Crime & courts - msnbc.com
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Makes me wanna throw up....
I don't know about anyone else but I'm tired of these people in Washington trying to dictate our thoughts/actions.... Why do we continue to accept the fear mongering???
Politicians are not morally motivated.... Cash drives this bus.... And now the Federal government wants to make every med user a criminal....so they can fill jails with more people who will have to pay fines.... I wonder if this is part of Obamas jobs plan???....
It's going to take whole state populations to stand up to the Feds and say, enough is enough.... The War on Drugs is really a War on the People.... The Feds are seeing how much money the "common folk" are making and they don't like it.... Why??? Because everyday ordinary citizens are making shiploads of money from med cannabis and they don't like that.... The top 1% billionairs want to keep the majority poor....so they pay politicians to make moves that suppress any real progress for ordinary people.... We're slaves, as long as we continue to let ourselves be subject to such irrational and unethical government behavior....
I just know that I'm sick of these douchebags in our nations capital who throw laws out there to keep the population from prospering.... They have no clue of their immoral unjust behavior....
CGI::::::
IMO this was a long time coming!
The intent behind compassionate use laws were to let people grow their own medicaiton without fear of prosecution and if it had been left at that we wouldn't be having this conversation. People all jumped on the dispensary bandwagon being either terribly niave or being terribly stupid, we had NBC doing prime time news stories on co-op's and their growers. It seemed to me many of these growers and dispensary operators were very smug when being interviewed, like they were getting away with something and they knew it. That is coming to an end and there will be a lot of legal fallout as a result, some will think they can challenge this in the courts but they better have very deep pockets cause it will be a very long and very drug out fight. The only way the federal law changes is if enough states can create an amendment to the constitution and that is a real long shot and unlikely to heppen.
Colorado is next and if I'm registered with the state I'm more then just a little worried. The fed's get their hands on all that documentation and it will be too easy to shut the entire operation down.
I could be wrong but legaly I don't believe the feds can get ahold of the registry...and if they do we are all screwed.
It won't be that easy because Colorado is a state with a constitutional amendment for MMJ and now 3 additional pieces of legislation regulating how the industry runs. This is a stark contrast from California.Quote:
Originally Posted by Purple Daddy
That said, there is no guaranteed immunity from Federal prosecution, but Colorado relative to other medical marijuana states, has been largely untouched by Federal intervention.
Maybe it's because the dispensary model is younger here than in California, but maybe it's because we have a transparent regulatory model that requires everything be done above the board.
As an employee of Denver Relief, I am not worried that the Feds are going to get my name. I publish under my full name on our blog. I will not hide from them because I firmly believe that we aren't doing anything wrong.
It's difficult to make a strong argument about what compassionate use laws intend. We play out that intent every day and law enforcement, legislation, and courts are participating in that process.
It is indeed frustrating that the Feds, faced with limited resources, use underhanded tactics such as this one to intimidate business owners into going out of business, but in a certain positive regard it reflects how limited their resources truly are.
Between this threat, banking, and the IRS BS that Harborside is facing, there has been some bad news for the MMJ community this week.
To me it means that now is the time more than ever that we stop hiding in our basements with our precious few plants and demand with our stubborn presence that authoritarian policies are destroying our country.
As to the smugness, I can only say that it is indeed exciting to endeavor into running a medical marijuana center, and that despite the risk of criminal prosecution, we believe that we are are a part of a movement that can bring about positive change.
The dispensary "bandwagon" started out of need.... The need for people to have safe access to medical grade cannabis.... Not everyone can grow their own.... Some people wouldn't even know how to get a hold of med grade cannabis if dispensaries/distributers weren't around.... And since the only price guidelines that anyone had experienced from bomb ass indoor were the illegal street market prices, the dispensaries figured that because now they are operating in a legal manner (having to pay taxes and other overhead costs) they could justify asking the same price....Quote:
Originally Posted by Purple Daddy
So had people only grown their own and dispensaries never existed, we'd have individual growers posting ads to supply other patients who cannot grow theirs....
This Drug War is a huge sham.... Just like speeding tickets or seat belt laws....they claim to be in place to protect us, for our safety, when in reality all it does is justify a traffic stop and traffic fine.... They pull you over and make you pay a fine because you might get into an accident or cause one and be injured....no no no their American citizen.... You can't ride in your car without a seatbelt.... Cause if you do, you MIGHT get hurt.... And since we don't want that, we are going to pull over every single car that has a passenger in it riding without a seatbelt fastened....and fine you.... Because we care about your safety....
Excuse me while I go toke a bowl to calm down....:jointsmile:....
CGI::::::
Don't kid yourself!
I get that some people can't grow for themselves and that is what the concept of a co-op is and how this was supposed to work. A co-op in the true sense only charges what real expense are, that doesn't include someone who chooses to grow indoors and spend a small fortune on a grow room has the right to charge $3,000 a lb. regardless of how they put a value on their time. Reasonable expenses for reasonable use of electricity etc. is one thing but charging people $50 an 8th because you think your process is worth of that price is absurd and absolutely not what these laws intended. If your neighbor agrees to grow inside for you and spends $500 on lighting and another $500 on various expenses and say $100 a month in electricty then thats money to be recovered but not at a profit. Legally growers aren't supposed to make a profit at all.
I'll probably get bashed for this because I sat on the Prop. 215 fence for a long time, I would agree with a lot of people that more people don't need it medically then do and compassionate use laws are more of a grass roots effort to eventually do away with prohibition. The way it's played out though has probably set that back a number of years. Look, I sat in the Dr. office a few months ago with a stack of medical documents to verify my claim for need, let me tell you most of the other people sitting in that office had NOTHING with them.
I don't believe lack of access is what drove this, I mean most people who needed this medically were already probably getting it. This is a very slippery slope and I hope people are smart and don't think they can challenge the Fed's. Easier to walk away now rather then face what will become a very expensive fight that will last years.
California has decriminilized posession of under an oz, that is a good start and should keep a lot of people out of jail and from fear of prosecution.
The story is different here in Colorado. Profit is A-OK, though we haven't made any yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Purple Daddy
The revenue being generated is being put back in the business towards the cost of building and operating a complaint cultivation facility, licenses and fees out the wazoo, security, employees, etc.
We haven't taken money out of the company because we know that any successful business usually takes several years to build.
I don't think the question is whether a grower has the right to charge $3,000 a pound. At this point, it isn't about rights it's about economics.
Over the summer Colorado saw a price war that made $25 1/8ths the standard among discount shops.
We saw a slight loss in business and adjusted our prices to the market. We still charged more than $25 per 1/8th and likely always will but we grow quality medicine that justifies it.
Now, the supply isn't so flooded and prices are coming up again.
Supply and demand dictates this market just like any other, and my opinion (obviously biased) is that being in business is about making money. As long as we aren't scamming or taking advantage of patients, there is nothing wrong with receiving compensation for hard work.
Even the non-profit co-ops give a salary to those who operate them. Am I wrong?
Supply and demand dictates this market just like any other, and my opinion (obviously biased) is that being in business is about making money. As long as we aren't scamming or taking advantage of patients, there is nothing wrong with receiving compensation for hard work.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.
I'd be watching this CA action very, very closely. I understand the CO model however the federal government isn't going to accept it no matter how it is structured.
Just because CO says it's ok to make a profit as long as you have video of the product from end to end, every gram documented blah, blah, blah, doesn't mean the fed's won't shut it down tomorrow. In fact it seems to me they almost have to now, they can't come into CA with a heavy hand then just leave CO alone because they have a more structured model. It's legal in their eyes or it's not, there is no gray area.