Want to Open a Medical Marijuana Dispensary in S.F.? The DEA Is Onto You

By Chris Roberts Wed., Aug. 22 2012 at 8:55 AM

Hey buddy!

We're no police theorist, but the goals of a law enforcement action are simple: to prevent, to intervene, or otherwise dissuade behavior deemed illegal.

If this is the case, the federal Justice Department's crackdown on California's medical marijuana industry is only partway there; about a dozen Bay Area dispensaries have been shuttered, yet would-be cannabis sellers are lining up to open more, according to records.

For those of you into medical marijuana, know this: Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent David White is onto you. White, of the San Francisco Field Division's Financial Investigation Team, in June requested and received the applications, including personal contact information, for all proposed San Francisco medical marijuana dispensaries, according to public records.

Requests from White have been precursors to letters from U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag forcing dispensaries to close down rather than face stiff penalties, including jail time.

The information granted to White is publicly available to anyone who asks. That includes redacted copies of Department of Public Health permit applications, along with a would-be dispensary operator's name, age, driver license number, and contact information. They also include the property address of a proposed dispensary.

Last fall, White requested files on three dispensaries, all of which were shut down by Christmas. He then requested files on two more (shut down by January), then four more (all of which were out of business by the end of July). In the spring, he requested the file on all existing dispensaries, and then requested the file on all proposed or permitted-but-not-yet open dispensaries in June, according to records.

White, working with Assistant U.S. Attorney Arvon J. Perteet, is also involved in the forfeiture action pending against Harborside Health Center, California's largest dispensary, according to records.

One may ask why a financial investigator would take interest in an operation that, while federally illegal, has yet to begin operating.

E-mails sent to White were returned by Casey McEnry, a DEA spokeswoman, who in turn referred SF Weekly to the U.S. Attorney's Office for comment. The local arm of the Justice Department has responded to nearly all press inquiries regarding the marijuana crackdown since last year with a "no comment."

So the crackdown continues into its 11th month. How to judge its efficacy? Here's a telling anecdote: One of the applications for a new dispensary was filed in March by Joseph Hunt, whose Mr. Nice Guy on Valencia Street was one of the first dispensaries shut down by the feds in December.

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malcolmkyle16

Kindly watch the Drug War Clock as it ticks away all our hard earned tax dollars:

http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm

Now try the US Debt Clock: http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Alcohol prohibition in the US ran from 1919–1933

Where you aware that "The Great Wall Street Crash" happened during this period?

During alcohol prohibition, all profits went to enrich thugs and criminals. Young men died every day on inner-city streets while battling over turf. A fortune was wasted on enforcement that could have gone on treatment. On top of the budget-busting prosecution and incarceration costs, billions in taxes were lost. Finally the economy collapsed. Sound familiar?

http://1929crash.com/

To support prohibition you have to be either totally ignorant, totally stupid, totally brainwashed, totally insane, or totally corrupt.

If you have liberty then expect prosperity!

mycos

@malcolmkyle16 "To support prohibition you have to be either totally ignorant, totally stupid, totally brainwashed, totally insane, or totally corrupt."

No, merely one of the millions of hard-core conservatives whose psychological make-up compels them to oppose changes to the status quo no matter how badly it is in need of reform. Their need for certainty combines with a deep-seated fear of the unknown or ambiguous compels their opposition to social changes they fear will lead to anarchy and crime, including widespread disregard of the laws they believe is all that stands between them and a world that no longer observes the traditions and institutions they believe are the cornerstones of civilization itself. Beyond that they simply do not care about things like reason and factual evidence.

And because prohibition laws give law-enforcement agencies vastly increased powers they normally wouldn't have under the Constitution, the ability to monitor and harass citizens is vastly expanded under a Prohibition regime. And since authoritarians tend to believe non-conformists are the very same type of person that will undermine the "Christian values" they believe are intrinsic to America.

And right now, here in the West, conservatives believe that the abilities gained under prohibition allowing LEOs to stop, search, or even arrest ":problem groups" on mere suspicion, is a necessary tool giving LE the power to keep all the hippies, blacks, immigrants and others from "finishing the job they started back in the 60s, with their civil-rights movements, women libbers, and other anti-Vietnam traitors that nearly destroyed America!"

They believe that had Nixon not declared a "war on drugs", then police wouldn't have been able to keep a close watch on so they could disrupt the plans "of all those Amerka-hating, commie-loving drug addicts they are certain Hollywood liberals are glorifying in movies as part of a plan to ..blah, blah, blah",.rant, rave, spin and twist into the lies that justify in their minds the continued violation of common sense, not to mention the very Constitution they believe themselves to be the sole defenders of.