The exact number of delivery services operating in California is unclear, since the state does not keep a registry of medical marijuana distributors or outlets;Los Angeles cuts back on medical marijuana dispensaries:
In April, 758 services advertised direct delivery of marijuana to patients on Weedmaps.com;
Those numbers have nearly tripled in the past 18 months and grown by 39 percent since February, as more counties and cities began regulating storefront dispensaries or banning them outright, according to Weedmaps owner Justin Hartfield;
From 2007 to 2009, the number of medical marijuana dispensaries grew from 183 to over 800.posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:47 AM on February 19, 2012 [3 favorites]
As fear of federal prosecution lessened [after the Ogden Memo], more states began adopting or considering medical marijuana laws; where the practice was already legal (as it was in California), there was a boom in the marijuana trade. Operating in a grey market between the federal prohibition and untested state rules, dispensaries of all kinds operated without much supervision. Cities and towns, some with an eye toward economic opportunity and others to codify community standards, began filling in the blanks left by the broad state law with rules and ordinances governing the operation of dispensaries and growers—where they could be located, how many would be allowed, what kind of security and verification procedures they must use.posted by 2bucksplus at 9:26 AM on February 19, 2012 [2 favorites]
Though law enforcement officials could not point to any commensurate increase in crime, all that activity made the federal government uneasy: It realized that tacitly allowing states to regulate medical marijuana had far-reaching consequences that it wasn’t entirely comfortable with. Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney, acknowledged that his office took notice of the explosion of storefront dispensaries across California in the last two years, sometimes in violation of local zoning bans. With local and state officials writing letters to their U.S. Attorneys, asking for their thoughts on various schemes to license marijuana growers and distributers, the federal government decided to take a tougher line. This June, the Department of Justice responded with another memo recognizing this growing trend and clarifying its position, and reclaiming the prerogative to make arrests for any marijuana offenses: “Persons who are in the business of cultivating, selling or distributing marijuana, and those who knowingly facilitate such activities, are in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, regardless of state law.” Enforcement efforts against dispensaries in California followed soon after.
Huh? Is that sarcastic? All marijuana dispensaries are illegal under federal law.
I can tell you without a doubt that Western Washington is doing just fine concerning dispensaries. Feds shut some down? Yeah, the illegal ones.
Federal agents and police raided state-sanctioned medical marijuana dispensaries across western Washington on Tuesday, targeting storefronts deemed to be engaged in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering.All medical marijuana dispensaries that accept money must be engaged drug distribution and 'money laundering'. If they are large scale, then they must, by definition be engaged in 'large scale' drug distribution.
No biggie. You're at least trying to have an honest conversation about this.Something the DEA and their press releases are certainly not trying to do.
Why would Obama stop the raids? What are people going to do if he doesn't? Vote Republican?Pat Robertson wants to legalize weed. There are lots of republicans who feel the same way (including Ron Paul). There are probably lots of centrists/independents who don't really care that much about the dem/republican thing but maybe they have a family member who needs medical marijuana or just think it's a good idea.
You're right delmoi, they all should be shut down.Is that what you really think? Marijuana dispensaries are illegal under federal law, they won't be legal until federal law is overturned. So, basically you have to either have illegal dispensaries, or else medical marijuana patents are going to have to buy it from 'real' drug dealers just like everyone else. But not everyone knows real drug dealers, especially people in the age range where they're more likely to need medical MJ.
You think? You engaged me with you're obviously well versed knowledge on the subject and on my position. The part where you mention people "'addicted' to marijuana" is especially telling of the depth of your knowledge.So, what you're saying is that you're not actually interested in having an "honest discussion", or any type of discussion at all for that matter.
You came at me with a couple of gotchas about contextual languageYeah I have no idea what this means.
Then you loaded a couple of paragraphs full of vacillating opinions without ever addressing a single point of mineI was only responding to your comments about 1) Only the "illegal" dispensaries being shut down and 2) your comment about wanting "all" of them shut down. If all you post is snarky bullshit, no one will ever know what point you're actually trying to express. Which is why I said you weren't interested in having an honest conversation.
Now your blaming me for not wanting an honest conversation.Right, because obviously you don't. All you're doing is posting comments about how you don't want to discuss any of the issues. As far as I can tell, your last three comments had zero content.
A number of investigators have addressed this issue and found that only a relatively small percentage of those who try marijuana will become addicted. For example, in a large-scale survey published in 1994 epidemiologist James Anthony, then at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and his colleagues asked more than 8,000 people between the ages of 15 and 64 about their use of marijuana and other drugs. The researchers found that of those who had tried marijuana at least once, about 9 percent eventually fit a diagnosis of cannabis dependence. The corresponding figure for alcohol was 15 percent; for cocaine, 17 percent; for heroin, 23 percent; and for nicotine, 32 percent. So although marijuana may be addictive for some, 91 percent of those who try it do not get hooked. Further, marijuana is less addictive than many other legal and illegal drugs.posted by Brandon Blatcher at 6:13 AM on February 23, 2012
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This statement is only true if one expects elected officials to craft and enforce policy in accordance with their public statements and personal opinions.
posted by mwhybark at 12:09 AM on February 19, 2012 [7 favorites]