On Thursday, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department served seven medical marijuana shops with orders, forcing them to shut down for not being in compliance with federal laws.
The checks were in accordance with a recently enacted Tulare County law that applies to unincorporated areas.
Operators, like Melanie Mendes, were provided copies of the new ordinance that requires they comply with unaligned county, state, and federal laws.
"Right now they are out of compliance," Lt. Keith Douglass said. "They have to obey all state and federal laws, and federal law says you can not [provide medical marijuana]."
They were given 10 days to stop offering medical marijuana or face criminal charges.
"It was like a funeral at the shop yesterday," Mendes said, while holding back tears. "I've got people that drag their pain pumps in and come in wheel chairs. They're asking me for help that I can't give them anymore."
Mendes, who operates Tipton-based Earth Meds, said she will clear out the medical marijuana, but keep providing information about how to grow the plants and where to find the medicine elsewhere. There are two shops in the city of Tulare, she said.
When Tulare County supervisors adopted the ordinance in November, they said it was a preventative step in case the federal government recognizes that marijuana has legitimate medicinal values. The ordinance restricts where the marijuana can be smoked, how many plants can be grown, does not allow for edible or drinkables and caps the number of distribution outlets to three.
The ordinance took effect Thursday.
According to the federal government, smoking marijuana for medical purposes is illegal. A California law enacted by voters in 1996, however, prevents law enforcement from punishing marijuana users when a physician has recommended its use to treat serious medical conditions.
Local law enforcement agencies throughout the state have struggled with the conflict in the law.
In the past, federally led criminal raids took place to halt the drug's distribution, but the Obama administration recently declared it would stop cracking down on the 14 states that allow medical marijuana.
"The fact that this in place does not mean that your board has authorized the activity, it does not change the state law regulation, and all of this is still illegal under federal law," said County Counsel Kathleen Bales-Lange.
The only distribution sites currently permitted in California are collectives and cooperatives, where transactions of medical marijuana between cardholders are facilitated without incurring a profit. Dispensaries, or other for-profit shops, are illegal.
To obtain medical marijuana at Earth Meds, Mendes said people provide monetary donations, soil and nutrients for growing, or their edibles and drinkables are not provided and the buds are not smoked, or even grown, inside the building.
"I've got 10 days to try to help my patients and to see if there is anything my attorney can do," she said. "The entire ordinance is ambiguous. I'm not doing anything wrong under the attorney general's guidelines and state law."
Earth Meds used to service approximately 25 South County residents daily. Each one of them had a doctor's recommendation, according to Mendes.
"We did everything possible to comply with their ordinance, the only thing we're not in compliance with is the two words 'federal law,'" she said.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source:RecorderOnline.com
Author: JENNA CHANDLER
Copyright: 2009 Freedom Communications, Inc.
The checks were in accordance with a recently enacted Tulare County law that applies to unincorporated areas.
Operators, like Melanie Mendes, were provided copies of the new ordinance that requires they comply with unaligned county, state, and federal laws.
"Right now they are out of compliance," Lt. Keith Douglass said. "They have to obey all state and federal laws, and federal law says you can not [provide medical marijuana]."
They were given 10 days to stop offering medical marijuana or face criminal charges.
"It was like a funeral at the shop yesterday," Mendes said, while holding back tears. "I've got people that drag their pain pumps in and come in wheel chairs. They're asking me for help that I can't give them anymore."
Mendes, who operates Tipton-based Earth Meds, said she will clear out the medical marijuana, but keep providing information about how to grow the plants and where to find the medicine elsewhere. There are two shops in the city of Tulare, she said.
When Tulare County supervisors adopted the ordinance in November, they said it was a preventative step in case the federal government recognizes that marijuana has legitimate medicinal values. The ordinance restricts where the marijuana can be smoked, how many plants can be grown, does not allow for edible or drinkables and caps the number of distribution outlets to three.
The ordinance took effect Thursday.
According to the federal government, smoking marijuana for medical purposes is illegal. A California law enacted by voters in 1996, however, prevents law enforcement from punishing marijuana users when a physician has recommended its use to treat serious medical conditions.
Local law enforcement agencies throughout the state have struggled with the conflict in the law.
In the past, federally led criminal raids took place to halt the drug's distribution, but the Obama administration recently declared it would stop cracking down on the 14 states that allow medical marijuana.
"The fact that this in place does not mean that your board has authorized the activity, it does not change the state law regulation, and all of this is still illegal under federal law," said County Counsel Kathleen Bales-Lange.
The only distribution sites currently permitted in California are collectives and cooperatives, where transactions of medical marijuana between cardholders are facilitated without incurring a profit. Dispensaries, or other for-profit shops, are illegal.
To obtain medical marijuana at Earth Meds, Mendes said people provide monetary donations, soil and nutrients for growing, or their edibles and drinkables are not provided and the buds are not smoked, or even grown, inside the building.
"I've got 10 days to try to help my patients and to see if there is anything my attorney can do," she said. "The entire ordinance is ambiguous. I'm not doing anything wrong under the attorney general's guidelines and state law."
Earth Meds used to service approximately 25 South County residents daily. Each one of them had a doctor's recommendation, according to Mendes.
"We did everything possible to comply with their ordinance, the only thing we're not in compliance with is the two words 'federal law,'" she said.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source:RecorderOnline.com
Author: JENNA CHANDLER
Copyright: 2009 Freedom Communications, Inc.
