Jim Finnel
Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex News Moderator
Montana's medical marijuana law is being used for large-scale drug trafficking, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday, one day after the U.S. government raided facilities across the state.
Federal agents on Monday executed 26 criminal search warrants from Missoula to Miles City, capping an 18-month investigation of marijuana trafficking statewide, the U.S. Attorney for Montana, Michael Cotter, said in a statement.
He said seizures also were carried out at financial institutions in three Montana cities under civil warrants seeking up to $4 million in connection with the alleged drug trade.
The sweep prompted an outcry from medical marijuana advocates, who accused the government of cracking down on growers and distributors who were operating legally under the state's 7-year-old medical marijuana law.
But Cotter said in his press release that the raids were conducted "where there is probable cause that the premises were involved in illegal and large-scale trafficking of marijuana."
"When criminal networks violate federal laws, those involved will be prosecuted," he said.
Although cannabis is still considered an illegal narcotic under federal law, 15 states and the District of Columbia have statutes legalizing pot for medical use, mostly in the West, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
In a shift from the Bush administration's position on the subject, the administration of President Barack Obama said in October 2009 it would no longer prosecute patients who use medical marijuana, or dispensaries that distribute it, in states where marijuana has been approved for such purposes.
A Justice Department spokeswoman in Washington, Tracy Schmaler, denied the Montana raids were at odds with the Obama administration's 2009 policy pronouncement.
"We are not going to look the other way while significant drug trafficking organizations try and shield their illegal efforts ... through the pretense that they are medical dispensaries," she said on Tuesday. "We will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law."
Federal agents on Monday seized some 1,700 pot plants at one Helena-area facility alone, Montana Cannabis, said co-owner Chris Williams. But Williams said those plants were the source of legitimate medicine for nearly 300 patients.
Montana law allows up to six marijuana plants to be grown for each patient.
Former Montana Cannabis owner Tom Daubert, who helped write the state's medical marijuana statute, condemned the raids as heavy-handed.
"You can be completely legal locally, abiding by the local compassionate law, and still in the eyes of the federal government be a hideously criminal, dangerous drug trafficker," he said. "I have every reason to believe the locations that were targeted were striving to be legal under state law."
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: wgntv.com
Author: Emilie Ritter
Copyright: 2011 Tribune Broadcasting
Contact: Contact Us - WGN
Website: Corrected: Montana medical pot suppliers accused of trafficking - WGN
Federal agents on Monday executed 26 criminal search warrants from Missoula to Miles City, capping an 18-month investigation of marijuana trafficking statewide, the U.S. Attorney for Montana, Michael Cotter, said in a statement.
He said seizures also were carried out at financial institutions in three Montana cities under civil warrants seeking up to $4 million in connection with the alleged drug trade.
The sweep prompted an outcry from medical marijuana advocates, who accused the government of cracking down on growers and distributors who were operating legally under the state's 7-year-old medical marijuana law.
But Cotter said in his press release that the raids were conducted "where there is probable cause that the premises were involved in illegal and large-scale trafficking of marijuana."
"When criminal networks violate federal laws, those involved will be prosecuted," he said.
Although cannabis is still considered an illegal narcotic under federal law, 15 states and the District of Columbia have statutes legalizing pot for medical use, mostly in the West, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.
In a shift from the Bush administration's position on the subject, the administration of President Barack Obama said in October 2009 it would no longer prosecute patients who use medical marijuana, or dispensaries that distribute it, in states where marijuana has been approved for such purposes.
A Justice Department spokeswoman in Washington, Tracy Schmaler, denied the Montana raids were at odds with the Obama administration's 2009 policy pronouncement.
"We are not going to look the other way while significant drug trafficking organizations try and shield their illegal efforts ... through the pretense that they are medical dispensaries," she said on Tuesday. "We will not tolerate drug traffickers who hide behind claims of compliance with state law."
Federal agents on Monday seized some 1,700 pot plants at one Helena-area facility alone, Montana Cannabis, said co-owner Chris Williams. But Williams said those plants were the source of legitimate medicine for nearly 300 patients.
Montana law allows up to six marijuana plants to be grown for each patient.
Former Montana Cannabis owner Tom Daubert, who helped write the state's medical marijuana statute, condemned the raids as heavy-handed.
"You can be completely legal locally, abiding by the local compassionate law, and still in the eyes of the federal government be a hideously criminal, dangerous drug trafficker," he said. "I have every reason to believe the locations that were targeted were striving to be legal under state law."
NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: wgntv.com
Author: Emilie Ritter
Copyright: 2011 Tribune Broadcasting
Contact: Contact Us - WGN
Website: Corrected: Montana medical pot suppliers accused of trafficking - WGN
