{"id":1488,"date":"2012-03-05T22:54:18","date_gmt":"2012-03-05T22:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/?p=12748"},"modified":"2012-03-05T22:54:18","modified_gmt":"2012-03-05T22:54:18","slug":"colorado-collectives-warned-by-us-attorney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-collectives-warned-by-us-attorney\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Collectives Warned by US Attorney"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/colorado-collectives-warned-by-us-attorney\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"144\" height=\"240\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/john-walsh.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"john walsh\" title=\"john walsh\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-12750\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/colorado-collectives-warned-by-us-attorney\/attachment\/john-walsh\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-12750\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/john-walsh-144x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"144\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>The early part of this week has delivered mixed news for medical marijuana patients.\u00a0 Those who attended the <a href=\"http:\/\/smokeoutfestival.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cypress Hill Smokeout<\/a> were treated to an excellent day long music festival and community gathering.\u00a0 There was one unfortunate development regarding Colorado, where the federal government has put their collectives on alert however.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado has taken extraordinary steps to ensure patient access including a state wide licensing system for patients (which is what many advocates are hoping to see in California after the state Supreme Court takes on the issue later this year) and a tighter grip on dispensaries operating under state law.\u00a0 Additionally, a ballot initiative was successful and<a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/colorado-residents-will-get-to-vote-on-legalizing-marijuana-in-november\/\" target=\"_blank\"> voters will get the chance to legalize marijuana<\/a> for recreational use this November.\u00a0 As we <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/feds-oversee-colorado-marijuana-collective-shutdowns\/\" target=\"_blank\">mentioned last week<\/a>, 23 of the over 700 collectives in Colorado were closed down, which only represented approximately 3% of all dispensaries.<\/p>\n<p>A U.S. attorney in Colorado, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao\/co\/\" target=\"_blank\">John Walsh<\/a>, does not want anyone to feel comfortable as they seek medical relief.\u00a0 The 23 collectives were shut down because they were not in compliance with state law.\u00a0 In most cases it involved collectives being too close to schools.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/administration\/president-obama\" target=\"_blank\">President Obama<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.justice.gov\/ag\/\" target=\"_blank\">Attorney General Eric Holder<\/a> (who may have his hands full <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/news\/politics\/la-pn-eric-holder-terrorism-awlaki-20120305,0,3511394.story?track=rss\" target=\"_blank\">explaining his position<\/a> on the US government&#8217;s right to target and kill US citizens overseas in the name of anti-terrorism)\u00a0 have said several times since their time on the 2008 campaign trail that they are not seeking to interfere with collectives and patients abiding by state law.\u00a0 Eric Holder even <a href=\"http:\/\/www.opposingviews.com\/i\/society\/crime\/video-eric-holders-lame-answers-medical-marijuana-crackdown\" target=\"_blank\">reiterated this idea <\/a>as recently as December.\u00a0 However, John Walsh is saying that no collective should feel safe and that it is in his office\u2019s discretion to go after any and all collectives in Colorado.\u00a0 Of course his office has to answer to the White House so we can wait and see if team Obama plans on keeping their word during an election year.<\/p>\n<p>While we do not want to see patient access restricted,\u00a0 we should all take into consideration that a U.S. attorney may not want to describe a scenario where they basically green light a medical marijuana program that follows state laws, but is still under violation on a federal level.\u00a0 While John Walsh says everyone is on notice, they did only carefully select 23 to shut down.\u00a0 A spokesman for the U.S. attorney\u2019s office mentioned that dispensaries can be shut down for other non cannabis related violations such as possession of firearms and possessing marijuana when they are not in compliance with state laws.\u00a0 It sounds as if the U.S. attorneys are letting everyone know that they will go after any violation they can uncover.\u00a0 This should not be news as we know the feds are salivating to flex their muscle.\u00a0 However, with a vast majority of the country supporting medical marijuana, voters will have quite a bit to say in only a matter of months.\u00a0 It is important that advocates take action and make it out to the voting polls this November and support patient compassion and relief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"144\" height=\"240\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/john-walsh.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"john walsh\" title=\"john walsh\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-12750\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/colorado-collectives-warned-by-us-attorney\/attachment\/john-walsh\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-12750\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/john-walsh-144x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"144\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>The early part of this week has delivered mixed news for medical marijuana patients.\u00a0 Those who attended the <a href=\"http:\/\/smokeoutfestival.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cypress Hill Smokeout<\/a> were treated to an excellent day long music festival and community gathering.\u00a0 There was one unfortunate development regarding Colorado, where the federal government has put their collectives on alert however.<\/p>\n<p>Colorado has taken extraordinary steps to ensure patient access including a state wide licensing system for patients (which is what many advocates are hoping to see in California after the state Supreme Court takes on the issue later this year) and a tighter grip on dispensaries operating under state law.\u00a0 Additionally, a ballot initiative was successful and<a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/colorado-residents-will-get-to-vote-on-legalizing-marijuana-in-november\/\" target=\"_blank\"> voters will get the chance to legalize marijuana<\/a> for recreational use this November.\u00a0 As we <a href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/feds-oversee-colorado-marijuana-collective-shutdowns\/\" target=\"_blank\">mentioned last week<\/a>, 23 of the over 700 collectives in Colorado were closed down, which only represented approximately 3% of all dispensaries.<\/p>\n<p>A U.S. attorney in Colorado, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.justice.gov\/usao\/co\/\" target=\"_blank\">John Walsh<\/a>, does not want anyone to feel comfortable as they seek medical relief.\u00a0 The 23 collectives were shut down because they were not in compliance with state law.\u00a0 In most cases it involved collectives being too close to schools.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/administration\/president-obama\" target=\"_blank\">President Obama<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.justice.gov\/ag\/\" target=\"_blank\">Attorney General Eric Holder<\/a> (who may have his hands full <a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/news\/politics\/la-pn-eric-holder-terrorism-awlaki-20120305,0,3511394.story?track=rss\" target=\"_blank\">explaining his position<\/a> on the US government&#8217;s right to target and kill US citizens overseas in the name of anti-terrorism)\u00a0 have said several times since their time on the 2008 campaign trail that they are not seeking to interfere with collectives and patients abiding by state law.\u00a0 Eric Holder even <a href=\"http:\/\/www.opposingviews.com\/i\/society\/crime\/video-eric-holders-lame-answers-medical-marijuana-crackdown\" target=\"_blank\">reiterated this idea <\/a>as recently as December.\u00a0 However, John Walsh is saying that no collective should feel safe and that it is in his office\u2019s discretion to go after any and all collectives in Colorado.\u00a0 Of course his office has to answer to the White House so we can wait and see if team Obama plans on keeping their word during an election year.<\/p>\n<p>While we do not want to see patient access restricted,\u00a0 we should all take into consideration that a U.S. attorney may not want to describe a scenario where they basically green light a medical marijuana program that follows state laws, but is still under violation on a federal level.\u00a0 While John Walsh says everyone is on notice, they did only carefully select 23 to shut down.\u00a0 A spokesman for the U.S. attorney\u2019s office mentioned that dispensaries can be shut down for other non cannabis related violations such as possession of firearms and possessing marijuana when they are not in compliance with state laws.\u00a0 It sounds as if the U.S. attorneys are letting everyone know that they will go after any violation they can uncover.\u00a0 This should not be news as we know the feds are salivating to flex their muscle.\u00a0 However, with a vast majority of the country supporting medical marijuana, voters will have quite a bit to say in only a matter of months.\u00a0 It is important that advocates take action and make it out to the voting polls this November and support patient compassion and relief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[52,176,166,1519,251,253,1520,56,9,51,70,281,1,3,61],"tags":[2632,2754,2744,4087,2829,2831,4088,2636,2631,5,2859,6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}