{"id":1536,"date":"2012-02-29T08:58:36","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T08:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/?p=12540"},"modified":"2012-02-29T08:58:36","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T08:58:36","slug":"feds-oversee-colorado-marijuana-collective-shutdowns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/feds-oversee-colorado-marijuana-collective-shutdowns\/","title":{"rendered":"Feds Oversee Colorado Marijuana Collective Shutdowns"},"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\/feds-oversee-colorado-marijuana-collective-shutdowns\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"256\" height=\"197\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/fbi.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"fbi\" title=\"fbi\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-12555\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/feds-oversee-colorado-marijuana-collective-shutdowns\/attachment\/fbi\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-12555\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/fbi-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>The latter part of 2011 put a chill down the spine of many patients who were concerned about where they would have access to medication.\u00a0 Federal raids in California received a great deal of media attention as many news outlets claimed medical marijuana in America was over.\u00a0 Now that the dust has settled and the vast majority of collectives remain open, the raids seem to be targeting an altogether different goal than a total annihilation of the program.<\/p>\n<p>The federal attention has now shifted toward Colorado.\u00a0 Several months ago, federal authorities issued letters informing 23 collectives that they would have to relocate or close their doors because they were too close to schools and in violation of Colorado law.\u00a0 Earlier this week federal agents were sent in to oversee the shutdown, which occurred without incident according to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailycamera.com\/state-west-news\/ci_20057999\" target=\"_blank\">reports<\/a>.\u00a0 While this is an inconvenience for patients, hopefully most will still be able to access relief without major issues.<\/p>\n<p>Most patients felt that <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> indicated that the administration would not conduct federal raids on collectives.\u00a0 That seemed to match the tone of the statements made on the 2008 campaign trail, however, team Obama choose their words very carefully.\u00a0 They mentioned not raiding any establishment that followed state law, and even as recently as two months ago Eric Holder reiterated the position by saying \u201cour thought was that where a state has taken a position, has passed a law, and people are acting in conformity with a law, not abusing the law but acting in conformity with it, and, again, given our limited resources, that would not be an enforcement priority for the Justice Department.\u201d\u00a0 Of course the statement seems to be filled with exit clauses, but it does indicate that those following state law should not be a federal target.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the media signaled the end for medical marijuana toward the end of 2011.\u00a0 That does not seem to be a well thought out idea as no state has revoked its medical marijuana program even in the face of federal pressure.\u00a0 Additionally, there are 17 other states considering medical marijuana laws and other states considering total legalization.\u00a0 Although California is in a state of legal uncertainty, the pending decision of the state Supreme Court may re-establish order and consistent laws so that patients are ensured their legally protected \u201csafe access\u201d.\u00a0 Colorado has over 700 medical marijuana collectives.\u00a0 With 23 shutting down, that represents approximately 3% of collectives.\u00a0 While those who are against providing accessible relief brag about the closings, it truly is just a drop in the bucket.\u00a0 Of those 23, many may relocate and be able to open up legally elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>While no advocates\/patients want to hear about dispensaries being forced to shut down, it is important to keep everything in perspective.\u00a0 America has changed its views on marijuana and the Federal government does not even seem willing to challenge state laws.\u00a0 While the closings appear to be defeat on the surface, the fact that the federal government is only willing to enforce its laws on\u00a0 3% of Colorado collectives may signal a victory for patients and advocates alike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"256\" height=\"197\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/fbi.jpg\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"fbi\" title=\"fbi\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-12555\" href=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/news-and-articles\/feds-oversee-colorado-marijuana-collective-shutdowns\/attachment\/fbi\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-12555\" src=\"http:\/\/www.marijuana.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/fbi-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a>The latter part of 2011 put a chill down the spine of many patients who were concerned about where they would have access to medication.\u00a0 Federal raids in California received a great deal of media attention as many news outlets claimed medical marijuana in America was over.\u00a0 Now that the dust has settled and the vast majority of collectives remain open, the raids seem to be targeting an altogether different goal than a total annihilation of the program.<\/p>\n<p>The federal attention has now shifted toward Colorado.\u00a0 Several months ago, federal authorities issued letters informing 23 collectives that they would have to relocate or close their doors because they were too close to schools and in violation of Colorado law.\u00a0 Earlier this week federal agents were sent in to oversee the shutdown, which occurred without incident according to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailycamera.com\/state-west-news\/ci_20057999\" target=\"_blank\">reports<\/a>.\u00a0 While this is an inconvenience for patients, hopefully most will still be able to access relief without major issues.<\/p>\n<p>Most patients felt that <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> indicated that the administration would not conduct federal raids on collectives.\u00a0 That seemed to match the tone of the statements made on the 2008 campaign trail, however, team Obama choose their words very carefully.\u00a0 They mentioned not raiding any establishment that followed state law, and even as recently as two months ago Eric Holder reiterated the position by saying \u201cour thought was that where a state has taken a position, has passed a law, and people are acting in conformity with a law, not abusing the law but acting in conformity with it, and, again, given our limited resources, that would not be an enforcement priority for the Justice Department.\u201d\u00a0 Of course the statement seems to be filled with exit clauses, but it does indicate that those following state law should not be a federal target.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the media signaled the end for medical marijuana toward the end of 2011.\u00a0 That does not seem to be a well thought out idea as no state has revoked its medical marijuana program even in the face of federal pressure.\u00a0 Additionally, there are 17 other states considering medical marijuana laws and other states considering total legalization.\u00a0 Although California is in a state of legal uncertainty, the pending decision of the state Supreme Court may re-establish order and consistent laws so that patients are ensured their legally protected \u201csafe access\u201d.\u00a0 Colorado has over 700 medical marijuana collectives.\u00a0 With 23 shutting down, that represents approximately 3% of collectives.\u00a0 While those who are against providing accessible relief brag about the closings, it truly is just a drop in the bucket.\u00a0 Of those 23, many may relocate and be able to open up legally elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>While no advocates\/patients want to hear about dispensaries being forced to shut down, it is important to keep everything in perspective.\u00a0 America has changed its views on marijuana and the Federal government does not even seem willing to challenge state laws.\u00a0 While the closings appear to be defeat on the surface, the fact that the federal government is only willing to enforce its laws on\u00a0 3% of Colorado collectives may signal a victory for patients and advocates alike.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[492,45,52,166,65,56,9,51,70,281,1,3,61],"tags":[3066,2628,2632,2744,2644,2636,2631,5,2859,6],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536"}],"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=1536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1536\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}