{"id":7322,"date":"2017-04-01T15:50:09","date_gmt":"2017-04-01T15:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=2600450"},"modified":"2017-04-01T15:50:09","modified_gmt":"2017-04-01T15:50:09","slug":"dea-asks-colorado-ags-office-for-info-on-marijuana-crimes-for-the-new-administration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/dea-asks-colorado-ags-office-for-info-on-marijuana-crimes-for-the-new-administration\/","title":{"rendered":"DEA asks Colorado AG\u2019s office for info on marijuana crimes, \u201cfor the new administration\u201d"},"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\/dea-asks-colorado-ags-office-for-info-on-marijuana-crimes-for-the-new-administration\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Amid speculation about how the Trump administration will confront marijuana legalization in states such as Colorado, a Drug Enforcement Administration supervisor has sent an e-mail to a prosecutor in the state attorney general\u2019s office seeking information, \u201cfor the new administration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The e-mail was sent early last month by a supervisor on the financial investigations team in the DEA\u2019s Denver field office to Michael Melito, a senior assistant attorney general. The e-mail asks for Melito to provide case numbers for several prosecutions relating to marijuana, including one that involved multiple people charged with growing pot illegally in Colorado and then shipping it out of state.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/d3gn0r3afghep.cloudfront.net\/foia_files\/2017\/03\/30\/Responsive_records__Redacted.pdf\">The e-mail<\/a> was first reported <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibtimes.com\/political-capital\/trump-marijuana-justice-department-contacts-colorado-officials-about-cannabis\">by the International Business Times<\/a>, which obtained it through an open records request.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome of our intel people are trying to track down info regarding some of DEA\u2019s better marijuana investigations for the new administration,\u201d the e-mail states. \u201cHopefully it will lead to some positive changes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A spokeswoman for the state attorney general\u2019s office declined to say what information, specifically, was given to the DEA, noting that she cannot comment, \u201con any discussions that may or may not have been had in regards to ongoing criminal cases.\u201d She also declined to say whether the DEA\u00a0has made other information requests on behalf of the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>However, in an e-mail, spokeswoman Annie Skinner cast the message\u00a0as part of the office\u2019s normal\u00a0partnership with the DEA.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur office has a long-standing relationship with the DEA, as it is our role to prosecute illegal drug cases,\u201d Skinner wrote. \u201cThe change in administration at the federal level has not changed that relationship. This email was clearly discussing current criminal cases not policy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Most of the cases for which the e-mail requests information are\u00a0redacted in the copy released to the International Business Times. But two cases are identified by their code names: \u201cGolden Gopher\u201d and \u201cTexas THC.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The former appears to be a reference to a 2015 joint state-federal case that has also been referred to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2015\/03\/25\/32-indicted-in-massive-colorado-marijuana-trafficking-investigation\/\">as \u201cOperation Golden Go-fer.\u201d<\/a> It involved 32 people indicted for alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar scheme to\u00a0grow marijuana illegally in Colorado and ship it out of state, mostly to Minnesota. Though the grows for the ring were not licensed under state law, they were located in warehouse areas popular with state-legal growers. Law enforcement officials later cited the case as an example of illegal growers trying to take advantage of Colorado\u2019s marijuana laws and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2016\/01\/28\/colorado-marijuana-drug-traffickers-black-market-other-states\/47334\/\">hide in plain sight<\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>How the Trump administration will deal with Colorado\u2019s legal marijuana system has been a source of anxiety for many in the state\u2019s cannabis industry. While Trump indicated on the campaign trail that he supports state\u2019s rights on the matter, statements <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/02\/23\/sean-spicer-marijuana-medical-recreational-trump-administration\/74255\/\">by his press secretary<\/a> and by new U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/23\/federal-marijuana-trump-administration-tough-talk-jeff-sessions\/76000\/\">have hinted at a stricter approach<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMarijuana is against federal law, and that applies in states where they may have repealed their own anti-marijuana laws,\u201d Sessions <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/23\/federal-marijuana-trump-administration-tough-talk-jeff-sessions\/76000\/\">said last month<\/a>. \u201cSo yes, we will enforce law in an appropriate way nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, though, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/02\/27\/colorado-governor-hickenlooper-marijuana-legalization-trump\/74413\/\">has said<\/a> he\u2019s not sure the federal government can overturn marijuana legalization in the state, and Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thecannabist.co\/2017\/03\/01\/colorado-attorney-general-jeff-sessions-cynthia-coffman\/74644\/\">has invited the feds<\/a> to come to the state to learn more about its marijuana laws, which she has said she will defend if necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Skinner said no visit has yet taken place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Drug Enforcement Administration has requested basic information about marijuana cases from the Colorado attorney general&#8217;s office, a move that comes amid speculation over how the Trump administration will approach cannabis legalization in Colorado and other states. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7042,6811,6812,7043,233,6964,2097,6813,77,6814,9,5019,441,1,3,18,7044,6963,61,1736],"tags":[7045,6816,6817,7046,2811,6967,4665,6818,2655,6819,5022,3015,2622,7047,6966],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7322"}],"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=7322"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7322\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}