Plan B Forum

Calif. pot dispensary owner gets 8 years from feds
Updated 8:14 pm, Thursday, January 24, 2013



SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego medical marijuana dispensary owner was sentenced Thursday to more than eight years in prison for conspiracy to distribute marijuana and other crimes, according to federal prosecutors.

U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy called Joshua Hester the "poster boy" for the types of marijuana dispensary operators the federal government is targeting for criminal investigation.

"He was a convicted drug trafficker making millions of dollars selling high-quality marijuana to recreational users and exploiting state laws that were meant to help the seriously ill," Duffy said after Hester was sentenced.

Hester sold the drugs at the Downtown Kush Lounge and Green Kross Collective, Duffy said. Together, the clubs had more than 2,500 members. Through federal wiretaps, Drug Enforcement Administration agents learned Hester was netting at least $10,000 a day at his pot shops.

Hester also admitted in federal court that he has a 37-acre Palomar Mountain property where he intended to grow marijuana.

Hester pleaded guilty to eight felonies Jan. 3. He was immediately taken into custody after sentencing.

About 253 dispensaries in San Diego and Imperial counties have received cease-and-desist letters from federal authorities. Duffy says all but about a dozen dispensaries have closed on their own.

Less than two weeks ago, San Diego's new mayor, Bob Filner, ordered local law enforcement and the city's prosecutor to back off of code enforcement of the city's remaining pot dispensaries.

Filner has assured residents that access to medical marijuana will be preserved and safeguards will keep the dispensaries away from children.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/articl ... z2IxcnMbFq

We all knew the Prez got higher than a Mother in Hawaii during is college days. He's bending over for the liquor industry. What a tool!

Well, the only candidate who would've decriminalized drugs was Ron Paul and he had as much chance as a snowball in the nether regions.

Is a police chief who has speeded in the past forever forbidden to make his officers enforce speed laws?

yrs,
rubato

No, but then Obama is an elected leader who said many times during both campaigns that he did not think palliative care with marijuana was any different from treatment with morphine, and that he didn't want to use the feds to bust legitimate treatment clinics. Of course, after election, all campaign promises are out the window.

If aomeone ran for sherriff repeatedly saying he would not have his officers enforce speed laws he thought were wrong and/or silly, and then just ignored that when elected, I'd attack him for the same hypocrisy.

I thought the sale of hooter was a federal offence?

If so how do states get to loosen any prohibitions against it?

I've always been curious about that...

Well the feds always can enforce federal laws and go after the clinics, but this puts the politicians in the uncomfortable position of having to take a stand and defend/enforce the silly laws that put marijuana on the same level of danger as heroin. And for those who purport to be progressive (like Obama), it puts them in the very uncomfortable position of alienating a good part of their supporters. It's kind of like the state laws that try to override federal immigration laws, forcing the feds to take a stand, or even the freedom riders in the 60s who ignored state laws to force the same thing.

The alternative for the feds is not to enforce the law, which the exectuive generally has the power to do (face it, all laws can't be enforced as priorities), but when something is at the forefront, like this, that opens thhem to publicity and criticism as well.

Now there are other legal arguments for state legality of medical marijuana, but I think this is the way it's generally viewed.

IF (and it's a big IF), his activities were not illegal under California law, then the Feds have no business fucking with him. And what difference does it make how much profit he was supposedly making?

I hope he takes this to the USSC where the Feds can get their hands slapped. This is bullshit.

Oh please, get off your high horse Dale -- when Obama was a college student he hadn't sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States. Furthermore, what part of the fact that the dispensary owner pleaded guilty to EIGHT felonies did you skip over in the article.

BigRR, I never heard Obama say anything like that, do you have a citation for the comment, please?

Marijuana is still a class I substance under the federal Contolled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. section 812, which states:

(1) Schedule I. -
(A) The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
(B) The drug or other substance has no currently accepted
medical use in treatment in the United States.
(C) There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or
other substance under medical supervision.

In a case from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, on Tuesday, the court ruled that DEA acted properly in refusing to recalssify marijuana to a less restrictive schedule. Read the Opinion for yourself, here: http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/o ... 416392.pdf

As for the question about state laws and medical marijuana (I'll leave aside the recent WA and CO laws that legalize recreational marijuana use), there are 18 states that currently have medical marijuana laws of some type. None of those laws trump federal law, so those dispensaries act only under the color of state law, and anyone of them could be stopped at any time, by federal law enforcement. The fact that there are tens of thousands of dispensaries now operating across the country without interference from federal law enforcement should be acknowledged. The fact that the "legal" use and distribution (which in most states is subject to significant rules and oversight) can also be a front for illegal use is a serious issue, and it absolutely undercuts the support for the "legal" uses. But the relationship between state legalization and federal law is still a sticky wicket -- DOJ itself is having a difficult time figuring out what its enforcement policies are and how they are going to be implemented.

FYI, Massachusetts just legalized the medical use in our last election -- I happen to be in the process of writing a scholarly article on the subject -- so I'll answer any questions I can.

"None of those laws trump federal law,..."

Isn't that an OPINION, stated as a fact?

Guinevere wrote:....Furthermore, what part of the fact that the dispensary owner pleaded guilty to EIGHT felonies did you skip over in the article.

That's what I noticed.

And this -

He was a convicted drug trafficker making millions of dollars selling high-quality marijuana to recreational users and exploiting state laws that were meant to help the seriously ill," Duffy said after Hester was sentenced.

The feds were going after an individual and this was a good way to nab him.

It does no good to defend someone like this felon in order to make a case for legalized marijuana.

Guin--I was quoting from memory, but per the website of the Colorado Springs Gazette (http://www.gazette.com) I found this:

“I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It’s not a good use of our resources.” — August 21, 2007, event in Nashua, New Hampshire

I'm sure there are other mentions of it; I do recall him saying he saw its palliative use as being no different than other palliative drugs several times.

dgs49 wrote:"None of those laws trump federal law,..."

Isn't that an OPINION, stated as a fact?

No, its the LAW. You might review your preemption case law, if you recall how to actually read a case.

You might also read the various state medical marijuana laws, which make that same statement.

Joe Guy wrote:

Guinevere wrote:....Furthermore, what part of the fact that the dispensary owner pleaded guilty to EIGHT felonies did you skip over in the article.

That's what I noticed.

And this -

He was a convicted drug trafficker making millions of dollars selling high-quality marijuana to recreational users and exploiting state laws that were meant to help the seriously ill," Duffy said after Hester was sentenced.

The feds were going after an individual and this was a good way to nab him.

It does no good to defend someone like this felon in order to make a case for legalized marijuana.

Exactly!

Guinevere wrote:

dgs49 wrote:"None of those laws trump federal law,..."

Isn't that an OPINION, stated as a fact?

No, its the LAW. You might review your preemption case law, if you recall how to actually read a case.

You might also read the various state medical marijuana laws, which make that same statement.

Guin--I think he just rejects common law/case law as judicial opinion, so preemption becomes just an opinion.

Big RR wrote:Guin--I was quoting from memory, but per the website of the Colorado Springs Gazette (http://www.gazette.com) I found this:

“I would not have the Justice Department prosecuting and raiding medical marijuana users. It’s not a good use of our resources.” — August 21, 2007, event in Nashua, New Hampshire

I'm sure there are other mentions of it; I do recall him saying he saw its palliative use as being no different than other palliative drugs several times.

Thanks. I think the issue is a conflict within DOJ with DEA, and enforcement priorities. But as I said above, the fact of the matter is that thousands (probably tens of thousands) of medical marijuana dispensaries have been peacefully coexisting with federal law enforcement for over 15 years now (the California law first passed in 1996).

Big RR wrote:

Guinevere wrote:

dgs49 wrote:"None of those laws trump federal law,..."

Isn't that an OPINION, stated as a fact?

No, its the LAW. You might review your preemption case law, if you recall how to actually read a case.

You might also read the various state medical marijuana laws, which make that same statement.

Guin--I think he just rejects common law/case law as judicial opinion, so preemption becomes just an opinion.

He should read the text of the medical marijuana laws. Many of them (I have not read them all) repeat that the law does not trump federal law or act as a shield to federal law enforcement. Certainly, the laws have a limited purpose, and you may not use your medical marijuana for a non-medicinal purpose. I'm pretty sure that particular issue was litigated in Montana.