In the past two years, local cities in California have been more than happy to cooperate with the Obama Administration's war on medical marijuana. But now the feds are signaling that they will back off and allow states like Washington and Colorado which have legalized and are setting up strict statewide regulations for marijuana. But don't think for a moment that the Potpocalypse is over yet–it's too profitable for both the feds and California cops.
The latest evidence: a request filed by the Santa Ana Police Department with the U.S. Department of Justice for 80 percent of the proceeds of the sale of a building in that city which used to house a marijuana dispensary.
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The request, which was obtained from by the Weekly and stems from the asset forfeiture case the Justice Dept. filed against the owner of the building, was made on May 20, 2013. It lists Commander Tommy Franks as the contact person at the Santa Ana Police Department (SAPD), and asks the feds for 80 percent of the sale of a building located at 1638 E. 17th Street.
When asked what the cash would be used for, the following boxes were checked: purchase of vehicles, purchase of equipment and–wait for it; you probably already knew the answer–salaries.
That's right, folks: salaries. In other words, if you're a landlord and were dumb enough to think that marijuana was legal in California thanks to a vote of the people, the SAPD would like your building, so as George W. Bush once said, officers can roll around town in some nice new cop cars and put food food on their families.
According to the SAPD's request, the agency originated the information that led to the building's seizure and had suffered “extraordinary expenses” in developing the case against the landlord, spending a total of 5360 hours on the investigation. While the request claims the cops provided “manpower, surveillance, and investigative resources, it doesn't provide any details on this supposed investigation.
However, we do know from a similar case in Anaheim, where the feds are hoping to seize a $1.5 million property, that the investigation into that building simply consisted of an undercover cop getting a doctor's note and after joining the pot collective at the location, purchased $37 worth of weed.
Presumably that didn't take 5360 hours.
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Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).