cannabisnews.com: Raids on Colorado Pot Hint at a Crackdown
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Raids on Colorado Pot Hint at a Crackdown
Posted by CN Staff on November 22, 2013 at 09:48:10 PT
By Jeremy Daw
Source: AlterNet
Colorado -- The coordinated raids of at least a dozen Denver dispensaries on Thursday are the latest federal law enforcement actions to occur in the wake of legalization votes last November in Colorado and Washington states. The coordinated raids in Colorado follow raids that took place in Washington this summer, and when analyzed side by side, the federal actions hint at an emerging pattern in organized pot crackdowns. Characterized by cooperation across multiple levels of government and timed to deliver maximum political effect, this new method of federal interference with the medical marijuana movement sends a clear message to a marijuana industry still in its formation stages.
Consider a coordinated sweep conducted in the Puget Sound region of Washington state in July of this year. Conveniently timed to coincide with deliberations of the state Liquor Control Board to determine the body's new rules to govern the state's legal retail marijuana industry, the raids targeted four dispensaries around the Sound, including one in the state capital of Olympia. The Department of Justice (DOJ), in a terse press release, revealed no specific details of the intent behind the Colorado raids except to claim that they comported with the guidelines of the August 29th prosecution memorandum authored by Deputy Attorney General James Cole. That memo advised US Attorneys not to prosecute cannabis businesses in compliance with state law unless they violated one or more of eight internal DOJ guidelines, including prohibitions against sale of cannabis to minors and diversion of marijuana to the illicit market. It remains to be seen whether any of the dispensaries raided on Thursday violated any of the Cole memo's guidelines. But even if they did, one cannot dismiss the possibility that the pattern of recent raids conducted in Washington and now Colorado reveal a calculated plan to shape the legal cannabis market to come. Similarly conveniently timed raids occurred in the Czech Republic earlier this month. A top official in the police department of the Czech Republic ordered a crackdown on an estimated 100 “grow shops” selling seeds and hydroponic equipment in the central European nation. The timing of those raids was mere days before the beginning of Prague's annual Cannafest, which draws some of the largest crowds of any pro-pot festival in the world. And, the Czech Republic was only two weeks away from awarding its first license to import medical marijuana from the Netherlands when its own sweep occurred. Washington and Colorado are in the process of legalizing so-called “retail marijuana,” replete with new, strict regulations and high taxes. In fact, in what is unlikely a coincidence, Thursday's Denver raids occurred almost simultaneously with Colorado's issuance of the first retail marijuana license in the world. All three jurisdictions – Olympia, Prague, and now Denver – are in the midst of massive upheavals in their cannabis policies. All three major reforms hold out the prospect of a massive transfer of funds: either from Czech medical marijuana cooperatives to a foreign corporation, or from US medical marijuana cooperatives to the general treasuries of their home states, which happen to desperately need the proceeds of new, highly taxed retail marijuana industries. So while it's too early to tell what the dispensaries raided Thursday were or were not up to, it's easy to predict that more governments will conduct even more raids on the lightly-taxed medical marijuana industries as they exist Thursday. Any government to do so is only acting in their own financial interest. Author and editor Jeremy Daw became involved with drug policy reform after graduating from Harvard Law School in 2008. He is the editor of TheLeafOnline.com and Cannabis Now Magazine, and the author of Weed the People: From Founding Fiber to Forbidden Fruit (2012), a history of 400 years of North American cannabis policy."Newshawk: Sam AdamsSource: AlterNet (US)Author: Jeremy DawPublished: November 21, 2013Copyright: 2013 Independent Media InstituteContact: letters alternet.org Website: http://www.alternet.org/URL: http://drugsense.org/url/yLeXXiNBCannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by runruff on November 22, 2013 at 14:44:44 PT
Headline should read:
"Raids on Colorado pot hint at on going tyranny"!
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Comment #3 posted by The GCW on November 22, 2013 at 14:38:46 PT
Upate?
Fed raids on Colorado marijuana businesses seek ties to Colombian drug cartelshttp://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24580571/fed-raids-colorado-marijuana-businesses-seek-ties-colombianColorado marijuana businesses raided this week by federal agents are being investigated for a possible connection to Colombian drug cartels, sources told The Denver Post on Friday.
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Comment #2 posted by museman on November 22, 2013 at 14:14:41 PT
threads
The wealthy families like Dupont, and Rockefellers are descended from old european royal families whose agenda has always been about keeping the human race in bondage to materialism and other false beliefs and values. Those families control all the corporations.The corporations hold the strings to almost all if not all of the many puppet politicians. The politicians force edict and rule of the interests of the corporations, thus the entire infrastructure of government, finance/economy, academia, and religion - is under the control of these few unscrupulous beings. Every true occupation has been usurped and replaced by corporate manufacturing - controlled by the same groups. Any organic lifestyles that are left are being outlawed faster than the few who care enough about it can really do anything. The 'law' ensures that only those sanctioned by the afore mentioned hierarchy can even have a comfortable life, and would like nothing more than to declare all free thinking 'illegal.'The common resource available to man since the beginning has now been completely assimilated into the control of the rulers. The common right of man has been 'adjusted' to ensure that the only rights actually available are not rights at all, but privilege that the wealthy lords are paid a fee for the permission of.All 'crime' and aberrant, negative behavior can be directly linked to the conditions of rule by a small group of ruthless fiends who continually bombard the rest of us with their agenda.The common sense of correct behavior has gone out the window. Bravery, courage, truth, - are all constantly being associated with the servants of inequity, while the true honest, courageous, and patriotic people are being vilified and typecast by the most inane and stupidest of reasons; like the haircut, the lack of a suit and tie, the kind of car one drives, the state of their shoes...and the stupid list goes on. But if you are wealthy enough, you can enter the game and play with the rest of the people's lives while rising through the ranks of the corporations, the politics, and law.I am amazed every day at how far the wool has been pulled over so many eyes, including those who should be able to see, because they claim to to have some priority and interest in Truth.How much further the people are going to allow these wastes-of-space-and-air to continue to rob us blind by being compliant consumers and 'defenders' of the status quo?I've been weening myself of the various conditions and addictions of this society, of which money and the fear caused by all the peripheral mistaken beliefs concerning it is the most damaging of all. They say that a sure sign of addiction is denial. Well I'd say this entire culture is about to go through some heavy withdrawal -unless of course you 'tow the line.' 'kiss proper ass.' and hurl your anger at the established 'outlaws' who dare to think and live free. If you think to keep some dignity and integrity while justifying the continuing rape and pillage of the planet by the ilk that rules you may want to take another look. And if you still can't see, look again. If after really looking, you still cannot see, I pronounce you blind.LEGALIZE FREEDOM
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Comment #1 posted by HempWorld on November 22, 2013 at 10:23:06 PT
These raids are very, very bad PR for the
feds (and the other police in Prague) and make more legalization possible and necessary!On with the struggle, it ain't over yet!
Hemp Hotels!
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