The County of Riverside has some legitimate concerns about marijuana dispensaries and growers, but its overall policy, suing a legitimate dispensary where over 85% of its 10,000 members are Hispanic while not a single member of the Board of Supervisors is, is overkill and outrageous….
If you agree after reading this, then email the supervisors and demand that they legalize and regulate dispensaries along the lines we are recommending to them….
August 7, 2015
Honorable Kevin Jeffries
[email protected]
Honorable John F. Tavaglione
[email protected]
Honorable Chuck Washington
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Honorable John J. Benoit
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Honorable Marion Ashley
[email protected]
Re: Marijuana collective & dispensary regulation in unincorporated areas
Honorable Riverside County Supervisors:
In your recent legislation enacting a new marijuana cultivation ordinance on May 19, 2015, the Press Enterprise reported several of the issues involved in the public policy considerations:
“a dispensary off Highway 74 guarded by a gang member”
“One woman blamed her dog’s poisoning on slug and snail poison she connected to a next-door crop.”
“The crops, typically concealed by dark tarps and fences, attract criminals, create foul odors and lead to the theft of electricity and water, county officials said.”
“Jeffries, citing federal law enforcement officers, said a number of the crops are linked to drug cartels. Officials said homeowners and tenants are often paid hundreds or thousands of dollars a month to allow their properties to be used for marijuana cultivation.”
On April 15, 2014 I attended a continuing education conference on investigation of marijuana dispensaries and related issues concerning the interactions of the Compassionate Use Act (CUA), Medical Marijuana Program Act (MMPA) and federal law and law enforcement. The seminar was put on by the Peace Officers Association of Los Angeles County (POALAC). Instructors included representatives from the DEA, LAPD, LASO, LA County District Attorney and the United States Attorneys Office. Both before and since I have for years been involved in both criminal defense and criminal prosecution work involved drug related offenses, including a stint working undercover at the beginning of my career as a private investigator for three years. I have also worked within the civil litigation arena on matters involving marijuana dispensaries.
Having worked on both sides of these issues, my perspective is not one that can be characterized as either a proverbial “defense whore” or a “prosecution whore.” My effort is to give you some guidance in how to achieve the best public policy legislation that balances the considerations of all stakeholders in the controversy.
ABSOLUTE BANS ON DISPENSARIES ENCOURAGE ORGANIZED CRIME AT PRECISELY THE TIME WHEN IT SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO GAIN A TOEHOLD IN THE INDUSTRY
The anticipation of organized crime elements involved in the distribution of marijuana is that at least one of the several initiatives currently in circulation in California will qualify for the ballot and pass in the November 2016 election thereby effectively legalizing marijuana in California. It imperative for organized crime to (a) gain a toe-hold in the industry while it remains unregulated on a statewide basis and (b) muscle out as many of their legitimate competitors as possible before that time to keep the price of marijuana as high as possible. Organized crime also to greater or lesser extents perceive these imperatives to actually be in their interest or potential future interests. Without belaboring the reasons for why this is the strategy of organized crime, some examples of what organized crime elements are becoming involved and the potential future problems this will pose for law enforcement and legislators alike include:
- The Bratva or Red Mafiya of Russia and the former Soviet states is active in some Southern California dispensaries and has used vandalism, threats of violence and violence to try to intimidate and muscle out its competitors
- One West Hollywood operator committed arson against at least two of his competitors’ locations and kidnapped and tortured a competitor’s parents
- The Jerusalem Network of the Israeli Mafia – in conjunction with other organized crime groups – has injected its signature product, MDMA (“Ecstasy”) into the mix as a marijuana adulterant which is then marketed as “Spice K-2 Queen” amongst other brand names.
Law enforcement is one ingredient in the public policy mix to force these and other organized crime elements out of the emerging marijuana industry. Another ingredient is regulated competition. The current environment of haphazard regulation in some jurisdictions and the attempts of some other jurisdictions to completely ban dispensaries is actually enabling those institutions that do not care about being lawful and which have the most resources, i.e. organized crime, to flourish at the expense of those attempting to comply with the law.
Allowing properly regulated marijuana dispensaries to operate inherently creates a magnet for organized crime incursion at the same it provides an opportunity for law enforcement to develop appropriate relationships with legitimate operators to ensure that those operators will report criminal activity by their competitors. Instead of having a “narc” trying to bust legitimate operators, a better model for public policy is to have the narcotics squad of local law enforcement assign a dispensary liaison officer who can gain the confidence of those operators and turn them into willing and enthusiastic informants on organized crime.
As a condition of licensing, the operators of legitimate dispensaries should be designated as mandatory reporters of various activities involving offenses that law enforcement needs to deal with.
Another condition of licensing should be more extensive background investigation than a simple NCIC and BCII search of criminal records by livescan. As an example the State of Nevada – precisely to keep organized crime elements out of the industry – performs an extremely thorough background investigation on applicants for a private investigator license. Please note that I am not suggesting that people with past criminal records be kept out of the industry unless they lie on their applications for licensing; they should merely have greater discretionary scrutiny on their operations once licensed.
REGULATING MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES CAN PROTECT THE LEGITIMATE MEDICAL CONSUMER FROM ADULTERANTS, PESTICIDES AND LOW QUALITY PRODUCTS
The preamble to the United States Constitution reflects that it is a goal of our system to “provide for the general welfare.” Expanding what this theme means is California’s Constitution Article I, Section 1 which states: “All people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights. Among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.”
Vis a vis the medicinal use of marijuana and marijuana derived substances (e.g., THC Delta 9, CBDs, and CBCs) how does a government agency balance all these constitutional rights and public policy goals? How does government insure that people can:
- enjoy and defend life;
- enjoy and defend liberty,
- acquire, possess and protect property;
- pursue and obtain safety;
- pursue and obtain happiness;
- pursue and obtain privacy?
Whatever government does, it must be cognizant that strict scrutiny applies. As Justice Scalia wrote,
It is established in our strict scrutiny jurisprudence that ‘a law cannot be regarded as protecting an interest ‘of the highest order’ . . . when it leaves appreciable damage to that supposedly vital interest unprohibited’” (quoting Florida Star v. B. J. F., 491 U. S. 524, 541–542 (1989) (SCALIA, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment) Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal, 546 U.S. 418 (2006)
As noted above a complete ban in some jurisdictions is just encouraging the growth of organized crime, must as the prohibition of alcohol enabled organized crime to dominate the liquor industry. These bans are therefore failing to accomplish the “supposedly vital interested” as Scalia noted. Furthermore, they are failing to accomplish the public policy considerations set forth in Federal Department of Justice prosecutorial discretion as set forth in Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole’s August 29, 2013 memo to United States Attorneys [Exhibit 1].
Because a complete ban on marijuana dispensaries inherently implicates restrictions on rights explicitly stated in Article 1, Section 1 of the California Constitution, it is the government’s obligation to reach whatever compelling government interest is has by the least restrictive means possible. This is axiomatic for our theory of constitutional government. Licensing and regulating marijuana dispensaries is the best public policy option to fulfill these goals.
Federal policy as stated by Deputy A.G. Cole emphasises the following:
• Preventing the distribution of marijuana to minors;
• Preventing revenue from the sale of marijuana from going to criminal enterprises, gangs, and cartels;
• Preventing the diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law in some form to other states;
• Preventing state-authorized marijuana activity from being used as a cover or pretext for the trafficking of other illegal drugs or other illegal activity;
Preventing violence and the use of firearms in the cultivation and distribution of manjuana;
• Preventing drugged driving and the exacerbation of other adverse public health consequences associated with marijuana use;
• Preventing the growing of marijuana on public lands and the attendant public safety andenvironmental dangers posed by marijuana production on public lands; and
• Preventing marijuana possession or use on federal property.
Many dispensaries, especially the permitted dispensaries in Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs, are founded by individuals trying to gain market share in an upcoming industry and have very little background experience or knowledge of the product they are selling. This is evident to any truly well-versed medical marijuana consumer within minutes of walking in their doors and especially after consuming their products. These dispensaries are not the type of places that seriously ill people can rely on to obtain the medication that they require for specific ailments. Often times these dispensaries are buying product from vendors that retrieved it from an unknown source, who could have used harmful synthetic nutrients and pesticides, with no validity to the genetic lineage of strain names and therefore contain unknown medical effects.
Public policy, to be consistent with Article I, Section 1 of the California Constitution, should institute a regulatory framework to guard the public against these dangers and insure the delivery of quality, efficacious products to the medical marijuana consumer.
Examples of the kinds of patient service goals that a regulated dispensary should aspire to and which government regulation should seek include:
- Operating strictly as true non-profits in accordance with Prop. 215 and SB 420;
- Aeroponics production to ensure the company’s ability provide enough clean, genetically-true medication for its patient base;
- Carefully and truthfully designed product displays;
- Pharmaceutical-grade pneumatic medication delivery system and advanced environmental storage methods to preserve medication quality and effectiveness;
- Knowledgeable well trained staff to assist patients in finding exactly what they need;
Genetically-true strains of clean aeroponically-grown marijuana, each one providing patients with the specific unique medical effects they require and can rely on for relief;
Avoiding the harsh and dangerous side effects of most synthetically-grown, pesticide-ridden product available locally.
A COMPLETE DISPENSARY BAN IF ENFORCED TO PUT CAFE CANNA CABANA OUT OF BUSINESS WILL HAVE A DISPARATE IMPACT ON ETHNIC MINORITIES AND POOR PEOPLE
Cafe Canna Cabana’s patient base of around 10,000 patients demands access to its unique medicine. Around 87% of its patients are Hispanic, many of which are low-income and cannot afford the medicine that they need for relief. Because of its current strength, Cafe Canna Cabana offers special discounts and even a constant free supply of whatever medicine is needed to select individuals with serious illnesses who cannot afford it themselves.
Continuing the county’s litigation against this operation [See Exhibit 2] instead of enacting an appropriate regulatory ordinance will have a disparate impact against these deserving patients. In a county that is by the 2010 Census over 45% Hispanic [but without any Hispanic County Supervisors] that is egregious and unjustifiable. It has ethical and moral implications—if not legal and constitutional ones—for a fundamental denial of the rights of equal protection along with those implicated in Article I, Section 1 of the California Constitution.
Respectfully Yours, Jan B. Tucker
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It takes decades to fully familiarize oneself with the cannabis industry. We, Cafe Canna
Cabana, have found our niche as the key provider of such medicine. With over thirty years of extensive research and development on the subject, we have attained heirloom genetics and bred many strains that create an array of distinct medicinal effects. These genetics have been carefully selected and stored under optimal conditions to maintain efficacy and prevent mutation. We are equipped with a passionate team managed by industry leader Dale Devore, and utilize a full spectrum of evolving cultivation and breeding techniques based on methods passed down by artisan cannabis growers and techniques meticulously developed through direct experience.
Dale Devore was brought up in Huntington Beach by his father (Orange County Sheriff Sargent) and mother (Costa Mesa Police Department). He was a talented, aspirational, hard-working kid that began studying music at an early age. Dale became a performing classical pianist and composer in his early 20s, after being mentored by the likes of Sigal, Chalmers, Dr.Tifferd, and spending four years at the Grove School of Music. At that time, if somebody “smoked pot” they were not allowed in his home. He was completely against it. He only associated with people of a higher caliber…
At the age of 31, Dale became extremely ill to the point of which he had to surrender his career as a pianist in turn for spending an average of 4 days out of every week in the emergency room with unexplained extreme nausea, vomiting, fainting, and internal bleeding. As a result of twenty-seven years of misdiagnosis and wrongly prescribed pharmaceutical medications nearly every vital organ in his body was damaged beyond repair in the crossfire. Without a correct diagnosis or treatment, his condition continued to progress to a point of extreme danger. His esophagus was so constricted that attempts to swallow water would often end up coming out of his nose. Finally, after 27 years of misdiagnosis, Dale found a doctor in Oregon who correctly identified his condition as esophageal achalasia with a pancreatic rest. Surgery, which reverses itself every five years, opened up his esophagus and allowed him to swallow food and water temporarily, although other symptoms and the damage caused to vital organs still persist. Dale’s pancreas no longer secretes a hormone that tells the body it’s hungry, he lives with constant excruciating internal pain, extreme insomnia, and is now on the verge of kidney failure and diabetes. Dale never had health insurance through any of the expensive treatments and wrong medications. Thus, he had to come up with the cash to pay for it all himself or else treatment was refused.
During the time of misdiagnosis, Dale developed an unexpected interest in medical marijuana after he was basically forced by one of his doctors to try it in an effort to relieve his nausea, pain, and anxiety. With a carefully controlled dose, it miraculously eased his symptoms enough for him to be able to experience some quality of life without feeling intoxicated. This experience sparked his interest enough for him to begin researching the thousands of years of documentation recording the medicinal effects of the plant and its origins. Soon enough, Dale had fully immersed himself in a life that revolved around the cultivation, consumption, and sharing of this miracle herb. He believed so much in this medicine, that he risked prosecution in exchange for a life revolved around pushing the edges in cultivation research and innovation, heirloom genetic collections, and breeding for specific medical uses.
After learning about the unique medical effects of different strains of marijuana, differentiated by genetically-determined cannabinoid ratios, found throughout the world, Dale went on a scavenger hunt across the globe…from emergency rooms in Amsterdam to small clinics he was forced to visit in Africa along the way… making friendships with different tribes and groups of people that carried rare genetics of land race strains which each portrayed distinct effects. They would gift these genetics to Dale for use in his research and strain development. Strains collected from Nepal and Afghanistan generally exhibited more deep pain-relieving effects, while those from Thailand and certain parts of Africa induced anti-nausea and appetite stimulation effects. After collecting what is likely the most valuable and extensive seed stock known to date, many strains of which have been otherwise completely lost by society through war and hardship, Dale began his projects of phenotype selection and breeding his own strains for specific medical effects. For instance, he has bred many high CBD (Cannabidiol) strains for majorly reducing frequency and severity of seizures in epileptic individuals. Overall, he now maintains an impressive variety of strains to aid a myriad of different ailments.
With the same analytic mind that composed musical numbers, Dale began developing and testing cutting-edge cultivation systems. After starting off growing in soil, he experimented with hydroponics (growing plants in a soil-less medium with recirculating water). After mastering this method of cultivation and searching for better, he spent the next twenty years developing aeroponics growing systems. Aeroponics, with its use of a hydro-atomized spray to deliver nutrients to roots suspended in air, minimizes water use, increases oxygenation of roots, and offers excellent plant growth as well as resin production (containing the medically active constituents of marijuana). Aeroponics’ elimination of substrates and the need for large nutrient stockpiles reduces the amount of waste materials. The absence of substrates simplifies planting and harvesting (providing opportunities for automation), decreases the volume and weight of expendable materials, and eliminates a pathway for pathogen transmission. In fact, the system even routes its waste water to a neighboring business that uses it as “gray water” for hydro-cutting tile. Dale was honored and interviewed by Richard Stoner, of the federal NASA project, for the innovative and impressively effective aeroponics systems that he developed which allows for the use of organic nutrients and pest-resistance to create a much safer end-product compared to that grown with synthetic nutrients and sprayed with dangerous pesticides.
Many dispensaries, especially the permitted dispensaries in Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs, are founded by individuals trying to gain market share in an upcoming industry and have very little background experience or knowledge of the product they are selling. This is evident to any truly well-versed medical marijuana consumer within minutes of walking in their doors and especially after consuming their products. These dispensaries are not the type of places that seriously ill people can rely on to obtain the medication that they require for specific ailments. Often times these dispensaries are buying product from vendors that retrieved it from an unknown source, who could have used harmful synthetic nutrients and pesticides, with no validity to the genetic lineage of strain names and therefore contain unknown medical effects.
Cafe Canna Cabana was founded by Dale Devore last year as an avenue for legally sharing his true medicine with patients in need. With all of the recent changes in government in regards to its perspective on medical marijuana, admitting its efficacy for many ailments, finally it was time for Dale to bring forth his decades of research and development by providing access to his clean, genetically true, and medically effective product. The company was started with practically no capital investment for the storefront. The day doors were opened, inviting in local patients in need, medication was served over a display counter that was borrowed from a neighbor. Operating strictly as a true non-profit in accordance with prop.215 and SB420, all proceeds have been invested back into the company to improve and extend our services to patients. Aeroponics production is constantly expanded to ensure the company’s ability provide enough clean, genetically-true medication for the increasing patient base. Cafe Canna Cabana now provides an enjoyable atmosphere with carefully designed product displays, a pharmaceutical-grade pneumatic medication delivery system, advanced storage methods to preserve medication quality and effectiveness, and an extremely knowledgeable staff to assist patients in finding exactly what they need. The dispensary carries an extensive menu boasting over 100 genetically-true strains of clean aeroponically-grown marijuana, each one providing patients with the specific unique medical effects they require and can rely on for relief. Dale also created in-house topical products from the clean medicine such as a Balm that patients rave about for its efficacy against skin cancer, psoriasis, and muscle pain.
Many seriously ill members of Cafe Canna Cabana refuse to obtain their medication from any other dispensary because they report that our strains are far more effective for providing clean medicinal effects and improving quality of life without the harshness and dangerous side effects of most synthetically-grown, pesticide-ridden product available locally. When they purchase “Hindu Kush” from Cafe Canna Cabana for back pain relief and insomnia, they actually experience those specific medical effects. When purchasing “Malawi Sativa” for appetite stimulation and to counter depression caused by chemotherapy drugs, they experience those effects and can go about their day without being accidentally put to sleep from having unintentionally consumed the wrong strain, as is common with product received from other dispensaries.
Cafe Canna Cabana’s patient base of around 10,000 patients demands access to our unique medicine. Around 87% of our patients are Hispanic, many of which are low-income and cannot afford the medicine that they need for relief. Because of our current strength, we are glad to be able to offer special discounts and even a constant free supply of whatever medicine needed to select individuals with serious illnesses who cannot afford it themselves. Cafe Canna Cabana supports our patients being active in their community and local government, and thus we have participated in the Rock the Vote campaign, successfully registering a large portion of our patient base to vote.
Since its beginning, Cafe Canna Cabana has been an asset to its community. We provide security patrol to the entire Thousand Palms business park, which otherwise has none, and have made calls on multiple incidents of suspicious activity preventing many automobile and business break-ins. We are thanked on a regular basis by local businesses such as American Cab, Coachella Valley Brewery, Millestone, and Gameroom Gallery. We have stopped a burglary in progress at a neighboring business in cooperation with Riverside County sheriffs. We have always been on good terms with local law enforcement, and have invited local sheriffs to walk through our cultivation facilities on several occasions. They were very impressed. While a group of Riverside County Firefighters walked through our facility, they made a few requests for changes to wiring and wall materials for fire safety. We invested in renovating everything to code, as requested, in an effort to be as compliant as we could be. We are the largest consistent donor to the Riverside County Firefighters’ Benevolent Fund. Many ill friends of the local firefighters, and the wife of one in particular who is currently on chemotherapy, are members of our collective and rely solely on us for their medicine. Cafe Canna Cabana has also offered to fund the development of a local community center for kids of Thousand Palms, which could really use the support according to statistics of local high school graduation rates , but so far the county has refused our offer.
Cafe Canna Cabana wants to operate in compliance with Riverside County, and doesn’t mind sharing some of its income with the county as a tax. We report and pay sales tax on all sales from our nonprofit, which is evident by our large monthly sales tax prepayments to the State. The one point of which we cannot comply is the zoning ordinance that bans dispensaries to exist in the area due to a nuisance violation. Clearly, we are not a nuisance and we offer great value to our community. If we were to comply with the ban, we wouldn’t be able to provide patients in need with our superior medicine. We are fully transparent, cordial, and would be more than happy to abide by any other county requests.
Cultivating the highest quality, medically-effective marijuana products to share with others is all that Dale Devore wants to do with the remainder of his life. It is now the only means of survival that he knows and feels passionate about. His minimal salary from Cafe Canna Cabana provides his livelihood of which he relies on to support his young son and to afford the expensive medications that he must take to maintain decent quality of life. He truly believes in what he is providing to patients and knows that without his assistance, most locals will not receive proper care or relief from their other options.
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