Editor's Note: Warning: Opinions included here.
I spoke with Jerry Olson of Medical Marijuana of the Rockies a couple of months ago; he was going to work on an op-ed to publish in CBT to help spread the word to the industry about what was happening with this lawsuit. It saddens me to hear that he was forced (not by law, as the case has yet to be tried, but by what I would dare say is strong-arming) to close his state-legal dispensary.
An absolute must-read for anyone in the industry who wants to gain some additional perspective on such cases is the article, "Will Colorado Win the Federal Racketeering Lawsuits Against It?" by CBT's legal correspondent Michele Brooke. She points to (in my less-articulate summary) the federal government's permission for states and businesses to violate federal law, and the accommodations it has made to help banks provide services to these businesses. She is "cautiously optimistic" the cases can be won. "In the meantime," writes Brooke, "whatever we can do to support our comrades in Colorado, we should do it."
By the way, make sure you read the article below, right down to the comment by Brian Barnes, lawyer for Safe Streets Alliance, a Washington-based "anti-crime" group behind the lawsuits. He says, "We're putting a bounty on the heads of anyone doing business with the marijuana industry." Is this an anti-crime group or a ... umm ... terrorist organization?
DENVER (AP) — A federal law crafted to fight the mob is giving marijuana opponents a new strategy in their battle to stop the expanding industry: racketeering lawsuits.
A Colorado pot shop recently closed after a Washington-based group opposed to legal marijuana sued not just the pot shop but a laundry list of firms doing business with it — from its landlord and accountant to the Iowa bonding company guaranteeing its tax payments. One by one, many of the defendants agreed to stop doing business with Medical Marijuana of the Rockies, until the mountain shop closed its doors and had to sell off its pot at fire-sale prices.
With another lawsuit pending in southern Colorado, the cases represent a new approach to fighting marijuana. If the federal government won't stop its expansion, pot opponents say, federal racketeering lawsuits could. Marijuana may be legal under state law, but federal drug law still considers any marijuana business organized crime.
