Feds Order Temecula Pot Shops to Close

Federal officials mailed an order to Temecula medical marijuana organizations to shut down, or face criminal prosecution.

The order was also sent to other marijuana groups throughout Southern California. They were given 45 days to disband or face criminal prosecution, federal officials announced.

The warning, which was issued last week, was part of a new federal crackdown on the state's medical marijuana industry, which includes huge commercial grow operations, intricate distribution systems and hundreds of retail stores in the Southland and across the state -- even though the federal Controlled Substances Act prohibits the sale and distribution of cannabis.

"It is important to note that for-profit, commercial marijuana operations are illegal not only under federal law, but also under California law," U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said. "While California law permits collective cultivation of marijuana in limited circumstances, it does not allow commercial distribution through the store-front model we see across California."

Several such shops have opened in Temecula, with varying degrees of success.

Collective Patients' Cooperative, a marijuana group running a storefront on Old Town Front Street, is fighting a legal battle with the city to stay open.
To read about that battle,

Local officials raised issues about the safety of these marijuana storefronts.

One of the shops was the scene of an assault. To read about it,

Several other shops were burglarized. The burglar was caught and pleaded guity. To read about what happened,

Officials also raised concerns about some of the marijuana stores' founders' criminal backgrounds. They said they were afraid they would continue to behave unlawfully.

The founder of one of Temecula's marijuana shops is scheduled to serve weekends in jail for violating probation this month. to read about it.

The founder of the shop fighting a legal battle with the city was arrested last month on suspicion of driving while under the influence of methamphetamine and possessing cocaine. To read about it, .

Another dispensary ceased operation immediately under threat from the city. To read about it,

At a news briefing/teleconference attended by the state's four U.S. attorneys in Sacramento, Birotte said warning letters went out to dozens of medical marijuana retail store operators across the state.

The typical medical marijuana dispensary sells pot solely for the purpose of recreational use, he said. "That is not what California voters intended."

After his inauguration, President Barack Obama said the federal government would not prosecute medical marijuana users and caregivers. In 1996, California was the first state to decriminalize marijuana for medical use, although it has remained a federal crime to possess or sell it.

Medical marijuana advocates say the Department of Justice's newly announced stance is "harmful and unnecessary" to patients who use the drug as part of their treatment regimen.

"Aggressive tactics like these are a completely inappropriate use of prosecutorial discretion by the Obama administration," said Joe Elford, a lawyer with Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group. "President Obama must answer for his contradictory policy."

Laura E. Duffy, the U.S. Attorney in San Diego, said it should be noted that illegal marijuana grow operations often found flourishing on federal land create "significant negative consequences" and result in "a very serious public safety issue."

Federal prosecutors said warning letters had been sent to the operators and landlords of dozens of marijuana dispensaries in the Southland and elsewhere, and forfeiture actions were filed against properties where owners allow pot stores to operate.

Those receiving letters were warned that the stores are in violation of federal law and that they have less than two months to "take the necessary steps to discontinue the sale and/or distribution of marijuana."

Shops were notified in the Riverside County cities of Temecula, Murrieta and Wildomar, the Orange County cities of Lake Forest, Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel and Rancho Santa Margarita, the San Bernardino County cities of Upland, Montclair and Chino and the Low Angeles County cities of Pamona and Claremont, according to Birotte.

The letters note that the operation of a marijuana store "may result in criminal prosecution, imprisonment, fines and forfeiture of assets, including the real property on which the dispensary is operating and any money you receive (or have received) from the dispensary operator."

City News Service contributed to this report.