Medical Marijuana Dispensary can one get in trobule if they open one? When federal government raid these places, what happneds to the owner? I plan on opening one, will one get in a lot of trouble if federal raid them? Is it worth the hassle to open one? I heard they make a lot of money compare to the investment one makes in it/
state law permits medical marijuana, federal law prohibits it... Its a very sticky situation and I'd advise if you don't know much about that world stay out of it.
As Clifford says, California permits the distribution of medical marijuana; Federal law does not. Are you going to get raided? It's a distinct possibility. If you're serious, you really need to contact a group that supports the use of medical marijuana and find out from them who would be a good lawyer for you to have on retainer. Then you also need to find insurance (or keep a fund of money) that's going to cover your legal costs when you're raided or sued... Good luck. ________________________________________________________________ Any opinions are offered without knowledge of the specific law of your jurisdiction and with only the limited information provided in your post. No advice given here should be reasonably relied upon by you or any third party without consulting an attorney who is aware of all of the facts and law surrounding your situation. Any advice given here is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship in any way.
Since you are in Los Angeles, you might want to check out these recent stories from the LA Times about recent marijuana dispensary raids and/or trials: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-pot6-2008aug06,0,516054.story An owner marijuana store in San Louis Obispo County was prosecuted by the feds and found guilty. http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-me-marijuana1-2008aug01,0,3278105.story The DEA raided a Culver City medical marijuana dispensary. They didn't arrest anyone, but did trash the shop during their search. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/28/local/me-medpot28 An owner of six LA-area medical marijuana dispensaries - and his wife - were arrested by the feds when one of his clients was involved in a fatal traffic accident, allegedly while high on marijuana from his shop. And those are just in the past 3 months. If you are serious about it, I would suggest talking to dispensary owners and possibly even getting a part time job at one of them, so you can see what the business looks like from the inside. And check out this attorney's view (you can guess his perspective from the URL): http://420lawyer.com/Blog.html Check out his web site for more details.
I even know a particular dispensary owner who was murdered right at the end of harvest season on his grow...I think the case is unsolved, but definitely related to how he yapped his business to High Times and brought undue attention. Not just the feds you have to worry about. DO NOT GET INTO THIS BUSINESS FOR THE MONEY!!! Dispensaries for medical patients are on the front lines of the war, and the only reason to get involved is compassionate care. BTW, if you are involved in pharma stuff, even just a website which can be tracked, you could come under additional scrutiny.
There are many legal hoops you must go through to comply with the California law. In addition, since it is usually a cash intensive business there have been many instances of theft, murder, etc., of operators of these dispensaries. This is not a business for the unsophisticated.
medical marijuana is in the balance of mafia/federal/ and honest growers. If you have to ask about it on dp, don't risk it.