The Sacramento Bee reports the BCC’s latest budget request calls for the creation of nearly 90 new police officers who would be tasked with enforcing the 2016-passed Prop. 64, which legalized recreational marijuana. This new branch of law enforcement would involve absorbing nearly 60 positions (47 sworn) from the Department of Consumer Affairs’ Cannabis Enforcement Unit and then hiring about 30 more.

BCC Vows to Crack Down on Black Market Sales

As our Los Angeles marijuana attorneys understand it, the main goal of the new LEO division? Illicit market cannabis control. The request comes three years after the state’s first recreational marijuana sales took place. Last year, the BCC seized more than two dozen tons of black market cannabis. While the legal market made about $3 billion, the under-the-table cannabis trade racked up more than $8 billion in sales.

An affiliate of the union representing the existing BCC employees argues that millions of units of untested product sales statewide put the public in danger by bypassing labeling and testing rules and failing to ensure the substance doesn’t fall into the hands of kids under 18. Plus, it jeopardizes above-board businesses.

Duties of the new police officers would include investigating criminal activity and unlicensed pot shops, as well as helping with on-site inspections. The BCC opines the agency will likely handle some 2,000 cases a year. If the agency were to continue at current staffing levels, the agency said that would amount to hundreds of cases backlogged. They insist only police officers would have the authority to carry out certain duties, such as seized unlicensed marijuana and related products, make arrests, verify unlawful possession of a firearm, request search warrants from judges or review criminal justice databases. The budget requests indicates that currently, their investigations sometimes overlap with local law enforcement efforts because their office cannot review criminal records.

But are more police really the answer? The BCC and some law enforcement agencies are partially funded by legal marijuana sales. This helped to sell the whole idea of Prop. 64 to more conservative voters. In fact, public safety was promised 20 percent of the estimated $ 1 billion in annual tax revenue the Adult Use of Marijuana Act was expected to generate. That created controversy from legal marijuana advocates when it was first proposed, but it was purportedly necessary to get the measure passed.

Should Police Still Get a Cut of Cannabis Profits?

Some could argue that paid off. While law enforcement lobbyists still opposed the measure, they didn’t launch a massive counter-offensive, and the law passed.

Cannabis legalization was also sold as a means to lower costs for law enforcement. After all, if possession and sales of marijuana is no longer criminal, that should amount to fewer investigations, arrests and incarcerations.

Yet police departments still argue that legalized marijuana is going to require more money, more resources, more labor – and that’s why they deserve a cut. Scholarly research is conflicted.

For instance, one study found that traffic deaths per million initially rose by one in three states where marijuana was first legalized for recreation. However, those rates returned back to normal after the first year. Another analysis revealed that three years after legalization, there was no significant uptick in fatal crashes.

Roadside searches of motor vehicles and individuals, meanwhile, did tumble by more than half in Washington state and Colorado following legalization. This aligns with what our Los Angeles marijuana defense lawyers have long known: Traffic stops are one of the primary means that law enforcement has kept the War on Drugs alive. And that, we know, has had out-sized and deadly consequences for African Americans.

And despite the high taxes imposed on legal cannabis businesses to help fund police efforts, police have largely been unsuccessful in shutting down illegal operations.

After the murder of George Floyd in late May, police in riot gear and armed with chemical agents were present at every major city in California to meet protesters. Meanwhile, organized and armed robbers burglarized countless legal cannabis businesses – some more than once. Several reported police failed to notify other owners of this known threat. Numerous business owners told The Daily Beast it took hours to respond, despite store owners being held at gunpoint. The product they made off with is now money no one is getting.

If cannabis business funding were to be diverted from law enforcement sources, it would likely need approval from voters to alter existing law, or else action from the state legislature.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, ancillary companies, patients, doctors and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

California wants to hire more cannabis cops to get a handle on black market marijuana, June 2, 2020, By Andrew Sheeler, Sacramento Bee

combined to reach a new fever pitch, with border patrol reportedly enforcing wildly audacious rules and ruining lives in the process. U.S. border guards have allegedly started turning away Canadian citizens entering the U.S. if it is revealed that they work in the cannabis industry, regardless of whether or not they are in compliance with Canada’s laws or even if their business deals directly with the drug or not, according to The Vancouver Star. Involvement in the cannabis industry means you are profiting from illicit drug trading, in the eyes of U.S. border patrol, an offense that can get you banned from entering the U.S. for life. Once you’re on the list, you never fall off, and admittance into the country would require the help of an immigration attorney and special temporary waivers. Even admitting to ever using cannabis has reportedly led to Canadians being turned away at the border.

Americans, too, are facing problems at the border. Some are crossing into Canada to take advantage of their legalized medical marijuana and will soon be flocking there to experience federally legalized recreational marijuana, beginning Oct. 17. If they attempt to bring any marijuana with them back into the U.S., however, they could be facing charges for possession or drug smuggling along with fines and/or jail time.

As our cannabis criminal defense attorneys in Los Angeles can explain, many are confused by the way the current marijuana laws work. If they legally purchased marijuana in Canada and they are crossing into a state, like Washington, where cannabis is legal for medical and recreational use, why then would they be in trouble at the border? Even more confounding, why would a Canadian who has never used marijuana a day in his or her life, but whose company creates products that are used by cannabis businesses, be banned from the U.S. for life?

For the answer, one needs to look no further than Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his militant and radical stance on marijuana. He has made it no secret that he is a believer in anti-marijuana propaganda and will use the extent of his power in the Justice Department to enforce the federal ban under Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 812. His plans have been thwarted in many ways, with more states legalizing cannabis for medical and recreational use. Congress, too, has passed measures to protect those states, including the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment, an add-on to the federal budget preventing DOJ from using funds to prosecute medical marijuana operations in states where it is legal. Instead of getting with the times, looking at the undeniable mountain of evidence in favor of marijuana legalization, and re-examining federal law, Sessions has chosen to double down on enforcement anywhere he still has power. This, unfortunately, has included border security, and many Canadians and Americans are paying the price.

Our legal team stands by the millions of Americans who find the hostile anti-cannabis agenda of the Justice Department and border patrol to be out of line. The entire country is trending toward a better understanding of cannabis and its benefits. We know the War on Drugs and the aggressive targeting of marijuana users has done nothing but hurt our country. It’s time this administration catch up with the rest of us before any more lives are destroyed.

The Los Angeles CANNABIS LAW Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients, defendants, workers and those facing criminal marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734.

Additional Resources:

When Marijuana is Legal in Canada, Americans are Expected to Flock, But the Border, and U.S. Law, Stands in the Way, July 11, 2018, By Lornet Turnbull and Katie Zezima, Washington Post

More Blog Entries:

Report: Legal Medical Pot User in Canada Denied U.S. Access for Life, Sept. 25, 2016, Cannabis Law Group

The San Diego Crackdown KPBS reports that San Diego law enforcement and prosecutors began targeting illegally-operated dispensaries in March 2017. More than sixty dispensaries have been shut down in this time. The San Diego Police Department also reports that dozens of property owners and operators have been fined, charged criminally, and prosecuted for operating medical marijuana businesses without a license. All employees of the business – not just owners – are subject to prosecution. In August 2017, the Police Department warned that even delivery drivers could face criminal charges. Two of the most recent raids indicate a shift in San Diego law enforcement policy. Prior to these operations, the San Diego PD had mostly avoided delivery services, focusing instead on dispensaries with physical retail locations. On August 2, 2017 two delivery services were raided. This may signal a shift toward prosecutions of delivery services which operate illegally. Northern California Crackdowns San Diego is not the only California locality looking to end illegal marijuana operations. According to U.S. News and World Report, Calaveras County Sheriff Rick DiBasilio has reported the largest marijuana raid in county history. The crackdown is reported to have affected more than a dozen farms over four days. More than 27,000 marijuana plants were seized and thirty-five people were arrested. $7000 in cash and eleven firearms were seized after the execution of twenty-three search warrants. Twenty-five tons of marijuana were ultimately destroyed after the raids. The National Guard, the district attorney’s office, the California Highway Patrol, and environmental offices for the state and county were all involved in the planning of the operation. It took six months of preparation to execute the crackdown. Six thousand plants were seized from one of the targeted farms, which is associated with the Sugarleaf Rastafarian Church. The church claims that it has a religious exemption for the cultivation of marijuana, which is used as sacrament for churchgoers. California law recognizes no such religious exemption. Not surprisingly, Calaveras County is one of the many California municipalities considering a complete ban on cannabis activities within its jurisdiction. Ensure Your Cannabis Business is in Compliance There are countless state, county, and local regulations which medical marijuana dispensaries must comply with in order to conduct business operations lawfully. It can be difficult to comply with all applicable regulations. This daunting task will be even further complicated when the state begins issuing business licenses for the sale of recreational marijuana in January 2018. Regulations, restrictions, state laws, and local ordinances will all affect the regulatory landscape dramatically. Consult with an experienced Los Angeles cannabis criminal defense lawyer to ensure that your business is in compliance with all current and upcoming laws. Improper recreational and medical use business licenses, financial operations, tax reporting, and other business operations can subject cannabis business owners to criminal liability. The Los Angeles Cannabis Law Group represents growers, dispensaries, collectives, patients and those facing marijuana charges. Call us at 949-375-4734. Additional Resources: San Diego Police Raid 2 More Marijuana Dispensaries, August 17, 2017, by City News Service, KPBS More Blog Entries: Federal Judge Blocks California Marijuana Growers’ Prosecution. August 31, 2017 by Cannabis Law Group