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Feds raid Montana medical marijuana businesses

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G

Gaborn

Member
Federal agents with guns drawn raided at least 10 medical marijuana operations across Montana on Monday, the same a day that a bill to repeal the state's medical marijuana law stalled in the Legislature.

Agents near Helena burst into Montana Cannabis' greenhouse, where the company grows more than 1,600 plants for its four stores across the state. The greenhouse runs about half the length of a football field and is packed with marijuana plants that can be seen from U.S. Highway 12.

About 15 workers were inside the warehouse during the morning raid. Montana Cannabis employee Brett Thompson, 30, said he stepped outside to smoke a cigarette and saw agents running up the driveway.

"They came in, guns drawn, got us down on the ground and in cuffs as fast as they could," Thompson said.

Federal agents detained Thompson and his co-workers in handcuffs outside the greenhouse, where sheriff's deputies and Helena police officers stood guard. Inside, agents in DEA and FBI jackets wearing respirator masks and blue gloves yanked waist-high plants from their pots and hauled them out of sight wrapped in blue tarps.

It was not immediately clear why the raids took place.

A spokeswoman in the U.S. attorney's office in Montana said the federal agents executed search warrants that are under seal. She declined to comment further.

Agencies involved included the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Medical marijuana has become a hotly debated issue in Montana, and the Legislature has been debating whether to eliminate the law. The industry has exploded in the last year and reached the point where one out of every 19 households in Montana now has a medical marijuana card.

Montana Cannabis co-owner Christopher Williams told The Associated Press that raids were taking place at his business' four locations. An advocacy group, Americans for Safe Access, said at least 10 businesses were raided in six cities across the state.

The DEA and U.S. attorney's office would not confirm how many businesses were raided.
Thompson said they questioned each worker individually and then released them, except for one worker who had an outstanding warrant.

The search warrant allows agents to take the company's computers, data storage, products and plants, Williams said, but he wasn't sure why the raids were taking place. His personal and business bank accounts were also frozen, he said.

A warrant obtained by Americans for Safe Access and signed by U.S. magistrate judge Jeremiah Lynch of Missoula listed 13 items to be seized, including marijuana and hashish, drug paraphernalia, computers and other electronic storage devices, cell phones, firearms, transportation and customer records, transaction records, cash, jewelry and vehicle titles.

The warrant, which was for Big Sky Patient Care of Bozeman, did not say why the items were to be seized.

"It's strictly a political move to stop us from providing medicine to sick people," Williams said, standing outside the fence at Montana Cannabis.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 6-6 to reject House Speaker Mike Milburn's House Bill 161, which would repeal the medical marijuana law approved by Montana voters in 2004. Republican Committee Chairman Sen. Terry Murphy said the panel will look into creating a reform bill to tighten regulation of the industry.

Barbara Trego, Williams' mother and another worker at the Montana Cannabis, was at the Capitol for the hearing, said she received word of the raid before the vote. She said some of the people who use the company's marijuana are cancer patients and she feared what would happen to them if the operation shut down.

"We weren't trying to hide anything. Our windows are open. Our door was open," she said.

"We've got patients that could die just by what's happened today."

The raid caused traffic to slow as people passing by tried to ascertain what was happening.

One man in a minivan honked his horn and shouted out the window, "Thank you, Helena Police Department! It's about time!"

Williams said of the 1,680 plants inside the greenhouse near Helena, 480 were flowering plants that produce about 5 ounces of marijuana each. He said he sells an ounce for $190 - meaning approximately $456,000 worth of marijuana was confiscated from that one location.
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Story Here

What were the Feds doing there? Didn't Obama promise to end bullshit raids like this?
 
J

jorma

is now taking requests
daviyoung said:
They didn't get the memo
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So the plan was to repeal the medical marijuana law and 2 seconds later nail the producers as hard as they could? Classy :X
 
W

water_wendi

Water is not wet!
Celsior said:
What is BS about this raid, we know nothing about the case?
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The first line sounds kind of fishy.

Federal agents with guns drawn raided at least 10 medical marijuana operations across Montana on Monday, the same a day that a bill to repeal the state's medical marijuana law stalled in the Legislature.
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So the bill wasnt repealed but the police raided anyway? Sounds like 100% Grade-A Bullshit to me.
 
S

Slayven

Member
With so many agencies working together and sealed orders, I am thinking it is a bit more then just about weed.
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
water_wendi said:
The first line sounds kind of fishy.


So the bill wasnt repealed but the police raided anyway? Sounds like 100% Grade-A Bullshit to me.
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it was a federal raid
 
C

Cooter

Lacks the power of instantaneous movement
This shit is infuriating. All the problems we have and we waste resources on this?
 
S

SmokyDave

Member
Am I right in thinking that weed can simultaneously be legal (state level) and illegal (federal level) in the US?

If so, you guys are crazy and must have money to burn encouraging and then chasing these evil-doers. It's like the left hand attacking the right hand, it's a waste of time & effort for both.
 
G

Guevara

Member
U.S. Politics 101: The Constitution and federal law trumps state law. It's called the Supremacy Clause. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, it's doesn't matter what the states choose to do.

However: states can choose not to prosecute people for Marijuana and in that case enforcement is only done sporadically by federal agencies.
 
S

SmokyDave

Member
Guevara said:
U.S. Politics 101: The Constitution and federal law trumps state law. It's called the Supremacy Clause. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, it's doesn't matter what the states choose to do.

However: states can choose not to prosecute people for Marijuana and in that case enforcement is only done sporadically by federal agencies.
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That's borderline farcical. I thought I must have misunderstood because that makes so little sense it's physically painful. I'm saddened to learn that I didn't misunderstand.
 
P

Puddles

Banned
Obama is such a fucking joke. I'm glad McCain didn't win, but I will vote for any primary challenger in 2012 on principle.
 
G

GhaleonEB

Member
Guevara said:
U.S. Politics 101: The Constitution and federal law trumps state law. It's called the Supremacy Clause. Marijuana is illegal under federal law, it's doesn't matter what the states choose to do.

However: states can choose not to prosecute people for Marijuana and in that case enforcement is only done sporadically by federal agencies.
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Obama has said that his Justice Department would not challenge or interfere with state medical marijuana laws. The surprise here is that there seems to have been a change in policy.
 
Z

Zzoram

Member
Don't they have better things to do, like bust drug cartel marijuana businesses that are dangerous to the public instead?
 
A

Apple Sauce

Member
Is there even a point in having different state/federal laws? Why doesn't the entire country just run under one set. Wouldn't it make everything much easier?
Would a lawyer from California be able to practice in New York or would he have to have extra qualifications?
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
Apple Sauce said:
Is there even a point in having different state/federal laws? Why doesn't the entire country just run under one set. Wouldn't it make everything much easier?
Would a lawyer from California be able to practice in New York or would he have to have extra qualifications?
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each state has individual licenses, but you can carry multiple.
 
G

Gaborn

Member
levious said:
each state has individual licenses, but you can carry multiple.
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And some states have reciprocal agreements where you can practice law in multiple states with a license from one state.
 
L

levious

That throwing stick stunt of yours has boomeranged on us.
as far as I understand it, you still get barred/licensed in each state, just the reciprocity allows you to skip the exam. It's not an automatic multiple license.
 
B

Boonoo

Member
Apple Sauce said:
Is there even a point in having different state/federal laws? Why doesn't the entire country just run under one set. Wouldn't it make everything much easier?
Click to expand...

Theoretically it allows for states to more accurately cater to will of their residents. A lot of basic stuff is the same, but you'll see little differences here and there. Taxes are probably one of the most noticeable things, and then you have stuff like drug enforcement policies, gambling etc.

Edit: Oh! Schools are also vastly different. Schooling is handled at the state level, and even within some states you have independent school districts.
 
D

Dr Stabbingworth

Member
One man in a minivan honked his horn and shouted out the window, "Thank you, Helena Police Department! It's about time!"
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Yes! It's about time you subverted the political will of the citizens! I disagree with it, so the federal government should use all the powers of the Commerce Clause to backdoor the political process.

Wait...what's that? Obamacare? Commerce Clause? I thought we were just busting hippie pot-smokers? Revolt! Revolt!
 
I

Invisible_Insane

Member
This is one of the issues that grieves me most as I think about having to vote in the 2012 elections (and I've never smoked pot). That we would continue to prosecute this "war on drugs" with unrelenting zeal despite the fact that it has failed by every assessable metric should be a source of great shame for any person who has had the power to correct it. Obama has dropped the ball on this, and in a big way; I hope that if he is elected to a second term, he deals with the issue more responsibly.
 
Big Chungus

Big Chungus

Member
I drove through Montana on way to to California a few years ago...

Some of the towns looked straight out of the early 1900s.
 
M

mre

Golden Domers are chickenshit!!
SmokyDave said:
That's borderline farcical. I thought I must have misunderstood because that makes so little sense it's physically painful. I'm saddened to learn that I didn't misunderstand.
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What's confusing about it?
 
S

SmokyDave

Member
mre said:
What's confusing about it?
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The fact that something can be perfectly legal and acceptable at state level but it's actually illegal because there is another set of laws that contradict and overrule the state laws. It's absolutely pointless and I'm amazed that you'd waste time & resources maintaining such a system. In any sensible system, weed is either legal, or it isn't. If you only had one set of laws, it'd be clear where you all stood and there'd be no topic for discussion here.

Allowing two contradictory laws is just stupid.
 
J

jayhawker

Member
SmokyDave said:
That's borderline farcical. I thought I must have misunderstood because that makes so little sense it's physically painful. I'm saddened to learn that I didn't misunderstand.
Click to expand...


It's called federalism, and it's actually a pretty great thing for conservatives and liberals alike. If a state wants to legalize pot, it can. If another state doesn't want to, it doesn't have to. Keeping power local is a good thing.

Federal laws about this kind of thing are ridiculous. Drugs should be a state issue.
 
G

Gallbaro

Banned
I find this funny, even though I do not think it should be illegal or the government has the power to declare any substance illegal without an amendment.

But I heard one lunatic liberal on NPR this morning in one sentence praise the ideals of the Democratic Party and then declare that the feds have no authority because he was not participating in interstate commerce when growing and selling the pot.

EDIT: Using the same defense Obama Care should be illegal as health care is a state by state entity.
 
B

Boonoo

Member
threenote said:
Obama is a goddam liar. He never keeps his word. I wish I never voted for him.
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The Obameter Scorecard

Promise Kept 134
Compromise 41
Promise Broken 39
Stalled 70
In the Works 220
Not yet rated 2

That's not too terrible. And really, no matter how poorly he's kept up with his promises I'd still rather have him than McCain.
 
C

Cereal KiIIer

Member
Question from a foreigner: if weed becomes legal in the US, would people in jail for possession be let go or they would remain inside for a crime that no longer exist?
 
Z

Zabka

Member
Cereal KiIIer said:
Question from a foreigner: if weed becomes legal in the US, would people in jail for possession be let go or they would remain inside for a crime that no longer exist?
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Prisons are a business in the US. I think they'd be kept in as long as possible.
 
B

Boonoo

Member
Cereal KiIIer said:
Question from a foreigner: if weed becomes legal in the US, would people in jail for possession be let go or they would remain inside for a crime that no longer exist?
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I don't think it would act as a get out of jail free card, but I could see the parole process being sped up.

Speaking as an international citizen; seeing as one of those broken promises is Guantanamo it is really bad.
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For sure. It's one of the things I'm most disappointed about. Guantanamo is an absolute mess, though. It seems that one of the hardest issues is finding places willing to be accept the people held there. I think that we (america) need to just bite the bullet and take them all in (not that they'd probably want to live here after the way they've been treated) through witness protection type programs or whatever it takes.
 
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