Haborside Health Center: Oakland Files Lawsuit Against Feds to Prevent Closure of Pot Club
Source: SF Weekly
Oakland filed a complaint in United States District Court today in an attempt to stop the feds from shutting down the state's largest medical marijuana dispensary.
The feds are trying to seize the building along the Embarcadero where the Harborside Health Center is located. The pot club was operating legally under a permit issued by Oakland City officials until July, when U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Melinda Haag filed the paperwork to seize the property, effectively closing it down. Harborside is the city's second-largest retail payer.
The city doesn't want money; it wants the court to put an end to Haag's crusade, which started last year when attorneys began sending letters to the landlords of selected California dispensaries. The letters warned of property forfeitures and stiff prison sentences if the dispensaries were not closed.
... "The federal government has acted beyond its authority by initiating the forfeiture action outside of the statute of limitations," said Cedric Chao, the attorney representing Oakland in this case. "Moreover, the government has indicated for many years by its words and actions that so long as dispensaries and medical patients acted consistently with state law, the dispensaries would be allowed to operate. Oakland has reasonably relied on these assurances, and the government should be prohibited from disrupting Oakland's medical cannabis program."
Read more: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/10/haborside_health_center_oaklan.php
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