Pot Dispensaries at Risk of Closure

County medical marijuana dispensaries are at risk of being shut down since landlords received a letter from a federal agency telling them they could lose their property or face up to 20 years in prison.

"Federal law allows for the seizure of assets, including real property, which have been used in conjunction with the distribution of controlled substances," states the Drug Enforcement Administration letter, which was sent out last week in Los Angeles County.

The letter also contends federal laws "take precedence" over state laws, such as Proposition 215 and SB 420, which allow for medical marijuana use.

Managers from at least two collectives say they might have to close their doors.

"Our landlord has asked us to shut down, so this Sunday will be our last day," said a Los Angeles-based collective manager, who asked that his name not be used.

A manager at a San Fernando Valley-based collective said he was still trying to work things out with his landlord, but he had been asked to stop operating as a dispensary.

"I just remodeled, and I have my life savings tied up in this place," said the manager, who also did not want his name used in print.

Sarah Pullen, DEA spokeswoman, said the letters should not be viewed as a threat.

"We are literally just serving notice that these property owners are violating the law," said Pullen. The DEA has not filed charges against any landowner at this point, according to Pullen.

Chris Fusco of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group, said that landlords he had talked to were nervous but that he did not expect further action from the DEA.

"It is a little frightening," he said. "But if they intended to follow through on this, they already would have."

Pullen would not disclose how many property owners the DEA sent the letter to, but Fusco says the letter has gone out to at least 30 that he knows of.

"It's a shame that the DEA would use techniques on medical marijuana that are normally reserved for crack houses and meth labs," said Fusco.

Fusco also said many of the landowners who received the letter were not involved in running the dispensaries on their properties and that several had told him they thought the collectives were legal.

In east Los Angeles County, many cities, including Pasadena, Hacienda Heights, West Covina, Monrovia, and Monterey Park have already shut down dispensaries and enacted ordinances against others opening up.

The only full-time collective left is in Whittier, and it did not receive a letter, according to the managers.

An Azusa pot factory busted by police two months ago has been connected to medical marijuana dispensaries all over county.

The District Attorney's Office was not informed of the letters, according to spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons.

Lt. Jim Whitten, of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Narcotics bureau, also said that he had not heard of the letters.

The letter was not the first time that DEA took action against county dispensaries without notifying local authorities.

In January, the DEA raided 11 dispensaries, detained 20 people, and seized thousands of pounds of marijuana.

Despite the letter, some dispensaries are not worrying about whether they will stay open.

"At this point I am less concerned about my collective than about the effect on the entire community of medical marijuana patients," said Josie, a manager at the Karma Collective in Van Nuys, who says her landlord has been "supportive" of the dispensary.