Arcata Cannabis Crisis Gets Bush Administration's Attention

Source: arcataeye.com

ARCATA – With new local and state guidelines in the works and looming over Arcata’s out-of-control cannabis scene, the federal government is here to help as well.
 

On Tuesday, July 15, Arcata hosted Scott Burns, deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, who is the Bush Administration’s second-in-command for drug regulation. After participating in marijuana raids in Eureka and points south and meeting with county officials, Burns traveled to what has apparently come to be known as America’s grow house capitol, the City of Arcata.
 

Here, Burns met with City and Humboldt State University officials and granted the Arcata Eye an interview before traveling to Sacramento to meet with state officials. 
 

The view from the White House
 

In an interview (see pages A8-9) Burns shared the federal government’s views on medical cannabis, grow houses and possible enforcement action by the authorities.
 

Burns later said his mission to Humboldt and Arcata was twofold: 1. “Seeing firsthand what’s going on with respect to indoor grows, which is an exceptional problem,” and 2. “To thank the hard-working men and women doing this hard [enforcement] work on the front lines.”
 

In the interview, Burns adamantly dismissed any notion of medical usefulness of marijuana, saying that dosages are unregulated, smoking is an irresponsible delivery system and that suitable substitutes for medical cannabis exist in the form of FDA-approved medications. Legalization, Burns said, would immediately lead to even more widespread use. He said today’s marijuana fundamentally alters human brain structure and leads to addiction and ruined lives.
 

Burns said grow houses, including home gardens maintained by purported Prop 215 patients, are used to supply dispensaries, which the federal government views as criminal enterprises. In fact, two of the four existing Arcata dispensaries have admitted buying from residential Prop 215 grows.
 

He said owners of dispensaries risk “losing their property” via asset forfeiture, which, he said, “I predict will happen soon.”
 

Burns urged a re-thinking of the acceptance of marijuana in contemporary culture, and even seemed to suggest that recreational use could be legislated and enforced away.
 

But regarding enforcement, Burns seemed to offer a mixed message. While unyielding in asserting that federal law holds marijuana illegal under all circumstances and trumps all state and local medical cannabis laws, Burns nonetheless advised Arcatans to “defer 100 percent good judgment of the people who have been elected and appointed” while motioning to those present in the APD conference room. But most of them are working on guidelines under which medical marijuana may be safely cultivated and dispensed.
 

Following his Arcata visit, Burns journeyed to Sacramento for further discussions. During a brief phone discussion Friday, he said he’d met with the U.S. Attorney, officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration and other drug enforcement personnel including the FBI, county sheriffs and police chiefs.
 

The results of Burns’ foray into cannabinized California will, he said, soon be discussed in the halls of high-level government in Washington, D.C. “I’ll report back to Mr. Walters [John P. Walters, ONDCP director] on what I saw and feedback I received,” Burns said.
 

Arcata will be a hot topic. “My meeting in Arcata was pretty eye-opening,” Burns said.  “The mayor, councilmembers and HSU truly want to partner and come up with a solution.” He said the cannabis industry in Arcata “has far outgrown the level of acceptability.”

Arcata’s message to Washington
 

City Manager Michael Hackett said that the City hadn’t called the meeting with Burns, but that City officials and others were happy to share their views. “Everyone that spoke made the statement loud and clear that this community supports compassionate use, but that in some cases it has gotten out of hand,” Hackett said. HSU’s concerns, he said, centered around displacement of housing by grow houses and the effect that has on student welfare and admissions.
 

Meanwhile, new guidelines for distribution of medical marijuana expected last week from the state Attorney General‘s Office were not issued for reasons unknown.
 

The Burns interview airs on KHSU 90.5 FM this Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. after the Home Page, and will stream online at khsu.org.

The Tuesday bust
The Humboldt County Drug Task Force, assisted by HCSO, Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and the FBI, concluded a one-year investigation into the alleged illegal cultivation and sales of marijuana by Ryan Robletto and co-conspirators.  Agents served search warrants at 15 locations in Humboldt County and seized 3,026 marijuana plants, approximately 10 pounds of processed marijuana, two ounces of heroin and 22 firearms (including one assault rifle) were seized and 15 arrests were made at various locations.