Earlier this month, in a move confirming the inaccuracy of a claim made by Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California filed a notice of asset forfeiture against Harborside Health Center, one of the country’s most prominent medical-marijuana dispensaries.
On June 19, in pushing Long Beach not to extend the ban exemptions for approximately 18 collectives, McDonnell specifically advised the city council that the U.S. Attorney’s Office would not involve itself with asset forfeiture in municipalities allowing some medpot dispensaries to operate.
“If we were able to get the ban, we then are allowed to get on the list to be able to work with the U.S. Attorney and the DEA to be able to do asset forfeiture, to be able to seize the assets of those that are selling within the city,” said McDonnell. “We can’t do that as long as we have the two-tiered system where the City has somewhat sanctioned the 18 [dispensaries] and not the rest.”
But Oakland is just such a city with a “two-tiered” system, currently permitting four dispensaries to operate, while disallowing all others.
The U.S. Attorney’s action against Harborside Health Center comports with what Thom Mrozek, spokesperson for the Central District of California U.S. Attorney’s Office, told the Post late last month when asked about McDonnell’s claim: “[T]he marijuana industry is illegal and subject to federal enforcement wherever it is found. [… W]e have in some cases given extra consideration to enforcement in those communities that have made it clear that commercial marijuana operations are unwanted and have taken efforts to remove them. But this does not mean that we will ignore enforcement in communities that have tried to establish regulatory schemes.”
The LBPD did not reply to the Post‘s request for comment. The ban exemptions for the 18 collectives terminate on August 12.