WARNING-ALL MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES IN LOS ANGELES

Tomorrow, District Atty. Steve Cooley and Los Angeles City Attorney 
Carmen Trutanich will be speaking at a luncheon training meeting of 
narcotics officers in the greater Los Angeles area.

Before you read further, it is necessary to relate why I am writing to 
you authoritatively. I have been practicing criminal law in Los Angeles 
for 35 years, am the past president of the Los Angeles Criminal Courts 
Bar Assoc. Cooley and I have been friends for roughly 20 years. Between 
my trying death penalty cases, I enjoy representing growers, vendors and 
clinics in the medical marijuana community and now represent a dozen 
Southern California clinics on a monthly retainer basis, and I have been 
doing so since 2005. If you need more of my bona fides, go to my 
website: havecrimewilltravel.com. This is not an advertisement. IT IS 
THE BASIS FOR THE WARNING THAT FOLLOWS:

I met privately with Mr. Cooley last Friday for roughly 90 minutes. With 
respect to our discussions re medical marijuana clinics, I am now 
convinced that clinic raids likely will occur sometime within the next 
week or two. The basis for my opinion is Dist. Atty. Cooley's 
representation to me that tomorrow's luncheon is about strategy and 
tactics, and therefore attendance at the meeting is limited to law 
enforcement only. (I tongue-in-cheek offered to buy Cooley and Trutanich 
lunch if I could come, but was smilingly turned down. Also not a good 
sign for clinic owners...)

If the DA and the City Attorney had concerns about their legal 
interpretation of SB 420, it is my opinion that tomorrow's training 
would not be about tactics. The word "tactics" connotes preparation for 
action, and preparation for action when directed at narcotics officers 
overwhelmingly suggests preparations for raids.

"Tactics" in this case probably means educating the narcs regarding 
their search warrant affidavits - i.e., what factual rendition that 
would cause a judge to believe an officer's representation that a felony 
was being committed inside the clinic. The prosecutors are relying on 
the last two pages of the California Supreme Court decision in People 
versus Mentch, in which Justice Werdegar, writing for a unanimous Court, 
states that marijuana may not be sold by someone outside a collective to 
a collective owner, manager or member.

The prosecutors object to clinics that operate at great profit to the 
owners (taking them outside the nonprofit status of SB 420). They also 
object to the vast proliferation of clinics, especially in the city of 
Los Angeles (and more especially during a ban on clinics opening while 
the hardship process occurred).

2) They also object to the vast proliferation of clinics, especially in 
the City of Los Angeles (and more especially considering the 
proliferation during a ban on clinics opening while the hardship process 
occurred).

So DO THIS NOW to protect yourselves and your patients: 

1) Protect your patient records. If you use computers and a modem to run 
your business you may be a "provider" within the meaning of the federal 
HIPAA medical privacy laws, and your patients' physician's 
recommendations must be protected. In addition, the medical information 
falls within Article 1, Section 1 privacy provisions of the California 
Constitution. I assure you that the narcs will not care about HIPAA or 
the State Constitution and will seize your records. Let your lawyer 
worry about that problem. We actually have skills for this sort of thing.

2) My advice: A) duplicate your entire patient list and physicians' 
recommendations in the next few days, preferably on computer, and 
preferably cached in a place that is secure (your house is not secure). 
They will hit your house and take your computer, as well as the clinic's 
computer. Store the records encrypted online or on a CD or DVD or for 
that matter, a USB transport drive); B) your patient books must remain 
onsite for you to legally conduct business. However, your accounting 
books, correspondence and other papers should be removed and stored in a 
safe place, again not your residence. If the cops want your books, the 
DA knows how to issue a subpoena, and hopefully your lawyer knows how to 
quash one; C) The narcs will especially be looking for "pays and owes", 
i.e., notes or lists of what marijuana you purchased, at what price and 
what you sold that product for at a presumably higher price. It does not 
matter whether you have used aliases or encrypted names. The list is the 
list and is a nasty piece of prosecution evidence if the disparity of 
what you paid and what you sold for is substantial. Put it somewhere 
safe. They will try to decrypt it, and at a minimum, use expert 
testimony to explain its intricacies to a jury.

3) Minimize your on-site inventory. They are going to take it, so the 
more you have, the more you will lose. If somebody else gets hit, 
breathe a sigh of relief after the next round is over.

4) If you are raided, the cops will order you to open the safe. 
Presumably, the warrant will cover the contents in any safe, which means 
their order is legal (read the warrant - they have to give you a copy). 
Open the safe if the cops order it. If you don't cooperate, they will 
have locksmiths drill the safe. Why waste a good safe? Obviously, it 
would be good to have nothing of significance inside the safe.
5) These raids will make no sense unless the cops make arrests. The cops 
may arrest all employees in the dispensary, or just the manager, or just 
the owner, etc.. We have no way of knowing who or how many in advance. 
You probably will be charged with violating Health & Safety Code Sec. 
11359 (possession for sale - a felony). Bail for Sec. 11359 is $20,000 
for under a pound, $25,000 for more than 1 lb., $30,000 for more than 10 
pounds, $50,000 for more than 25 pounds and $100,000 for over 50 pounds. 
If you have edibles, they will count the weight of each entire brownie, 
etc. The smaller the inventory the smaller your bail. Assume you or your 
employees are going to get arrested NOW, not later, and make 
preparations to pay for bail. The cops also may cheat and weigh the weed 
inside its container. Shit happens. Just be ready. Jail is unpleasant.

6) Put aside a serious chunk of money NOW for lawyers. If you own a 
clinic, you may have a very hard time qualifying for public defender or 
indigent defense legal services. Employees are more likely to get 
appointed counsel since they make relatively small money. DO NOT put 
your bail or attorney money into your BANK. As soon as they can find 
bank statements, check books, etc., they are going to freeze your 
accounts, and then try to forfeit your money. They also will tell the 
bank not to let you have access to your accounts, and your bank will 
obey. Make alternative plans with people you can trust. You are simply 
trying to keep your business going under potential adverse 
circumstances. Your business is legal under California law, and you 
should take appropriate precautions. Think earthquake, etc..

7) DO NOT under any circumstance deposit or withdraw $10,000 or more 
from your bank. They are required to report such transactions to the 
FBI. They also may, but are not required to, report smaller cash 
deposits and withdrawals.

  * the Herb Folks are deeply indebted to this brother. God Bless him.

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