Marijuana and Money
Federal authorities have seized nearly $250,000 from the accounts of two Sacramento area dispensaries in a probe into alleged concealment of medical marijuana proceeds.
U.S. Magistrate Gregory G. Hollows approved two warrants Sept. 22, allowing authorities to seize business checking accounts from operators of the One Love Wellness Center dispensary in Sacramento and Mary Jane's Wellness in Gold River.
The warrants, sought by a U.S. Treasury Department criminal task force, alleged the two dispensaries may have violated U.S. financial laws through irregular banking deposits to avoid detection by the Internal Revenue Service.
Marijuana and Guns
Firearms dealers in states that allow medical marijuana can’t sell guns or ammunition to registered users of the drug, a policy that marijuana and gun-rights groups say denies Second Amendment rights to individuals who are following state law.
Federal law already makes it illegal for someone to possess a gun if he or she is “an unlawful user of, or addicted to” marijuana or other controlled substances. A Sept. 21 letter from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives [available here], issued in response to numerous inquiries from gun dealers, clarifies that medical marijuana patients are included in that definition.
The Blaze, 9/29/11; but see Sent Law & Policy, 5/19/11, reporting that Oregon Supreme Court has held that federal law does not permit the state to withhold concealed weapon permits on the basis of drug use to medical marijuana card holders.