Last Thursday, Sacramento-based U.S. attorney Benjamin Wagner’s office issued a forfeiture suit against [dispensary] Grass’ landlord. His reasoning is that the club is not just breaking federal law by trafficking illegal marijuana, but is also operating within 1,000 feet of a school.
The suit was the first such action in the region, and it sent a message not just to the Sacramento medical-cannabis community, but marijuana activists nationwide:
Uncle Sam is serious.
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There could also be more bad news for the local marijuana community next week: According to spokeswoman Horwood, there will be a second round of landlord letters in U.S. attorney Wagner’s eastern district, which includes Sacramento, scheduled to be sent.
“There’s more letters that are going out,” she confirmed, adding that “presumably, there might be more suits going out” as well. She would not specify how many letters or suits, or if they would target aspects of the medical-cannabis industry outside dispensing and cultivation.
Within the past month, two other dispensaries—1 Love Wellness on El Camino Boulevard and Midtown Collective on P Street—have shuttered due to federal pressure against landlords.
Horwood would not confirm if U.S. marshals visited the dispensaries’ landlords to pressure them to close, but multiple sources have told SN&R that this was the case.
The city of Sacramento continues to freeze its permitting process for dispensaries and, according to spokeswoman Amy Williams, this will remain unchanged.