A federal court has ruled that California regulators must comply with a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) subpoena demanding information about marijuana businesses.
The DEA initially asked for unredacted documents concerning three licensed cannabis distributors and people associated with the businesses last year. But when officials with the California Bureau of Cannabis Control didn’t turn them over, the federal agency issued the subpoena in January. The state declined to comply, prompting the feds to take the dispute to court.
California officials argued that DEA failed to adequately explain the relevance to an investigation and providing the documents would violate state privacy laws. In response, the agency disclosed in a court filing last month that it the materials were relevant to an ongoing investigation into possible illegal importation and transportation of "marijuana oil" from Mexico by certain licensees.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Lopez with the Southern District of California Court sided with DEA on Monday, finding that the agency’s subpoena met the requirements for an enforceable request.
“The Court finds that the United States has sufficiently established the relevancy of the subpoena to meet the ‘not especially constraining’ standard,” the judge wrote in an order. “The Court does not find that the subpoena is too indefinite or broad.”
“The Court finds that the records sought in the subpoena—’all documents including unredacted cannabis license(s), unredacted cannabis license application(s), and unredacted shipping manifest(s)’—are relevant to an investigation into importation or transportation of marijuana ‘crude oil’ from Mexico by specific licensees. The Court thus finds that the subpoena and the communication between the agencies together are sufficient to establish the relevance of the requested records to the investigation.”
It’s not clear if the state will appeal the decision.
The targeted cannabis businesses and owners have not been named in documents that have been publicly released in the case.
This latest development in the legal dispute comes three months after a Justice Department whistleblower accused Attorney General William Barr of directing investigations into 10 cannabis firm mergers because of the top prosecutor’s alleged personal animus for the industry.
That said, a top department official said in a letter to Congress that those actions are better understood as helping to ensure consumers have affordable access to products in a competitive cannabis market—a curious position for the federal government to take.
In a separate recent legal proceeding, a federal appeals court last month denied a request from the DEA to dismiss a lawsuit challenging marijuana’s current classification under federal law.
Read the federal court’s response to the DEA and California cannabis case below:
Case 3:20-cv-01375-BEN-LL Document 6 Filed 08/31/20 PageID.48 Page 1 of 7
Federal court and DEA must be fought until the elections 2020 is over and then there will be appeals and more and more appeals until hell freezes over...DEA needs to make clear who is their boss now and why, do they have a puppeteer license from the State of Califas?
ReplyDeleteQue no mamen, pinshis güeyes.
La tierra es del que la trabaja,
y la pinche yerba tamién.
Business is slow so this is what the DEA wants now.Instead of defunding the cops just defund the DEA,the war on drugs is pointless anyways there is no war,it was a war on minorities learn your history.
ReplyDeletePessimism, failure, resignation, and defeat is strong with this one. Just give up, roll over, and let the bandits run through you.
DeletePlenty of whites in prison with lenghty sentences for drug crimes dont be ignorant. There are more hispanic judges in CA and AZ than white judges..that was the only states I checked so I doubt your claim holds water that its a war against minorities.
DeleteFacts!
DeleteI agree. Go after crimes that have victims. Let people judge for themselves what they put in their body. Alcohol and cigarettes are legal and far more dangerous
DeleteYeah because they're doing it all wrong guey. The generations of agricultura campesinos ain't gonna let nothing slip. There's nothing more potent then the dirt weed they grow.
ReplyDeleteI can not think of one single good thing that has come from the DEA. We have more drug users, more drugs on the street and at lower prices than any other time in history. Add to this the billions and billions of tax dollars that has been wasted locking up drug users. You would think that anymore that knew their ass from a hole in the ground could see this, but no. We live in a world where few people are brave enough to think for themselves. They let their leader like Trump or Jerry Farwell Jr tell them what to think. It shouldn't come as no surprise we have record levels of drug use, you have to stay high just to live in a nation full of so many dumb motherfuckers!! May God help us.
ReplyDelete8:14 i get high from smelling my crisp new 100 dollar bills, the only problen is i need more and more and more of them, i may need to start getting 1000 usd bills...
DeleteGo and look in the mirror. There is your answer.
DeleteCali just loves that slushy drug money, and the ends it could be used for.
ReplyDeleteYeah but they ain't doing nothing illegal, everything is legit
Delete5:34
ReplyDelete..and the minorities will never learn,
Siemore andan ahi de calientes!!!
But frankly my dear, i am convinced that a good chunk of the beautiful, affluent, rich and famous majority buy the most expensive drugs that make the business such a good moneymaker.
Porque los ricos también lloran y tambien les gusta andar ahi nomás de calientes, pero con piores resultados, b/c honey often can't get it up and when he can there is always those headaches "saying not tonight"