Feds Forced To Give Back $14K Seized From Pot Dispensary

Graphic: Hollywood Goodfella

​Federal authorities agreed last week to give back nearly half of the $29,350 in cash seized from a man who represents a man who operates a medical marijuana dispensary in San Marcos, California.

The decision to return $14,383 — about 49 percent of the money seized — was part of a settlement that stems from a December incident in which Ron Chang, the man behind the collective, was stopped by federal agents while hauling marijuana on Pala Road, reports Teri Figueroa of the North County Times.

Law enforcement claims that smugglers use the well-traveled back road to avoid the border checkpoint near Temecula on Interstate 15.

Chang’s attempt to set up a dispensary caused a stir in conservative San Marcos, which enacted rules preventing any such businesses from setting up shop in the city of about 84,000 residents.

His first dispensary, Medical Marijuana Supply Collective, was shut down by a Vista-based judge’s order back in October. A second shop, Club One Collective, was then set up in the same location, and in April was ordered to close by the same judge.

Both times, the city of San Marcos sued in state court to shut down the dispensaries.

The property has now been surrendered to the landlord, and there are no plans to reopen the dispensaries, according to Club One’s attorney, Nathan Shaman.

“For all intents and purposes, Club One has ceased to function,” said Shaman, who represented the shop in the cases brought by San Marcos.

He also represented the dispensary in the federal battle over the confiscated cash.

The government gave back more of the ash than it typically does in such seizure cases, admitted Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Smith, who represented the federal government in the case of the seized cash.

“I reviewed it and looked at the events and the quality of the evidence and decided that this was the best thing to do,” Smith said, admitting that the disparity between state and federal laws regarding medical marijuana can create “a real conundrum.”

Club One and some of the medical marijuana patients it served from Oceanside to Temecula found themselves the subjects of raids in April. Federal agents seized computers, corporate records and documents, according to Shaman.

The April raids came just four months after Chang’s run-in with federal agents after he got stopped and his cash was seized.

Details of that December encounter are revealed in a federal complaint seeking to permanently seize the cash found in the truck. That complaint — filed on April 15, two weeks before the raids — says that on December 21, 2010, a U.S. Border Patrol agent pulled Chang over as he drove a truck north on Pala Road.

About 9:40 a.m. on that day, a veteran Border Patrol agent in a marked car spotted a man in a red sweatshirt, driving a rented box-truck with Indiana license plates. The agent claimed he saw the truck driver shift to look into his rearview mirror at the marked Border Patrol car.

According to court documents, the agent claimed that prompted him to follow the truck as it headed north on Pala Road into Temecula.

Once that truck merged onto I-15, the agent flipped on his lights and siren and pulled it over. Chang was the driver, and authorities said he was headed to drop off items at his warehouse business in Murrieta.

Agents claim Chang consented to a search of his truck. Agents claim the search turned up $29,350 cash in a duffel bahg, 1.22 pounds of marijuana, and growing equipment.

Marijuana Activists Hold Sit-In At San Diego Council Meeting

Photo: G. Creighton/10 News

Five medical marijuana activists including San Diego ASA’s Eugene Davidovich (closest to camera) were arrested at Tuesday’s City Council meeting

​Five medical marijuana activists staged a 45-minute sit-in Tuesday in the San Diego City Council chambers, protesting the final passage of a local medicinal cannabis ordinance which advocates say imposes a citywide de facto ban on collectives.

The set of strict zoning and public safety regulations for the dispensaries was passed on second reading by the Council, with no changes to what was approved the first time around, reports 10 News.

Passage came on a pair of 5-2 votes, despite vocal opposition among audience members who opposed the stringent regulations.

During the hearing, members of the “Stop the Ban Campaign” — a coalition of more than 20 local, state and national groups spearheaded by Canvass for a Cause and the San Diego chapter of Americans for Safe Access (ASA) — repeatedly chanted “We demand safe access,” disrupting the session, forcing the council to clear the chambers, and postponing a critical vote on the ordinance.

The five advocates remained in the council chamber for at least 45 minutes after the votes were taken, chanting slogans and singing “We Shall Overcome,” despite being threatened with arrest. They left after the meeting ended and were not arrested.

The Stop the Ban Campaign has demanded that the City Council amend its ordinance to a compliance period that will avoid the immediate closure of more than 100 facilities currently serving thousands of area patients, and to open up available space so that collectives can actually relocate.

Unfortunately, despite years of study, thoughtful recommendations from a city-appointed task force, countless letters received from constituents, hundreds of supporters at the last public hearing, the City Council has so far refused to acknowledge the recommendations of experts and the will of the people.

The council members refused to go forward with changes requested by the medical marijuana advocates, including an expansion of allowable zones in which to operate, a reduction in the distance of setbacks and allowing current dispensaries to keep operating while owners apply for a conditional use permit.

Photo: Peter Holslin

Eugene Davidovich, San Diego ASA: “One way or another San Diego patients will gain safe access to their medication”

“The patient community in San Diego will not be deterred despite the efforts of the City Council,” said Eugene Davidovich, chair of ASA San Diego. Davidovich was one of the protest organizers, and one of the five people in the sit-in Tuesday.

“One way or another San Diego patients will gain safe access to their medication, but it would be much more effective for the city to work with us instead of fighting us at every step of the way,” Davidovich said.

Prior to the bill’s first reading on March 28, the Stop the Ban Campaign organized the largest letter-writing campaign in the city’s history, during which San Diego residents wrote in opposition to the ordinance, requesting the passage of specific amendments. The ordinance was also opposed by the chair and vice-chair of the city’s Medical Marijuana Task Force.

Left with few options, activists chose nonviolent civil disobedience to protest the council’s decision to ignore years of citizen and expert input into the development of sensible medical marijuana regulations.

Advocates are now urging San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders to reject the bill and tell the City Council to come back with a version that reflects the community’s input.

While litigation is likely to result from the passage of the ordinance in its current form, there is another move afoot. The San Diego chapter of ASA, in collaboration with the Stop the Ban Campaign, submitted a ballot proposal to the city clerk on Monday in an attempt to put the issue before the voters.

A little-used process involving the city’s Rules Committee could prompt a public hearing on the proposed measure, and if approved by the committee it would be sent to the council to be put on the next election’s ballot.