Last year Colorado voted to legalize recreational marijuana, with retail sales set to begin on January 1. But the feds are going after businesses preparing for the new market.
Last week 10 locations were raided by agents from the Drug Enforcement Agency and Internal Revenue Service, and no one is sure why because no arrests were made and documents remain sealed.
Even though the new state law conflicts with federal law, the U.S. Department of Justice had said last August it would pretty much ignore states that allow recreational pot as long as it’s kept away from children, criminal cartels, other states and federal property.
Though there could have been cause for the Colorado raids, many question the military-style methods used by the agents - like breaking windows in the middle of the day. Whatever the cause, their message of intimidation is clear - selling pot in Colorado can be risky.
Tell the DEA to respect state drug laws and leave legal marijuana growers alone.
We, the undersigned, are opposed to federal agencies intimidating businesses in states were marijuana sales are legal.
We also question the military-style methods being used in the raids, which news sources say included breaking windows of businesses that were open and during broad daylight.
Also, there seems to be no legal justification at all for at least some of the raids. According to the Denver Post, raiders confiscated $1 million worth of plants from Boulder’s Swiss Medical, without any explanation or requiring that they cease and desist planting.
As one retailer pointed out to ABC News, pot businesses will not be treated like other businesses that don’t follow regulations, noting that the feds didn’t break any of JP Morgan’s windows over bad mortgages.
What appears to be going on is an operation to intimidate all the legal pot growers and retailers in the state, as well as other states that plan to legalize recreational marijuana.
We request that the DEA respect state drug laws and honor the DOJ’s promise to leave legal marijuana growers alone.
