During the NORML SHOW LIVE on Monday, 2/14/11, Russ Belville expressed his concern that some organizations in the Portland area are pushing the limits of the Oregon medical cannabis laws and that there is a real possibility that the state could take away what progress has been made if these laws are blatantly abused.
Well, the Oakland, CA City Attorney John Russo sent a letter to the City Council saying he and his office would no longer represent the city on the matter of the city’s plan to continue on with large scale industrial pot farms, even after a Feb. 1 letter from U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag making quite clear that the Department of Justice does not look kindly on the kind of large-scale industrial pot cultivation plans that Oakland is contemplating.
Be careful, Oakland. If you get greedy, our national efforts could suffer.
(The Recorder) SAN FRANCISCO — Oakland has hired Meyers Nave Riback Silver & Wilson to press ahead with its plan to authorize large-scale medical marijuana farming operations. Last week, City Attorney John Russo sent a letter to the City Council saying he and his office would no longer represent the city on the matter. He did so after the council introduced revised legislation on the pharmaceutical pot-growing plan in spite of recent warnings of potential criminal liability from both the district attorney and the U.S. attorney.
Russo’s withdrawal has enflamed relations with the city’s new mayor and several councilmembers who accuse him of putting politics before his client’s interest.
In a letter notifying the city council that he was withdrawing, Russo cited Rule 3-700 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct, which includes a section explaining that a lawyer may withdraw from matters if the client wants to pursue an illegal course of conduct.
Such withdrawals are rare, lawyers say. The San Francisco city attorney’s office, for example, refused to defend a 1968 commuter tax because it was illegal — a conclusion that the California Supreme Court ultimately confirmed.
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