Here’s the official report from the latest raids in Montana.  If you needed any more evidence that our marijuana prohibition is nothing more than an elaborate job creation program for cops, prisons, and rehabs, just check out this list of law enforcement organizations that participated in shutting down the storefronts of caregivers in Montana:

(KXLF Butte) Agencies involved in the investigation include the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Environmental Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Customs and Border Protection-Border Patrol, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. These federal agencies were assisted by the Montana Division of Criminal Investigations, and local High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task forces, the Northwest Drug Task Force, the Kalispell Police Department, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, the Missoula Police Department, the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office, the Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, the Great Falls Police Department, the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office, the Central Montana Drug Task Force, the Billings Police Department, the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office, the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, the Dillon Police Department, the Beaverhead County Sheriff’s Office, the Park County Sheriff’s Office, the Bozeman Police Department, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, the Missouri River Drug Task Force, the Helena Police Department, the Lewis & Clark Sheriff’s Office, and the Eastern Montana Drug Task Force – Miles City.

Here is the reason why all these cops were hard at work for eighteen months.  However, there was a problem in transcribing the news release – some of the release was mysteriously redacted.  So I took the liberty of putting the missing words back into the copy, which you can identify by the emphasis:

The businesses that provide medicine to sick people that were targeted were believed to be in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, the release states.

“Specifically, it is alleged in the search warrants, civil seizure warrants and related documents that the premises or property identified were involved in some or all of the following violations of federal law: manufacture of marijuana medicine for sick people in accordance with state law and possession with intent to distribute marijuana medicine to sick people, and distribution of marijuana medicine to sick people in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841, conspiracy to commit the offenses of manufacture of marijuana medicine for sick people, possession with intent to distribute marijuana medicine to sick people and distribution of marijuana medicine to sick people in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846, structuring or assisting in structuring any transaction to evade currency reporting requirements or causing or attempting to cause a domestic financial institution to fail to file Currency Transaction Reports in violation of 31 U.S.C. §§ 5324(a)(1) and (3),” the release states.

The reason those emphasized words have been redacted is to get the caregivers on trial used to the fact they can’t say those words in federal court.  There is no medical marijuana.  There is no medicine.  There are no patients and caregivers.  All those cancer patients and compassionate farmers are just felons to the feds.

So I can see why DEA, ICE, IRS, ATFE, FBI, EPA, and OSHA* are involved.  Why do we have all those county cops involved in enforcing federal law?  Those search warrants are all alleging violations of federal law, not state law.  State and local cops aren’t obliged to enforce federal laws.  They have to make the choice to assist.

Montanans, how do you feel about your tax dollars being wasted to prosecute caregivers and patients

*Interesting anagram: DEATH AIRBASE? A COFFEE I SIP.

Just as the Montana Judiciary committee deadlocked 6-6 on passing HB 161, the bill to fully repeal the Montana Medical Marijuana Act, we get word this morning of federal and local law enforcement raiding caregivers in multiple locations in the Big Sky State.

First, the good news:

(The Missoulian) HELENA – A Senate committee failed on a tie vote to endorse a bill that would repeal Montana’s medical marijuana law.

The Senate Judiciary Committee locked up 6-6 on a motion to pass House Bill 161, by House Speaker Mike Milburn, R-Cascade, to repeal the law passed by voters in 2004. The repeal bill passed the House earlier this session.

Five Republicans senators, joined by Democratic Sen. Larry Jent of Bozeman, voted in favor of HB161.

Four Democratic senators, jointed by Republican Sens. Chas Vincent of Libby and Terry Murphy of Cardwell, opposed the bill.

Montana Caregivers, with two raid cops taking a break (courtesy Montana NORML)

Now the bad news:

(The Missoulian) Federal raids hit medical marijuana shops around Montana Monday morning, causing an uproar in a community already roiled by high-profile attempts to regulate it.

“The timing is impeccable,” said Chris Lindsey, a Missoula attorney who specializes in medical marijuana cases, about the fact that the raids unfolded as a state Senate committee deadlocked on a bill to repeal the 2004 voter initiative that legalized marijuana.

“They’re seizing everything – plants, marijuana, grow equipment, files and computers. It’s very, very broad in its scope,” Lindsey said, who retains a lingering business interest in Montana Cannabis, one of the businesses where federal search warrants were executed.

The huge Montana Cannabis greenhouse in Helena was included in the raids, with authorities from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, Lewis and Clark County and Helena police taking part, according to the Associated Press. At least eight people were led away from the greenhouse in handcuffs, according to the AP report.

Our Montana Affiliate, Montana NORML, has been liveblogging the latest news.  They report the “smash and grab” tactics Californians are already familiar with, destroying ballasts, lights, seizing cash, computers, and lots of cannabis, but not charging anyone with crimes or arresting people.  Caregivers raided include Good Medicine Providers (Columbia Falls), 4 Seasons, CEG, Outlaw Hill (Livingston), Big Sky Patient Care (Bozeman), MCM (Bozeman), A Kinder Caregiver (Bozeman, Butte, Billings), Montana Cannabis (Helena), MT Cannabis (Missoula), Northern Light Medical (Kalispell), and Yellowstone Patient Care (Billings).

Montana NORML reports the raids are being overseen by the US Attorney’s office, specifically Victoria L. Francis, the Financial Litigation Unit Chief.  Because, you know, there isn’t any larger financial criminals to go after these days…

This story is just previews of coming attractions, folks.

(San Jose Mercury News) Drug agents in recent weeks have raided three local medical marijuana providers. Several other collectives, including Harborside Health Center, one of the area’s largest and best-established, have simply closed, fearing an imminent bust.

In addition to the recent raids, South Bay narcotics agents also ran a sting operation dubbed Up in Smoke against medical marijuana delivery services, arresting almost two dozen suspects officials accused of “perverting” the state’s medicinal marijuana law.

Santa Clara County Special Enforcement Team Commander Danielle Ayers defended the raids in an interview, saying the marijuana sellers were nothing more than profiteering drug peddlers and that their activities were drawing complaints. She noted the number of marijuana dispensaries has multiplied to 88 in the county, mostly in San Jose, in just two years.

In recently unsealed affidavits attached to two of the raids, narcotics agents accused the dispensaries of selling pot for profit, violating state guidelines that medical marijuana be distributed only by nonprofits.

In their investigation of Angel’s Care, undercover agents who bought marijuana with such names as “Orange Kush” and “Grapefruit Diesel” argued in court documents that the operation sold pot for street prices 12 or 13 times the cost of growing it.

“I believe that it is highly improbable Angel’s Care Collective generated no profit from projected annual sales of $5,880,000, with a 75 percent markup on their marijuana,” wrote agent Dean Ackemann.

The thousands of “members” — Angel’s Care reported 6,500 — had no responsibilities or duties toward their cooperative/collective, documents said, other than the right to purchase pot.

The hundreds of thousands of people in California who think “I Gots Mine” are in for a tragic lesson over these next couple of years.  They are going to be taught by the apparent next Attorney General Steve Cooley that “non-profit” means officers who are paid a modest salary and proceeds that must be returned to the organization.  ”Cooperative” means your level of participation has to be more than just purchasing cannabis.  ”Collective” means everybody participates in the production of cannabis.  And sadly, they will discover that there really isn’t anything in California law that recognizes the right to sell cannabis

At least, according to Steve Cooley, who once opined that nearly 100% of the dispensaries operating in Los Angeles County are illegal.

The raids are still reprehensible.  Destroying property, terrorizing people, and thwarting patients are all despicable acts, especially over a non-toxic herb, regardless of why it’s being used or who may profit from it.  I don’t wish for any dispensary to be raided and shut down, even those who used their cannabis profits to campaign against Prop 19.  However, if there are going to be raids and targets have to be prioritized, karma should put Lanette Davies at the head of the list.

But in every dark cloud, even one as full of acid rain as Steve Cooley, there is a silver lining.  46% of Californians voted for Prop 19.  Some natural supporters may have voted no or not voted because of problems with the specific language.  Some others may have been dissuaded by the ‘Stoners Against Legalization’ and their own perception that “I Gots Mine” and marijuana is legal enough already.  These raids and Cooley’s forthcoming anti-cannabis crusade will awaken these people to realize that what they have isn’t much when the rest of us are still criminals.

It’s just too bad some very sick and disabled people will have to suffer restricted access so the “anxiety” patients in the mosh pit at the Cypress Hill Smokeout can learn a political lesson the hard way.  (But at least Richard Lee won’t be getting rich off George Soros’ Monsanto frankenseeds and schwaggy Philip Morris joints you can only buy in Oakland.  At least college seniors won’t be made felons when they toke with freshmen and parents won’t be imprisoned when they smoke in the same apartment building as a minor.  At least the Emerald Triangle growers don’t have to worry about “WalMartization” and the doctors who write permission slips still have jobs.)

Warning: the following video shows federal agents a week ago engaging in an armed raid of an incredibly dangerous retail medical marijuana shop in Las Vegas.  Pay close attention to the peril and risk faced by these brave law enforcers, protected only by goggles, flak jackets, body armor, riot shields, and automatic weapons.  Those officers could very well have suffered a paper cut collecting all that paperwork!

(8 News Now – Las Vegas) A day after five medical marijuana centers across the Las Vegas valley were raided as part of a federal investigation, some are once again back in business and call the raid nothing more than a scare tactic.

The raid conducted between the FBI, Las Vegas police and the DEA did not result in any arrests or charges at this point, which has some owners thinking the entire operation was the government throwing it’s weight around.

According to a search warrant, authorities were looking for things like marijuana plants, paraphernalia, growing products, books, records and invoices. But [the dispensary owner] says if that was indeed the case, why did agents remove items like an iPod, Playstation 3, and a Nintendo Wii, but leave items like pipes, books, financial records, and even items he says will allow him to start growing once again.

We’ve seen the same tactics in Colorado and California – smash and grabs by the federal police that never result in charges or arrests. Tactics that have been in use since the Clinton Administration, perfected in the Bush Administration, and seemingly embraced by the Obama Administration. The only purposes of the raids are intimidation and disruption of business, nothing more.

When the Mob ransacks legal businesses and intimidates their owners, it’s called “criminal harassment”. When al Qaeda does it, it’s called “terrorism”. When our government does it, it’s called “drug law enforcement”.

Somebody's pants are on fire, Mr. Attorney General...

(The Daily Caller) Despite campaign promises to the contrary, the Department of Justice under President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder hasn’t stopped raiding marijuana dispensaries operating in states where sale of the drug is legal for medical purposes. But the DOJ has demonstrated one marked change now that it’s under Democratic control: The department has stopped publicizing medical marijuana raids, both by requesting that more cases be sealed under court order and by refusing to distribute press releases.

Late last week, DEA and FBI agents raided five medical marijuana dispensaries in Nevada. In July, DEA agents raided the home of 65-year-old Mendocino County, California, grower Joy Greenfield and confiscated plants, money, and her computer. Also in July, DEA agents raided the home of a couple in Michigan who were licensed by the state to use marijuana, as well as three medical marijuana dispensaries in San Diego. In January and February of this year, the DEA raided two medical marijuana research labs in Colorado.

In all of the above cases, the DEA and the U.S. Attorneys’ offices issued no press releases and held no press conferences. The websites for DEA and the U.S. Attorneys’ offices in Detroit, Denver, Northern California, and Los Angeles (which also handles cases in Nevada) make no mention of the above dispensary raids, but do feature news releases for raids, arrests, and investigations involving harder drugs, as well marijuana trafficking, which is illegal in all states.

If a battering ram breaks down the doors of a dispensary in a forest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?  The only major difference between the Obama and Bush Administrations when it comes to the DEA raiding the legal providers of medicine to the sick and disabled is that Bush liked to brag about it to his base while Obama knows his base doesn’t like this activity at all.  Obama has even kept on Bush’s head at the DEA, Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart, who said that the escalating drug war violence in Mexico is a sign of success in pressuring the Mexican drug-trafficking organizations.

President Obama faces a formidable challenge in gaining re-election in a political climate turned off by Wall Street bailouts, continued war, staggering unemployment, Democratic malaise, and a burgeoning “Tea Party” movement on the right.  Now he alienates the over half million medical marijuana patients in 14 states and the 16.7 million monthly cannabis users by not only breaking the promise not to raid dispensaries, but also by covering up the raids in a veil of official silence.

Meanwhile, a potential GOP candidate in former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is appealing to cannabis consumers by appearing at hempfests and the NORML National Conference, calling for legalization of cannabis.  The natural civil rights and organized labor base of the Democratic Party is endorsing California’s Prop 19 even as the president remains silent on the biggest ballot issue of the November election.  Democrats and self-described liberals and voters below age 50 overwhelmingly support Prop 19 specifically and legalization generally.  Has Obama positioned himself far outside the mainstream of his own party by applying Clinton-era (Rahm Emanuel) political analysis of the marijuana issue?

Could fed-up cannabis consumers be the wedge vote that makes Barack Obama a one-term president?

"Help us top 1,000 signatures and I will deliver the petition to PETA and the Humane Society to join us in ending the killing of family pets in the drug war." - Joanna Krupa (courtesy JoannaKrupa.com)

I just received this email from my colleague Shaleen Title over at Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP):

So I can’t remember if I told you this at the conference or not, but I have a friend of a friend, Joanna, who is a model and is big into animal rights. She has posed for PETA and is close with their leadership. LEAP has a petition about the Columbia, MO raid which is addressed to PETA and the Humane Society asking them to join forces with us in ending drug war raids that hurt animals. When we reach 1000 signatures, Joanna has agreed to deliver the petition to the PETA and Humane Society leaders on our behalf.

Friend-of-a-friend Joanna would be Joanna Krupa, one of the top supermodels in the world, with cover credits like Eqsuire, Maxim, FHM, and many fashion magazines.

What do you say, NORMLizers?  Let’s send everyone over to http://CopsSayLegalizeDrugs.com/animals and sign today!  Tweet it to everyone you know.  Let’s push this over 10,000 signatures!

First, from FOX Freedom Watch’s excellent Judge Napolitano:

Click here to view the embedded video.

"Maybe if someone tried to make a coat out of me, then PETA would protest my death."

Second, from one of our loyal followers who contacted PETA about the Missouri SWAT Dog Shooting:

Thank you for contacting PETA.

We share your concern about the circumstances under which these dogs were shot. We understand that the responsible agency is conducting a thorough internal review of the incident, and we sincerely hope that this review will lead to policy changes that will ensure that it is never repeated.

These tragedies happen more often than one would imagine. It seems we’re inundated with calls every week from people whose dogs were shot by law-enforcement personnel. Officers appropriately resort to deadly force when they believe that their lives, or the lives of others, are in danger. But sometimes officials draw their guns unnecessarily or too quickly. Regardless, it’s important that all officials whose work brings them in contact with animals be trained to deal with animal situations effectively and humanely. We often recommend that agencies take advantage of the National Animal Control Association’s training programs (http://www.nacanet.org) for that reason.

If, after reviewing state law (http://www.animallaw.com) and local law (http://www.municode.com), it is believed that a government agency wrongfully injured or killed a companion animal, the shooter could face prosecution, and the animal’s guardians may be able to sue.

It is important for any companion-animal guardian to be familiar with the laws that afford their loved ones protection from every kind of abuse. For more information at your fingertips, you may wish to read Dog Law: A Legal Guide for Dog Owners and Their Neighbors, by Mary Randolph.

Thank you again for writing and for your concern for animals.

Sincerely,

The PETA Staff

…but PETA’s not going to do jack about it by publicizing this as much as they’d protest some actress wearing a fur coat or a biker wearing a leather jacket.

Third, as the video is close to topping 1,000,000 views, the Columbia Police apologists have come out in force on the blogs, including this one, to put a rest to all the “misinformation” out there:

Kinloch Court Search Warrant Update

Columbia Police officers served a search warrant at 1501 Kinloch Court, in Columbia, at 8:27 p.m., on February 11, 2010. The search warrant entry team consisted of eight SWAT members and the perimeter team consisted of three officers, one of whom is a SWAT member.

Upon entry, the officers immediately encountered two dogs. During the search warrant, one of the dogs was shot and killed. This dog was a breed commonly referred to as a “pit bull”.

According to the search warrant affidavit, this is what the officers knew as they were barging in late at night in full body armor and toting automatic weapons:

There is reason to believe the crime of “MARIJUANA, A SCHEDULE I CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE and the evidence of the crime of drug trafficking to include records, phone numbers, cash, and apparatuses to facilitate the use and distribution of controlled substances” is being committed at the residence.

“[A] cooperating citizen with a history of truthfulness and reliability… advised Jonathan Whitworth is selling large amounts of high grade marijuana in the Columbia area.”

“[A]nother cooperating citizen who has proven reliable and truthful on numerous occasions… has observed a large amount of high grade marijuana inside Whitworth’s residence within the past 10 days.”

“During an examination of the contents ofthese trash bags, I found… a baggy containing [THC] residue and numerous items of drug paraphemalia with [THC] residue on them.”

“Jonathan Whitworth has numerous previous arrests including resisting arrest, possession of marijuana, delivery, manufacturing controlled substance prior/persistent offender and DWI. The Columbia Police Department has received information dating back to 2003 indicating Whitworth’ s involvement in the sales and distribution of controlled substances.”

Notably absent from this crack detective work and plea to a judge to allow Detective Dogkiller and his stormtrooper buddies free reign to bust in Whitworth’s door and start discharging automatic weapons…

• Whitworth is living in the home with his wife and 7-year-old son.
• Whitworth has two dogs, a pit bull and a corgi, in the residence.

Do you think a judge would be so quick to sign that warrant with that information?  (Don’t answer, because he probably would.)  So this entire invasion was based on pot that wasn’t there with no knowledge of children and pets that were there?  Didn’t your garbage snoop turn up any kids juice boxes, baggies of dog poop, or anything other than discarded pot baggies and pipes?  Did you not observe anything at the home over eight days between warrant and raid to indicate there were dogs and a child present?

The defendant, Jonathon Whitworth, was arrested.

The police department has received numerous inquiries from citizens who have received misinformation. While the investigation is still ongoing, the department recognizes the need to provide information prior to its conclusion to clarify some specific questions, many of which are based on misinformation.

* The pit-bull type breed dog was not confined; it was not in a cage and it was not behind a gate.
* The other dog, described as a Corgi, was not killed. This dog is believed to have been struck once.

“Believed to have been struck”?  What, we need further investigation to determine whether the audible yelping in the video and the visible damage to a corgi’s paw was the result of your officer’s gunfire?  And oh, it was a pit bull that was killed, not the corgi?  Well, then, that makes it all OK, now, doesn’t it?  Pit bulls deserve to be killed, is that it?

* The defendant’s wife and child were at the residence. However, neither was in the presence of the officers or dogs when the dogs were shot.

Oh, so the child didn’t actually see Detective Dogkiller shoot his pets, he only had to hear gunshots, his pets yelping in agony and terror, and only saw one of his pets’ corpses as a body-armor-and-mask-clad stranger with a still-smoking weapon led him and mom out of the house while others were manhandling and screaming at his daddy.  Sure, there were seven bullets flying around the home, but none of them pierced the paper-thin walls to harm the child, so it’s all good, right?

* The officers did not force entry into the home. The door was unlocked and an officer opened it.

So, you’re telling me this big time drug dealer goes to bed at night without locking his front door?  A guy you presume to have large amounts of high-grade marijuana and cash related to drug trafficking in the home, a guy by your accounts is a repeat offender well versed in the drug trade, leaves his front door unlocked.

* The search warrant was not served for a misdemeanor amount of marijuana. The Columbia Police Department does not pursue search warrants for misdemeanor amounts of marijuana. The search warrant was for Marijuana, A Schedule I Controlled Substance and the evidence of the crime of drug trafficking. A copy of the affidavit is attached.

In other words, we only go to the trouble of bursting into homes at night, terrorizing women and children, and killing family pets if there’s more than 35 grams of marijuana involved and the suspect is selling it to other willing purchasers.

* A diversionary device or “flash bang” was not deployed during this incident

Police Chief Ken Burton requested the Internal Affairs Unit conduct an investigation into the uses of force involved in the incident. A total of seven shots were fired.

The investigative review also examines training practices, and the department’s current practices in general with regard to the service of search warrants. Since that time, the department has received inquiries from individuals expressing a desire to know if an investigation is being completed.

Upon being briefed about the incident Chief Burton concluded that this search warrant should not have been served in the delayed fashion that it was, but rather should have been disregarded when the department was not able to serve it within a reasonable time. He has made members of his department aware that policy changes with regard to search warrant service are underway. In the interim, he will personally be responsible for approving search warrants in which forced entry may be required.

See, the problem isn’t that we’re bursting into homes at night, terrorizing women and children, and killing family pets over marijuana.  The problem is timing.

When the internal investigation is complete, a news release will be issued with its results.

Many phone calls and e-mails are being received by the members of the police department, as well as other City departments, regarding this incident. The department is doing its best to reply with a statement to the inquiries that contain a legitimate e-mail address or phone numbers, and which include questions that we can answer at this time.

Chief Burton has proposed changes to the department’s Narcotic Search Warrant Service Protocol. View those changes here.
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Police/Documents/NarcoticsSearchWarrantProtocolChanges.pdf

View a copy of the search warrant affidavit here.
http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/Police/Documents/AffidavitKinlochCourtsearchwarrant.pdf

Make all the excuses you like, Chief, but it still boils down to this:

• Cops broke into a man’s home over marijuana.
• Cops fired seven bullets in a home where a child was sleeping.
• Cops killed one family pet and wounded another.
• Cops didn’t find any evidence of the felonies for which the warrant was served.

All these explanations are meaningless until you accept the premise that this level of force is appropriate to keep people from using marijuana. The proposed changes by the Columbia Police still allow for “dynamic entry” to bust into people’s homes to keep them from using marijuana. All this document represents is embarrassment that the cops were caught on video executing these commonplace tactics and promises to make sure that the next time they burst into a home late at night guns blazing to catch someone with marijuana, they’ll try to be sure there are no kids around.

Or as Pete Guither at DrugWarRant so eloquently puts it:

The proof of this failure is evident in the statement by Deputy Police Chief Tom Dresner:

“If we were searching for stolen televisions in his house, there is no reason for SWAT,” he said. “He can’t flush televisions.”

He doesn’t even get the wrongness underlying his statement.

The entire philosophy behind SWAT-style drug raids is that the death of a mother, a child, or the family pet is an acceptable risk to prevent flushing. (Deep Thoughts)

What makes it worse is that you can’t actually flush large amounts of marijuana.

Remember, folks, this isn’t just Columbia, Missouri, this is commonplace all across the United States and comes straight from the top.  Federal funds are abundantly distributed to local law enforcement agencies through mechanisms like Byrne Grants to buy military-style hardware and conduct aggressive anti-drug efforts.  This raid is the expected result of our national War on Marijuana Users.

We’ve told the story of drug war canicide – dog murder – before here on the Stash. From the LAPD dog killing during dispensary raids to the Buffalo man who pleaded with cops to let him put his beloved pets in another room before cops gunned them down, and even the mayor of a town in Maryland forced to sit handcuffed near a pool of his slaughtered black labs’ blood during a SWAT raid that turned out to be in error.

Don't be scared, Roscoe, I'll protect you from cop canicide!

This incident in Missouri happened in February and is just one of the 100-150 militaristic raids on homes every day in America, most often to serve narcotics warrants, which usually means marijuana, the substance involved in almost half of all drug arrests.  But never before have we brought you actual video of law enforcement protecting us from adults smoking a bowl in their own home and serving us by executing family pets in front of small children.

(Warning: if you love your dog as much as I love Roscoe P. Coltrane, my Jack Russell terrier, scratch its belly and get to your serenity place before you view this.  It is very disturbing.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you notice toward the end of the video you can see what appears to be a small bong on the coffee table.  The Columbia, Missouri SWAT team sure took down a big-time drug kingpin while he slept peacefully with his wife and seven-year-old child, huh?

(Columbia Daily-Tribune) Police discovered a grinder, a pipe and a small amount of marijuana, Haden said. Because the SWAT team acts on the most updated information available, the team wanted to enter the house before marijuana believed to be at the location could be distributed, she said.

“If you let too much time go by, then the drugs are not there,” she said.

Drug distributors traditionally have a history with firearms, which is why the SWAT team is used when executing such warrants, [police spokeswoman Officer Jessie] Haden said. If the SWAT team believed they could have executed the warrant successfully during the daytime when the wife and child were not present, they would have, she said.

Well, the “drugs” weren’t there, now, were they?  But let’s pretend they were.  Let’s say the man was holding enough marijuana to qualify for a felony charge in Missouri (over 35 grams).  Are we to understand that holding any more than an ounce and a quarter in Missouri is justification enough to send SWAT to burst into a man’s home late at night and start firing weapons and slaughtering his pets and terrorizing his wife and children?

A Welsh Corgi - the most feared ankle-biting vicious canine the Missouri SWAT have ever seen!

And what exactly is it that made the SWAT team believe it couldn’t execute a successful warrant in the daytime?  The presence of his pit bull and corgi (yes, these cops shot a corgi) or that his wife and child would be away so he wouldn’t mind going down guns blazing to protect his lucrative marijuana empire?  And if he had enough pot to have a lucrative marijuana empire worth shooting cops over, how exactly did he manage to get rid of it all in the few hours between daytime and that night?

No, folks, the justification is simple: shock and awe.  These cops are taught that “druggies” are dangerous armed hostile mentally deranged lunatics who all emulate Tony Montana from Scarface.  Then they are taught how to dominate and intimidate and that one of the quickest ways you can do so is to show them you have the power of life and death.  And they do this as a message to all the other “druggies” out there that they are not safe and that they are serious about engaging the “enemy” and winning the “war”.

Radley Balko at Reason’s Hit and Run (a top libertarian blog) has been following the story and promises an update from the victim’s mother, who was present at the raid.  Jane Hamsher at FireDogLake (a top progressive blog which has recently begun a new campaign for legalization), Scott Morgan at Drug War Chronicle, and Pete Guither at DrugWarRant have also been following the story.

In the end the victim pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia in exchange for dropping the charges of misdemeanor marijuana possession and second-degree child endangerment.  Yes, you read that right: the police burst into this man’s home, shooting weapons in his home and killing his dog with his seven-year-old sleeping in the next room and he’s the one who was endangering his child by smoking pot in his own home.

P.S. You’d think the ASPCA or PETA would be all over this, wouldn’t you?  I did, but found no reference to any police-shooting-dog stories on either of their websites.  I once got in contact with people in their organizations but got no interest from them on addressing these clear cases of cruel and unethical treatment of animals.  I even tried contacting Bill Maher, a high-profile PETA supporter and marijuana legalization supporter to spotlight the topic, but I’ve never received any response.  None of these animal rights supporters seem to think a family pet has a right to be protected from police brutality if the owner is thought to be a “druggie”.

P.P.S. Paul Armentano reminds me that in 2004, seven in ten Columbia, Missouri residents voted for the “arrest, prosecution, punishment, or sanction” citizens for their medical use of marijuana, and six in ten voted for the decriminalization of marijuana for personal use.  So the dog was murdered and the family terrorized over something only 30%-40% of residents believe is a crime.

On the heels of Karri’s story on the show yesterday of the Redding, California, nursing home manager who was booted against the residents’ wishes for his medical marijuana use, we get another medical marijuana nursing home story from Missoula, Montana:

(Missoula Independent) Missoula police raided a local nursing home last week after receiving a tip that an individual was selling marijuana to its residents. The suspected dealer, Taylor Gibbs, 22, was found to be a medical marijuana caregiver registered with the state, and no charges were filed.

Missoula Independent

Gibbs says on the morning of Feb. 3 a Missoula S.W.A.T. team and the Missoula Drug Enforcement Task Force came to Eagle Watch Estates on Missoula’s Westside and entered the residence of an individual for whom Gibbs serves as a caretaker (not a medical marijuana caregiver). The police then, Gibbs says, interviewed other residents in the facility. Gibbs says he serves as a medical marijuana caregiver for as many as 12 Eagle Watch residents, most of whom are elderly and ill.

Police found no wrongdoing, but Gibbs says damage was done. He claims the resident for whom he was caretaking when police arrived severed ties with him, fearful that Gibbs’ association with medical marijuana could lead to other incidents. Gibbs also says he lost medical marijuana patients at Eagle Watch because they’re now “just a little too afraid.”

It’s stories like this that stoke my fears that legalizing marijuana for just a few is going to backfire. You can’t just legalize 5% of the market for marijuana and not expect the negative consequences of the illegal 95% of the market from affecting the legal 5%.

Exhibit A) Prices for medical marijuana that meet or exceed the prices for black market marijuana.

Exhibit B) Home invasion robberies of legal medical patients.

Exhibit C) SWAT team raids of nursing homes over a bag of weed.

My fear is that we legalized marijuana for a few, the “green rush” highlights and attracts the worst aspects of the black market, and we see public backlash against both the “exploitation of the sick and dying” and “fraud and abuse of the law by healthy people looking to get high”. The frame will become “See, we let you legalize it a little and look at what terrible things happened!”  Already these sentiments have led to stricter statutes as more states legalize medical use, such as New Jersey, which just passed the first medical marijuana law that doesn’t allow patients to grow their own herb.

There exists now the perfect opportunity for legalization for all adults, which is the only logical way medical users can ever be free of the effects of the black market. 81% of the public support medical marijuana and 44%-53% support marijuana legalization. Now it can be said that legalizing marijuana for 5% of its users hasn’t caused the sky to fall. Now we have an enormous economic and employment deficit that would be cut by re-legalization. Now we have the attention of the public on the horror of 15,000 murders in two years of Mexican drug war over brick weed.

But if this moment passes… if the economy improves… if the “green rush” leads to more negative headlines… if the Mexican massacres start happening on American soil… if Big Pharma succeeds in duplicating whole plant marijuana’s medical value… if more East Coast states pass “no home grow” medical bills… we may find this country settling on very strictly regulated medical marijuana where you’re in as much trouble for smoking it without a prescription as you are carrying a bottle of Vicodin without a prescription.

Medical marijuana is so 20th Century. It’s time to legalize in the dawn of the 21st.

(Mission Local) The federal government will continue raids on medical marijuana operations in California despite guidelines issued by the Justice Department two weeks ago indicating the contrary.

“I think it’s unfortunate that people have for some reason picked up on this as a change in policy, because it’s really not a change at all,” said Joseph Russoniello, federal prosecutor for the northern district of California, who was appointed in 2007 by then-President George W. Bush.

Asked if federal officials will halt investigation and prosecution of medical marijuana operations in the state, Russoniello said simply, “The short answer is no.”

Russoniello said many dispensaries in San Francisco and around California aren’t really not-for-profit, and he will prosecute any distributor fraudulently operating as a commercial enterprise in violation of state laws.

“By that I mean people who are in it as if they were running a neighborhood candy store instead of running a commune, a collective or a group club that caters only to specific identified persons,” he said.

Asked if federal agents are currently preparing to raid dispensaries suspected of illegal activities, Russoniello declined to comment.

“I cannot affirm or deny the existence of ongoing criminal investigations,” he said.

You know, I was just thinking that President Obama’s approval ratings are still way too high.  What he needs to do is have his administration issue a memo that seems to remove the threat of federal raids from lawful dispensaries, and then when people are comfortable about visiting those dispensaries, send in a few DEA agents in body armor to point assault weapons at people in wheelchairs.  Think of it as Obama’s “Read my lips; no new taxes” moment a la George Bush Sr. in 1988.  A few stunning visuals of jack-booted thugs taking down the neighborhood dispensary in a state where 56% of the voters want not just medical marijuana but outright legalization ought to drop that approval rating a few points, huh?