Los Angeles Times on medical marijuana: The Drug Enforcement Administration has notified more than 150 Los Angeles property owners that their fortunes and their sacred honour are forfeit to the state. What crime must a landlady commit to deserve this punishment? Renting to a tenant who operates a medical marijuana dispensary. The DEA sent out letters last week notifying owners that they stand to lose their properties and face 20 years in prison for allowing their buildings to be used for “unlawfully … distributing or using a controlled substance”.
The only good news in this deplorable new bullying tactic by the federal drug cops is that if you’re a property owner, your least-bad option is fairly clear. You can honour the will of California voters, allow the dispensary to stay and lose your property, or you can evict the tenant and risk a costly lawsuit.