DEA targets landlords of pot outlets

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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-potlords17jul17,1,419789.story?coll=la-headlines-california&ctrack=1&cset=true

DEA targets landlords of pot outlets

By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer
July 17, 2007

Raising the stakes in the federal government's war against medical marijuana, the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has warned more than 150 Los Angeles landlords
that they risk arrest and the loss of their properties if they continue renting to
cannabis dispensaries.

The two-page letter sent last week by Timothy J. Landrum, DEA special agent in
charge of the Los Angeles office, has whipped up worries among landlords and
dispensary operators in a region that has seen a proliferation of the businesses in
the last two years.

"I'm devastated," said Lisa Sawoya, who left her lucrative job selling high-tech
hospital equipment to open a dispensary 18 months ago in Hollywood. "My landlord
believes in cannabis as medicine. But they're taking the letter very seriously. So
I'll be closing my doors at the end of this month."

Sarah Pullen, a DEA spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said the purpose of the letters was
to "educate" property owners at risk because they were housing marijuana
dispensaries.

"By renting their property to individuals violating fed drug laws, they are in and
of themselves violating federal law," Pullen said. "These are definitely meant to
serve as a notice. What might happen as to the continuing investigations, we'll just
have to see."

The DEA move has focused entirely on Los Angeles. Activists suspect that the
logistics and timing — more than a decade after state voters legalized medical
marijuana with the passage of Proposition 215 — is intended to thin the ranks of
Los Angeles dispensaries on the eve of new city regulations. A proposed city
ordinance would cap and regulate the number of outlets, which now number more than
400.

Medical marijuana activists say most of the landlords take the threat seriously and
have asked the dispensaries to move out.

"Raiding dispensaries and arresting patients hasn't worked to end medical marijuana,
so the DEA is trying a new tactic and claiming a new victim in this war," said Steph
Sherer of Americans for Safe Access, a group that supports medical marijuana.

Dale Gieringer of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws said the
DEA crackdown won't stop patients' marijuana use. Instead, he said, they could be
driven to find drugs in the illegal market, potentially putting themselves at risk.

In recent years, courts have upheld the federal government's ability to seize
assets. After the DEA raided the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center in 2001, the
federal government seized more than $300,000 that West Hollywood had loaned the
center to purchase its building.

Gieringer said the most likely outcome of Landrum's letter would be numerous
evictions and shutdowns followed by a few select forfeiture prosecutions "to scare
remaining landlords."

Hap Kent, who runs Therapeutic Medicinal Health Resources in Sherman Oaks, said he
hoped that the DEA would consider letting dispensaries operate for another six
months, so patients weren't immediately pushed out on the streets.

"I don't want to put my landlord in jeopardy. I refuse to do that," said Kent, whose
dispensary serves patients with AIDS, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and
other serious afflictions. "All we want is an amicable amount of time."

Though the possibility of eviction looms for many of the dispensaries, Kent sees a
possible silver lining — a political outcry that could get the state to finally
respond to voters' wishes and take on the role of directly supplying medical
marijuana.

"That's the way it should have been from the beginning," he said.

eric.bailey [at] latimes.com