The Military Is Conducting Surveillance of Marijuana Dispensaries

According to Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), WA - "All businesses in Washington State selling marijuana for recreational use have been placed off-limits to service members. While recreational marijuana sales have been legalized under state laws, DoD regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice prohibit its use by military service members (regardless of location or local government jurisdiction)." Although we don't see the recreational use marijuana being any different than the recreational use of alcohol, the military has its own law and regulations and if you choose to join the military you are subject to those regulations.

What concerns us - and should concern you - is that the JBLM Directorate of Emergency Services (DES) Protection Division is conducting surveillance of marijuana dispensaries throughout the state in order to identify marijuana users. They claim that this surveillance is intended to identify service members who violate the JBLM off-limits order, and to identify other marijuana users that may have an association with the military and thus pose a threat to "good order and discipline" on JBLM.

The JBLM DES Protection Division is recording the vehicle license plates of any vehicle parked at a marijuana dispensary, and asking other JBLM personnel to also record this information and submit it to the Protection Division for inclusion in their database. JBLM then identifies the owners of these vehicles and includes this ownership information in their database. According to Daniel L. Vessels, the Chief of the DES Protection Division - "nothing is too trivial to report". Marijuana users are violating Federal law and the JBLM DES Protection Division has a right to identify these criminals and to share the identity of these individuals with other government and law enforcement agencies throughout Washington, Oregon, and California.

The surveillance of the civilian community by JBLM and the inclusion of information about non-affiliated civilians (people parked near a marijuana dispensary) violates Federal law and the privacy rights of individuals in our community. The JBLM DES Protection Division has a long history of violating the rights of individuals, illegally collecting and disseminating information about the civilian community, and harassing anyone who objects to their illegal activity. The JBLM DES Protection Division poses a critical threat to our communities.