Sonoma County not yet targeted by federal pot crackdown

California's four U.S. Attorneys on Friday confirmed an aggressive crackdown on the state's medical marijuana industry, though the impact on Sonoma County dispensaries remains unclear.

"The California marijuana industry is not about providing medicine to the sick," said Laura Duffy, the San Diego-based U.S. Attorney. "It's a pervasive for-profit industry that violates federal law."

Concerns have been building among medical marijuana advocates in recent days after federal officials sent dozens of letters warning landlords they risked losing their properties if they continued allowing marijuana businesses to operate.

In central and eastern California, prosecutors filed seven civil forfeiture complaints this week against owners of such properties.

So far, no Sonoma County dispensaries appear to have been targeted, said Sarah Shrader with the Sonoma County chapter of Americans for Safe Access,a medical marijuana advocacy group.

But in Fairfax, the landlord for Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana received a letter invoking a federal law that imposes penalties for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and playgrounds. Marin Alliance is within 1,000 feet of Bolinas Park.

Melinda Haag, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, said dispensaries near schools, parks and others areas where children gather would get special attention from her office.

"I understand there are people in California who believe marijuana stores should be allowed to exist, but I think we can all agree we don't need marijuana stores across the street from schools and Little League fields," she said.

It's not known if her focus will end up being a break for Sonoma County dispensaries. County regulations, which govern the majority of local dispensaries, require a 1,000-foot buffer between them and areas catering to kids. Haag stressed no dispensary is immune from the federal government.

Shrader noted that previous crackdowns have come and gone, but this time, the language appears more threatening.

Medical marijuana advocates also have been taken aback by new federal tactics. Earlier this week, the IRS slapped a $2.5 million tax bill on Harborside Health Center in Oakland, one of the state's largest dispensaries.

Linda Stokely, who does public relations for the dispensary, said the IRS ruled Harborside couldn't make basic deductions on expenses like payroll, which any other business would make, because they were selling a federally illegal drug.

Sonoma County has a dozen medical marijuana dispensaries, according to an online directory, mostly in unincorporated territory. Santa Rosa and Sebastopol have one marijuana club each.

Steve, a 58-year-old Santa Rosa man who smokes medical marijuana, said he feels the federal government is turning against people like himself, a Hepatitis-C patient, who uses marijuana to suppress pain, revive his appetite and allow him to sleep.

Six months ago, he would have given his last name talking about using marijuana, he said, but now he's too concerned about bringing attention to himself.

But the U.S. Attorneys said Friday that too often medical marijuana is a cover for money-making marijuana, sold with little regard for anything but profit.

"Large commercial operations cloak their money-making activities in the guise of helping sick people when in fact they are helping themselves," said Benjamin Wagner, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California. "Our interest is in enforcing federal criminal law, not prosecuting seriously sick people and those who are caring for them."