Federal assault

EDITOR: Legal medical marijuana dispensaries all over California have received orders from U.S. attorneys to go out of business within 30 days or face federal prosecution and asset forfeiture.

As a candidate for Congress, I have sworn to uphold the constitutions of the United States and California. I demand that the U.S. government immediately stop its unconstitutional assault on the legal medical marijuana industry in California.

The assault is an attack on the sovereignty of California and Californians. It is clearly intended to destroy a legitimate source of livelihood for thousands of Californians, forcing patients who need medical marijuana to deal with outlaws.

President Barack Obama recently stated his opposition to ending the prohibition of marijuana. The marijuana industry is a major source of income in Northern California, accounting for an estimated one-third of the total income in Mendocino County.

The federal government is building a police state by crushing legal medical marijuana, terrorizing local officials who try to regulate marijuana and attacking growers and providers with an ever-expanding police force.

This ugly world of violence, corruption, economic waste and environmental destruction will grow unless we unite to stand in resistance. If we remain silent in the face of this federal assault on a legitimate California industry, who will be targeted next?

JOHN LEWALLEN

Philo