Steve DeAngelo from Harborside Health Center, The Nation's Model Medical Cannabis Dispensary,
Responds to DOJ Memo on Guidance for Marijuana Enforcement
OAKLAND, Calif., Aug. 29, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United States government has finally taken a historic step back from its long-running failed drug war on Thursday, when Attorney General Eric Holder informed the governors of Washington and Colorado that the Department of Justice would allow the states to create a regime that would regulate and implement the ballot initiatives that legalized the use of marijuana for adults. In addition to this news, the Justice Department has layed out enforcement priorities that are important to federal government for minors, preventing revenue to criminal enterprises such as gangs and cartels, preventing diversion of marijuana from states where it is legal under state law, in some form to other states and preventing state-authorized activity from being used as a cover.
Read the entire U.S. Department of Justice memo here: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/160507622/DAGMemo8-29-13
Steve DeAngelo, Executive Director of Harborside Health Center released this statement.
"Today, after 76 years of misguided cannabis policy, the federal government took its first step in the right direction. The DOJ announcement is long overdue, but was nonetheless greeted with joy and relief by our patients and staff. However, our joy is tempered in that the new policy does not specifically apply to current civil enforcement actions. For Harborside, that means we are still facing crippling tax assessments; seizure of the properties where we are located; and denial of banking, credit card, security and armored car services. We hope that these and other federal efforts to impede our ability to operate as a legitimate business will be also be ended in the near future."
About Harborside Health Center:
Founded by national cannabis leader Steve DeAngelo in 2006, Harborside Health Center is the nation's largest, not-for-profit, model medical cannabis dispensary. The San Jose and Oakland medicinal cannabis collective offers its 128,000 registered patients free holistic healing services, lab-tested medicine and education. Harborside was featured on the Discovery Channel's miniseries, "Weed Wars," in December of 2011 and Morgan Spurlock's "Inside Man" on CNN in June of 2013.
DeAngelo also founded the nation's first cannabis-testing facility, Steep Hill Labs, and the country's first cannabis investment firm, The Arc View Group.
"Out of the shadows and into the light" epitomizes DeAngelo's mission to enlighten the public on the many medicinal and therapeutic benefits of the plant and actively works to empower the country to change its image of medical marijuana. For more info, visit www.harborsidehealthcenter.com and www.stevedeangelo.com.