Mendocino County officials are under federal orders to surrender records from their now-suspended medical marijuana permitting program, raising questions about the fate of those named in the permits as well as more than $800,000 in fees collected from pot growers.
But Sheriff Tom Allman, whose department was tapped to run the program approved in March 2010, said the exercise may be worthwhile if it brings some clarity to a murky legal area in which state and federal law conflicts.
"The federal government surely isn't going to tell me what their game plan is," Allman said Tuesday. "I'm certainly willing to tell them everything about the program possible, with the hopes that we're getting closer to getting an answer about the law."
The subpoenas, issued quietly last month by a federal grand jury, mark the latest volley in a federal crackdown on California's medical marijuana industry. Over the past two years, federal authorities have stepped up enforcement efforts against medical marijuana, raiding farms and shutting down dispensaries.
Critics say the U.S. Attorney's Office is attempting to undermine California law authorizing medical marijuana use. Its current stance marks a departure from the 2009 guidelines issued by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who vowed to prosecute criminals using medical marijuana claims as a front for illegal drug distribution but said federal authorities would not focus on individuals operating in compliance with state laws
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