The city of Oakland took the unusual step Wednesday of filing a suit in an attempt to stop the federal government from seizing and closing down one of the largest medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
Attorneys for
Harborside Health Centersaid the suit against the federal government appears to be the first such action by a municipality on behalf of a marijuana dispensary.
The city states that federal attempts to seize the property, which began in July, contradicted promises by officials with the
Obama administration who have said that dispensaries complying with state laws would not be targeted by federal agencies.
Melinda Haag, the U.S. attorney for Northern California, has contended that Harborside is not complying with California's law because it is a large-scale operation that processes millions of dollars worth of business.
Oakland leaders say the city, like many other jurisdictions, built an entire regulatory scheme based on the federal government's promise, only to find dispensaries under attack.
The city says protecting a private property housing a dispensary is a matter of patients' rights, public safety and city revenues. "If the federal government is successful with shutting down these businesses we have licensed and are complying with regulations and taxes, we will shift people into the black market," said City Attorney
Barbara Parker, who announced the filing of the suit Wednesday.
"That will endanger their lives because they may not have safe, affordable access to medicine," said Parker, who was appointed to the city attorney position earlier this year and is in the running for the elected position this fall. "It will also exacerbate our crime and public safety crisis."
Parker said the case, which is being handled pro bono by the firm
Morrison & Foerster, was authorized by the City Council in a closed-session meeting last week.
Harborside and the city's three other dispensaries brought in at least $1.4 million in business tax revenue to Oakland last year. In 2009, Harborside alone generated at least $21 million in sales, all of which were also subject to sales taxes, which are 8.75 percent in Alameda County.
"The federal government has made assurances that cities like Oakland, as long as we abided by state law, would not see these types of consequences," said Councilwoman
Libby Schaaf. "We need to know whether we can rely on those types of statements."
