DEA orders armored car companies to not do business with cannabis dispensaries

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23536

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http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/08/marijuana_armored_truck_ban_dea.php

Medical marijuana is legal in California, but the combination of valuable drugs and what is often a cash-only business can attract some rough characters.

That's why some dispensaries use armored car companies to get their money to and from their favorite bank (or elsewhere). But the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says no more. The federal authority has told armored car companies they can no longer work with some, perhaps all, cannabis retailers in California and Colorado.

The pro-pot forces were up in arms today:

The group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition called it "an unbelievably ill-advised move" after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced new sentencing guidelines for low-level offenders such as pot users.

Holder is the DEA's boss: Is the Obama administration for or against medical marijuana?

Retired LAPD deputy chief Stephen Downing of LEAP says in a statement:

Combined with federal restrictions and threats made to banks about doing business with marijuana providers, this ensures that businesses known to carry large amounts of cash will be transporting that cash without professional protection. You couldn't create a situation more ripe for criminal intervention if you tried. It's like the directive was written by petty thugs rather than by one of the most powerful agencies of the US government.
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In Los Angeles dispensaries have been victimized by violent, sometimes deadly robberies. That doesn't mean that armored cars are the solution, but some believe having armed guards pick up and deliver cash can be a deterrent.

Steve DeAngelo, executive director of Harborside Health Center in Oakland:

The federal government appears willing to do anything that will turn this inherently safe plant into something dangerous, no matter the impact on public health or safety. In 2011 they closed our bank accounts, which forced us to handle and store cash on-site. Now they have denied us any secure way to transport that cash to those whom we owe money--like the City of Oakland, and the California Board of Equalization.
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Aaron Smith, executive director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said the move will continue to push the medical cannabis drug trade underground instead of out in the open where, he argues, it would be safer:

The true nature of the Obama administration's approach to voter-approved medical marijuana is now clear. They want more cash underground. They want our streets to be more dangerous.
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http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/2013/08/marijuana_armored_truck_ban_dea.php
 
This is crazy ridiculous, what possible justification is there for this, this is a Government agency that is supposed to be concerned with reducing crime yet it is actively creating a situation that invites violent crime. This is a really cheap shot, it is obvious they are getting pretty desperate here.
 
This will make it easier for the professional thugs "DEA'' to get there hands on the money. A joint in the car, a hundred grand, oops forfeited. Buy more guns and maybe a down payment on a new Drone, we'll win this war yet.
 
It's almost like they're trying to create a situation where violence and robberies will occur just so they can have a reason to criticize medical marijuana...What logical reason could they possibly have for doing this?

That would be like saying, "From now on, hardware stores are no longer allowed to have security cameras"....And then when all the hardware stores start getting robbed they can turn around and say, "Now you see what a dangerous business hardware is?"...

This is just fucking stupid!
 
Hell there gonna have to add more colors to the homeland security chart on banking days out there in Cali. I wonder how short a time before the first robbery, and who makes the first hit. I'll bet plans are already being designed. This is typical, DEA ain't got enough leads so they create their own.
 
This is like saying banks can't have vaults. It's the most stupid thing I've read in a while actually.

While we are at why not prohibit locks as well so anyone can walk right into anywhere and do anything they want.
 
How the fuck is the DEA allowed to tell a private business who they can sell there legal unregulated product too? This is just gross intimidation.
 
The DEA can't order armoured car companies to do anything. Should be careful, or "Goodfellas" armoured car service will start up under the premise no one ever robs a mob casino or a strip joint.
 
They are just giving the opportunity for violence and roberies to be blamed on marijuana, they are doing every single thing they can think of to stop medical marijuana. So fucked.
 
Just another example in a long line of decisions that will eventually lead us to a police state if left unchecked, IMO. The US government would rather see us all scared and cowering, that to make choices benefiting us as a people. Makes me sicker than I feel already.
 
Amazingly shyte.
It's like saying no more locks on houses/apartments, what a pack of doyles.

Big Pharma are clearly papping themselves and in a desperate, forlorn bid to hold back medical Ganja, they(via the DEA) try this tactic. :\

What a bunch of fucking shit-bags. :X:X
 
bagochina said:
Almost makes me want to start an armored car service.
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Someone could probably buy a used armored car, get certified in California and hire themselves out to the dispensaries.

I don't know if the article mentions it, but these dispensaries can't take credit card, only cash, check or money order. The feds have banned credit card companies from doing business with them.
 
Le'Mix said:
Amazingly shyte.
It's like saying no more locks on houses/apartments, what a pack of doyles.

Big Pharma are clearly papping themselves and in a desperate, forlorn bid to hold back medical Ganja, they(via the DEA) try this tactic. :\

What a bunch of fucking shit-bags. :X:X
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Doyles? You're a northerner, ain't ya?
 
What I can't get over is how the DEA has the authority to decree or enforce something like this. The armored car companies are not doing drug transactions with the dispensaries, that is, they are not hired to move drugs and are not paid in drugs for their services (well, at least not anymore!). So it seems to me the DEA is way out of their jurisdiction telling them who they can and can't sell their services to. If my friend happens to be a drug dealer, but I don't buy or do any drugs or ever have anything to do with that part of his life, could the DEA kick my door in for selling him my bike? How about my milligram scale or my money counter?

In any case, what I see happening -- if this really gets enforced strictly -- is a proxy system whereby all dispensaries have a shell company having nothing to do with drugs operating in a storefront adjacent to theirs or really nearby, owned by the same group of people but not having any of the same people's names on any documents. Each dispensary would have a top secret and carefully planned protocol for safely ferrying the cash the short distance from one business to the other, and the shell company hires the armored cars.
 
In the light of day, this is just the DEA kicking and screaming because they know it's getting close to them losing half their business.....Chasing marijuana around like a bunch of idiots has been their bread and butter for so long. If you legalized marijuana across the board, you could axe 1/3 of the DEA immediately. Maybe even more! I can at least understand the argument for some drugs being illegal, but the "war on marijuana" was lost before it even began,,,,Anyone who wants to smoke it smokes it anyway. The evidence is everywhere that it doesn't harm society in anyway, just whom does it serve to spend billions of dollars following people around and locking them up for marijuana if you're not stopping it anyway? You could argue that enforcement stops the flow of other drugs to a small extent, but with marijuana it's like running in circles... It's gotta be one of the biggest wastes of money, time and lives in the history of mandkind! Maybe the biggest!
 
I wonder what they classify as armored car? Like the typical brinks truck? Because whos not to say they could just buy a yukon and have a private company armor it like they do for diplomats and high profile celebs. Yea it probably wouldnt stop a 50bmg round but small arm fire would just bounce off, could even build out the back to have a trapped safe and with tints it would look like a normal suv. Theres got to be ppl already doing this since there are a ton of companies that specialize in out fitting your car with armoured steel and bullet resistant glass, run flat tires and it just looks like a normal car except its about a half ton heavier. Id drive one for sure if i was super loaded just for the fun of it.
 
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