Battle in Boulder

Photo Jake Browne

National Cannabis Industry Association calls out Obama, blasts cease-and-desist letters

When Barack Obama was elected president in 2008, there was a sigh of relief from the cannabis community. Taking the feds out of medical marijuana is a popular position to take in the eyes of most patients.

When he visited the CU-Boulder campus just days after the university’s biggest 420 crackdown ever, the tone was markedly different.
Mike Mathis is eager to show pictures of his 420 exploits. “The press got it all wrong,” he tells me. “There were at least a thousand of us there.”

He’s referring to a crowd that infiltrated Norlin Quad, which had been declared off-limits by campus police. Most major news outlets reported that the university’s efforts to curtail student use were a success. Barricades were erected. Fish fertilizer was applied to the field to ward off “stoners” and their equally funky buds.

But it didn’t stop them.
Mathis and his fiancée Kim Reis are the co-owners of The Hill Cannabis Club, which opened in 2009, one of the many medical marijuana centers (MMCs) in Boulder that recently received a U.S. Justice Department letter—a move spearheaded by John F. Walsh, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado—ordering them to stop serving patients or lose it all. Once a cannabis hub, the window above their storefront now bears a literally ominous sign: “Final Days—Everything Must Go!”
Recently, Reis, 27, had spoken at a National Cannabis Industry Association press conference to call on the president to protect MMJ jobs.

“I invested all of my time, money and effort into legitimizing this industry because I believe it’s beneficial to the community,” she says.

Reis and Mathis ended up being given a choice: close up shop in 45 days or face legal consequences. All they will be left with are the stories of patients they helped over the past three years.
Unfortunately, relocation just doesn’t seem to be a viable option.

“The whole 45-day thing is a joke,” Mathis says. “The last time we tried to move, it took 10 months for the city of Boulder to approve the permits.”
They aren’t the only ones feeling the squeeze. Chelsey Joseph, an employee at Colorado Dispensary Services (CDS) and an environmental science major at CU, wonders what life will be like if her MMC receives a letter.

“I haven’t had to take out a student loan since I started my employment at CDS,” she says.
Working at a dispensary is more than just a paycheck for Joseph, who is getting valuable on-the-job training that she feels directly correlates to her degree.
“From the fundamentals of retail operations to promoting alternative lifestyle choices, my involvement in the MMJ industry has given me unique, hands-on experiences that have supplemented both my business and environmental programs,” she says.
Of course, neither the students nor shop owners thought they had anything to worry about. The first round of federal letters targeted dispensaries located within a thousand feet of K-12 schools. The vast majority of those who attend the university are over the age of 18, meaning they could become legal patients if they have a qualifying condition.
While the average age of a Colorado patient is 42, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few Buffs on the state’s Registry. That fact doesn’t seem to deter U.S. Attorney Walsh, who says he acts not on behalf of Obama, but as a Coloradoan who wants to protect children.
Even “children” working on their bachelor’s degree.

“I Respectfully Disagree”

Efforts by U.S. Attorney John F. Walsh to crack down on MMJ in Colorado have not gone unanswered. Boulder County DA Stan Garnett wrote to Walsh, telling him Colorado’s marijuana regulations were sufficient and effective, and adding that the feds should instead focus on “terrorism, serious economic crime, organized crime” as well as the sale of heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine. “Although I welcome the opportunity for continued dialogue on this complex issue, I respectfully disagree with the position your letter outlines,” Walsh wrote to Garnett in response.