OAKLAND, Calif., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- The threat of legal prosecution has led officials in Oakland and Berkeley, Calif., to slam the brakes on plans to develop medical marijuana farms.
Oakland officials decided to suspend a voter-approved plan to permit and tax four medical marijuana farms after Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley sent them a letter last month reminding it would be illegal under California and federal law, the Oakland Tribune reported Thursday.
The potential for prosecution caught the attention of officials in Berkeley where in November voters approved, by an overwhelming majority, to allow six, 30,000-square-foot medical pot farms to be established within the city's manufacturing district. A separate ballot measure to tax the proceeds won approval with 82 percent of the vote.
The Berkeley City Council has yet to write a specific law outlining rules for that plan, but it now appears to be a long shot, the newspaper said Sunday.
"It will never happen unless they change state and federal law," said William Panzer, an Oakland attorney who represents medical marijuana dispensaries and patients.
"It's illegal under state law and the feds are not going to let it happen. If you're a City Council member and you get a letter from the U.S. attorney's office telling you you're facing a 10-year minimum sentence, you're going to think twice," Panzer said.
