On the morning of June 15th Law Enforcement Officials raided six facilities associated with Care By Design (CBD), a provider of high quality and desirable cannabis medicines that thousands of patients depend on across the State. The enforcement comes just days after the company hosted local and State public officials and regulators to walk through their new state of the art facilities to discuss regulations for the emerging industry resulting from the newly passed Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act passed by the California legislature last fall. The multi-agency raid on these facilities comes at a time when cannabis growers and manufacturers are working to establish regulatory guidelines for an industry that has operated in a legal gray area for nearly 20 years. A major enforcement action against an industry leading model provider has sent shockwaves through a community that is already skeptical about the new regulatory process.
“As a company we are incredibly surprised that these actions have been taken against our organization, as we have gone above and beyond to ensure we operate in compliance with all local and State laws regarding medical cannabis,” said Care By Design Spokesperson Nick Caston. “The decision to handle regulatory compliance questions with criminal enforcement actions and the arrest of CBD team members is incredibly disturbing. At the exact time State regulators are asking for cannabis providers across the State to license and register their cannabis businesses, for the government to use these types of enforcement actions against an organization that has made every effort to be transparent and forthcoming sends a terrible message to those attempting to do the right thing.”
One of the organization’s founding patient members, Dennis Hunter, was arrested and charged with felony for manufacturing a controlled substance by chemical extraction (a law created for meth labs); and is being held on a $5-million-dollar bond in Sonoma County jail. The organization, their supporters, and local medical cannabis advocacy groups are organizing a press conference and rally of support on Thursday, June 16th at 11:00 a.m. at the courtyard area of the Sonoma County Superior Courthouse to raise awareness for this injustice and to inform the community of the facts regarding the company and their professional operations. They are asking for all patients, providers, and supporters of medical cannabis to join them in voicing their concerns about this wasteful and unnecessary enforcement action by the DEA and local authorities, and stand with them in solidarity to end these types of actions once and for all. Overzealous enforcement against compliant and accountable medical cannabis providers, such as Care By Design, have no place in our society.
What: Press Conference and Support Rally for Care By Design Denouncing Enforcement Actions
When Thursday, June 16, 2016 at 11:00 a.m.
Where: Sonoma County Superior Courthouse- 600 Administration Drive, Santa Rosa, CA
Why: To bring attention to the injustices of the law enforcement actions taken against Care By Design and call for solidarity in the community to ensure organizations that are working towards complying with State and local regulations are not targeted for enforcement actions as the MMRSA is being developed.
Source: Press release
