CBD Attorney Sues City of Vallejo for Unlawful Dispensary Raid

The City of Vallejo is being sued by Greenwell Collective, a medical cannabis dispensary that was located in the downtown area and raided by law enforcement in February 2012.   Matt Shotwell, Greenwell’s Director, is suing on a number of claims including violation of his civil rights because the City of Vallejo targeted Greenwell for closure due to his political activism in support of a local measure to tax medical cannabis. In an effort to thwart public support for safe distribution of medical cannabis in Vallejo, the City timed the February 2012 raids shortly after a 10% tax on sales of medical cannabis was overwhelmingly passed by the citizens of Vallejo.  In his complaint, Shotwell alleges that the city “selectively targeted the most outspoken” dispensary directors as some of Vallejo’s quieter dispensaries were allowed to remain open with business as usual.   As
a further waste of public resources, the DA proceeded to criminally charge the dispensary directors raided including Shotwell with the very Health & Safety Code violations that are exempted under California's medical cannabis laws.  The City’s tactic to force closure of the dispensaries has failed thus far, as no judge has found that any of the dispensaries raided were in violation of state law, and therefore any associated criminal charges have been dropped.  CBD Attorney Thurston is serving as co-counsel with civil rights attorneys Dan Siegel and Kevin Brunner in bringing this action against the City to force the City to answer for its wrongful actions against legitimate, state-authorized medical cannabis dispensaries operating within its borders.  Greenwell is the second dispensary to sue after a series of medical cannabis dispensary raids in Vallejo last year.  For the full article click on the link:
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/news/ci_24489215/medical-marijuana-advocate-sues-vallejo?IADID=Search-www.timesheraldonline.com-www.timesheraldonline.com