Mar.09, 2010

In a Lake Forest, California marijuana dispensary, the owner has been charged with illegally selling marijuana and then taking the profits and laundering them through banks.

It seems that Mark Gregory Moen, the owner and operator of 215 Agenda, a marijuana dispensary is charged with 38 counts of money laundering, one count of possession of money over $100,000 obtained from illegal sales of marijuana, three counts of selling marijuana illegally and last but not least, a sentence of enhancement because he was laundering more than $150,000.

Having previous charges that had been brought to Moen from other crimes, the owner could be facing up to 39 years in prison. Currently he is being held on $500,000 bail. That bail must be proven that it comes from a legal and legitimate source.

California law allows qualified patients with a physician's recommendation and their primary caregivers to "collectively or cooperatively ... cultivate marijuana for medical purposes," according to section 11362.775 of the state's health and safety code. It is not believed that Moen was doing that. Authorities believe he was selling marijuana illegally.

Again, we see that if there is a profit to be made in a business, opportunistic people will find a way to corrupt it. We all know that illegal business is done everyday, however, this does put another nail in the coffin of those who are striving to legalize marijuana. News stories like these are easily ramped up. Let's see how it may or may not effect November's initiative.