Medical marijuana lab in Colorado Springs latest to be raided by DEA

[Quietus]

Medical marijuana lab in Colorado Springs latest to be raided by DEA

By Joel Warner in Follow That Story, MarijuanaFri., Feb. 12 2010 @ 2:29PM



Michael Lee's lab, Genovations, was raided yesterday by the DEA.
​We recently wrote about how a DEA raid at Full Spectrum Laboratories, a Denver medical marijuana testing facility, was triggered by the lab applying for an analytical lab licensure through the DEA. Now DEA agents have hit another marijuana testing lab -- Colorado Springs-based Genovations -- not long after the lab applied for the same license.

"They spent half a day with me. Nine of them," says Genovations owner Michael Lee of the agents who came knocking yesterday, adding that they walked away with a 25-pound box of marijuana stem material Lee was using to test and calibrate his machinery.

Lee's a relative old-timer in the medical marijuana scene: His Colorado Springs dispensary, Cannabis Therapeutics, is one of the oldest, around and he has a history of pushing the envelope. He decided recently to expand Genovations, a chemical lab where he's been experimenting with new THC extractions and products, to include cannabis testing for area dispensaries. He applied for the DEA license last month, had the necessary equipment installed two weeks ago and was planning on opening for business soon -- until the DEA arrived.

"Sixty-eight percent of all weed on the shelf right now is not appropriate for human consumption," he says. "I can test for molds, I can test for all these different pesticides. The funny thing is, the DEA doesn't want me to test for them."

The problem, explained DEA spokesperson Mike Turner in a recent interview, is that the DEA is required to inspect a lab that applies to them for a license. And if they happen to find marijuana during the inspection, they have to confiscate it since it's still a class-one narcotic under federal law. And this discovery will likely count against labs on their application.

From Lee's perspective, the situation's a catch-22. To correctly calibrate his machinery, he needs to use scientifically measured samples of marijuana components -- but to legally use those components, he needs a DEA license. And the DEA supervising agent who stopped by yesterday made it abundantly clear Lee wouldn't be getting that.

For one thing, says Lee, the agents told him that he couldn't have a DEA license and own his dispensary, Cannabis Therapeutics. "That would give me a safe haven from law enforcement, because I'm DEA certified," he explains. And even if he didn't own a dispensary, agents told him the license wouldn't do him much good because every pot grower he took samples from would have to be DEA certified, too -- and the feds are not about to start doing that.

Lee hasn't been thwarted, however. He's withdrawn his DEA license application, but he still plans to open Genovations's testing wing within a week -- though with a slightly different approach. "We're gonna move forward in another direction in what we were," he says, without going into specifics.

In the meantime, Lee will continue on at the forefront of Colorado's cannabis revolution, churning out strange concoctions like THC bubble bath and THC beer.

As Lee, a member of Colorado Springs mega-churches New Life and Radiant, puts it, "Each and every day I thank the good Lord."

http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2010/02/another_dea_lab_application_an.php

[Quietus]

I think that's a crying shame.  This poor guy is trying to make sure the product is safe for consumption and goes through the proper channels, only to find that federal law is in his way.

I wonder how this is all going to play out in NJ, as the grows are essentially state sponsored. 

[Cannasuticals]

If MMJ, is going to stand up beside the rest of the pharmacuticals, then these labs are imperitive, IMHO. Many of us know how to get this plant up, bloomed, cut and cured....however, not many are worrying about molds, pesticides, and their clean air coming into a room. I'd also like to see a standard for dryness, set up as it's very closely related to the mold factor, or dirty storage jars, unclean processing areas.

Growing is a skill. Processing is a skill. Storage and curing are skills also needed.Dispensing is a skill also. Learning patients needs, or matching strains to ailments. We have so far to go, and we should realize, they are going to sucker punch us at every opportunity.

What I really love about this artical......is how he does not give up!! Withdraws the application, but still keeps figureing out how to side step them.

I'm totally in love, with their  passionate desire to make this plant a legitimate part of  society, and bang heads with authority, at every step, without being defeated!!

[Quietus]

If MMJ, is going to stand up beside the rest of the pharmacuticals, then these labs are imperitive, IMHO. Many of us know how to get this plant up, bloomed, cut and cured....however, not many are worrying about molds, pesticides, and their clean air coming into a room. I'd also like to see a standard for dryness, set up as it's very closely related to the mold factor, or dirty storage jars, unclean processing areas.

I agree, for the safety of the patients.  I seem to remember a few articles and a recently linked video interview, which listed some of the nasty things that show up not just with street weed but 'premium medicine' from dispensaries.  In a perfect world though, I'm of the opinion of driving them to home depot to get a $2 5 gallon bucket and a cheap aquarium pump and tech them how to medicate themselves.  Maybe it's just my self-reliance slip showing under my conservatism.

For some however that might not be possible, depending on the nature and severity of the disease/disability.

Growing is a skill. Processing is a skill. Storage and curing are skills also needed.Dispensing is a skill also. Learning patients needs, or matching strains to ailments. We have so far to go, and we should realize, they are going to sucker punch us at every opportunity.

Reading that sentence, I foresee a potential problem.  The narrative being pushed is that marijuana is equivalent to a pharmaceutical drug.  People will argue that this means a physician giving medical advice and not a dispensary owner.  Will we see attempts at prosecution for practicing medicine without a license?

What I really love about this artical......is how he does not give up!! Withdraws the application, but still keeps figureing out how to side step them.

I'm totally in love, with their  passionate desire to make this plant a legitimate part of  society, and bang heads with authority, at every step, without being defeated!!

That makes the historian in me want to type a couple dozen paragraphs on federalism, the founding fathers and the constitution.  But I wouldn't want to pull my own thread off topic with a history lesson.  Let's just say that Ronald Reagan is clapping for the guy in his coffin.   

[Cannasuticals]

[The narrative being pushed is that marijuana is equivalent to a pharmaceutical drug.]

IMHO, in some instances, it's a much better solution for relief.


[Will we see attempts at prosecution for practicing medicine without a license?]

Anything is possible. The explaination I got was this: If a patient is seeing a doc, and they have tried all his remidies to solve the problem, the doc can say to the patient, you may find some relief with MMJ. However his federal license, dictates, he can say nothing more.
What was happening out there, was normal citizens were driven to find product by searching in the parts of town they should not be in. A robbery took place and the SaferAccess idea was put into place. Once you had your paper rom the doc, you go to a safer meeting to get aquainted witha grower, or grow your own information.

[That makes the historian in me want to type a couple dozen paragraphs on federalism, the founding fathers and the constitution.]
That subject has always been dear to me.

[Quietus]

[The narrative being pushed is that marijuana is equivalent to a pharmaceutical drug.]

IMHO, in some instances, it's a much better solution for relief.

There's no arguing that point, when you see the list of side effects.  "You may enjoy yourself, and feel the sudden need to eat food." vs "Explosive diarrhea, liver failure, sudden death or thoughts of suicide" that I see regularly listed on tv commercials.

[Will we see attempts at prosecution for practicing medicine without a license?]

Anything is possible. The explaination I got was this: If a patient is seeing a doc, and they have tried all his remidies to solve the problem, the doc can say to the patient, you may find some relief with MMJ. However his federal license, dictates, he can say nothing more.
What was happening out there, was normal citizens were driven to find product by searching in the parts of town they should not be in. A robbery took place and the SaferAccess idea was put into place. Once you had your paper rom the doc, you go to a safer meeting to get aquainted witha grower, or grow your own information.

I can only hope that they smart enough to know where to draw the line and stay out of trouble.

[That makes the historian in me want to type a couple dozen paragraphs on federalism, the founding fathers and the constitution.]
That subject has always been dear to me.

That's awesome and seemingly rare these days.  I don't believe they even teach history, let alone critical thinking or logic skills, in school anymore.

If you like history, there's a thread I had in the Off-Topic forum where I was digging up all of Washington's writings on hemp.  I inadvertently disproved some oft-repeated, but apparently non-existent, quote of Washington in the process.