Federal officials moved Thursday to shut down 23 Colorado medical marijuana dispensaries located near schools, ordering them to close or face prosecution. According to the
Denver Post, the dispensaries were notified by letter and threatened with criminal prosecution and asset forfeiture if their doors are not shut within 45 days.
Each of the dispensaries was located within 1,000 feet of a school, the newspaper reported, adding that the letters “represent a sharp tug to rein in medical marijuana businesses, all of which operate in violation of federal law” but not state statutes.
“Our interest is to have these stores moved away from schools,” said Jeff Dorschner, a spokesman for Colorado’s U.S. attorney’s office. “Our first step is protecting children who go to school near these marijuana stores.”
University of Denver law professor Sam Kamin told the Post that the crackdown coincides with federal actions nationwide to limit the operation of medical-marijuana businesses.
“It is a tightening of the screws,” Kamin was quoted as saying.
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