LEGAL FLOWERS: Steph Landa’s path to prison was strewn with daisies by her supporters. A notorious San Francisco drug agent first led her and two others to think it was safe for them to open a local cannabis dispensary, then betrayed their trust and turned the information over to federal prosecutors. Oaksterdam News photos courtesy of Clark Sullivan.

Yet another medical marijuana patient was incarcerated in federal prison Jan. 4. Stephanie Landa reported to federal authorities in San Francisco to begin a 41-month sentence for her part in growing medical cannabis as part of a patient collective there.

At least 91 Californians face a similar fate, as federal arrests and prosecutions have escalated since 2005, when the US Supreme Court ruled in Gonzalez v Raich. The Court held that state laws do not protect patients from arrest and prosecution on federal charges. It reversed a Ninth Circuit Court ruling that non-commercial activities within a state go beyond federal jurisdiction to regulate interstate commerce.    

Despite requests from Congress, the federal DEA and Department of Justice refuse to account for the money spent on medical cannabis raids and prosecutions.    

“Washington needs to put this tax money into helping patients, not arresting them,” said Steph Sherer, ASA’s executive director. Based on budget reports from law enforcement agencies, ASA estimates that the raids and prosecutions of the past 18 months have cost taxpayers in excess of $9 million, not counting the cost of incarceration or the lost wages and productivity of those arrested.    

Landa’s case drew attention because San Francisco police drug agent “Marty” Halloran apparently turned her and two others over to federal prosecutors. The three had met with the city’s district attorney and police including Halloran before beginning cultivation. Landa and two co-defendants — Tom Kikuchi, her partner, and noted Hollywood actor Kevin Gage — accepted a plea agreement in 2003 when the federal prosecutor threatened them with charges that could have meant life in prison for Landa. Her incarceration was delayed until now because the judge allowed her to care for her and Kikuchi’s child while he served his sentence, which just ended.

For a breakdown of the estimated DEA and other prosecution costs, see ASA’s website, safeaccessnow.org.

SURRENDER OF LIBERTY: Landa makes her way to turn herself in and begin her prison sentence for cultivating medical marijuana for a dispensary.