The names of the individuals are blacked out but Reason says:
the record request may be connected to a raid a few weeks ago on a medical marijuana garden operated by two caregivers in Okemos, which is near Lansing. The Drug War Chronicle reports that the two caregivers were growing a total of 40 plants, which seems to be well within the limits set by state law, since "caregivers can grow up to 12 plants each for up to five patients, as well as growing 12 plants for themselves if they are patients."
The DEA Spokesman in Detroit says:
[A]gents generally are "not targeting people that are unambiguously following the state medical marijuana law."
"The DEA targets large scale drug trafficking organizations and does not expend its resources on individuals possessing 'user amount' quantities of illegal drugs."
That line is getting old. 40 plants is now large-scale trafficking? As is the DEA's continual fallback on the line from DOJ's memo that those in "clear and unambiguous compliance with state law" should be left alone.
“As a general matter, pursuit of [federal law enforcement] priorities should not focus federal resources … on individuals whose actions are in clear and unambiguous compliance with existing state laws providing for the medical use of marijuana.”
Since the memo took effect, Americans for Safe Access reports there have been more than 30 federal enforcement raids in California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Nevada, all of which allow for medical marijuana.
This sounds like a fishing expedition to me, where the DEA is seeking state records in its attempt to find evidence to support its theory the caregivers were not in "unambiguous compliance" with state law.
The DEA and DOJ are making similar attempts to find ambiguity in compliance with state law in Oakland:
Eight days after [Prop 19 was defeated] California’s four U.S. attorneys met with DEA and Justice Department officials to develop a plan to deal with some of the loopholes and gray areas in the state’s medical marijuana program, according to two officials briefed on the discussions. (my emphasis)
U.S. Attorney Benjamin Wagner said the Nov. 10 meeting focused on a "state-wide federal enforcement strategy" for marijuana but declined to provide details. “My responsibility is not to enforce state law. But I do have a responsibility to enforce federal law, which means putting an end to people who use the cover of 215 to try to violate federal law. And there are efforts underway to try to tighten that up,” Wagner said.