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IPFS News Link • Forfeiture & Seizure

San Diego Cops Seize Innocent Family's Life Savings Using Civil Forfeiture Laws

• ij.org by J. Justin Wilson

For two years, James Slatic operated his legal medical marijuana business, Med-West Distribution, from a commercial building on Engineer Road. James was public about his marijuana business because, under California law, Med-West was permitted to manufacture and distribute the drug to patients with a doctor's prescription. The business complied with state law, registered with the City of San Diego, had a website and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal taxes every year.

Without warning, everything changed in January 2016, when San Diego police and agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency raided Med-West and shut the business down. The officers refused to recognize Med-West's legal status and—without charging anyone with a crime—they seized everything from the business, including $324,000 in business proceeds.

But the legal nightmare was only beginning for James and his family.


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