The federal government isn’t happy with Oakland’s planned licensing of four industrial scale, indoor cannabis factories. According to Michael Montgomery’s excellent piece in California Watch,

Officials from the Justice Department’s civil division and the U.S. attorney’s office in San Francisco delivered the blunt message to Oakland City Attorney John Russo…“The warning is clear: These are illegal, large-scale pot growing operations, with Oakland planning to get a cut of the illicit profits,” said one official.

But before Emerald Triangle growers smile in relief that the competition might be facing a rough time, the weight of the US government is about to fall on what the feds perceive as loopholes in California’s medical marijuana enforcement.  According to Montgomery, there was a meeting of DEA and Justice Dept officials with four US attorneys to discuss “state-wide federal enforcement strategy” for California. The officials apparently are focusing on growers who use medical marijuana for money laundering and who ship pounds out of state. US Attorney Benjamin Wagner stated, “We are working hard to send a clear message to law enforcement authorities, federal and state and local, that we are determined to go after this kind of activity and bring more cases.”