(UPDATE BELOW: At least one local dispensary has been targeted. Actually, no.)

The Associated Press is reporting that the U.S. Department of Justice has ordered every medical marijuana dispersary in the state to close within 45 days, or else face criminal prosecution and asset seizure. There will be a big press conference on the new initiative tomorrow, the AP says.

This is a new and astoundingly boneheaded turn in policy for the Obama administration, which promised a hands-off approach to state marijuana laws when it first came to office.

UPDATE, 2:00 p.m.: Is it everyone everyone? The AP says that it has “extremely threatening” letters sent to a handful of dispensaries around the state, but it’s not clear whether the 45-days-or-else throwdown will apply to every dispensary in the state after tomorrow’s press conference, when all will presumably be revealed. But it’s worth noting that the DoJ is going after landlords or others who do business with dispensaries.

UPDATE, 2:06 p.m.: California Watch has a deeper story on this, one that gives you a better idea of what’s coming tomorrow:

William Panzer, an Oakland attorney who co-authored Proposition 215, the 1996 ballot initiative that legalized medical marijuana in California, said the days are numbered for the current model for medical marijuana dispensaries.

“It’s an effective strategy because they’re basically saying to landlords, ‘If you don’t do this, then you lose your property, and we could also come after you criminally,’ ” he said.

…

“This is sea change stuff. This is a big deal,” said one federal drug official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter before the official announcement. “They’re sending a very strong message. We’re going to see more. The financial backstory is that it’s become apparent that (medical marijuana) is nothing more than drug dealing for profit.”

UPDATE, 2:45 p.m.: Regional reports from the Sacramento Bee, the OC Weekly, the SF Weekly.

UPDATE, 3:05 p.m.: Kevin Jodrey, cultivation manager for the Humboldt Patient Resource Center, tells the Lost Coast Outpost that he received the same letter from the Department of Justice this morning. As reported elsewhere, the letter to HPRC orders operations to be closed within 45 days or both dispensary operators and their landlords will subject to criminal prosecution and asset forfeiture proceedings.

“I really don’t know what to do,” Jodrey said. “I know that we’re going to stay operating until they tell us not to. We have patients to serve and employees that need to work.”

HPRC’s landlord is the Danco Group, which also rents to other medical marijuana dispensaries. We have a call in to Dan Johnson, owner of that company.

Jodrey promised the Lost Coast Outpost that he’d forward a copy of the letter HPRC received this morning. Also, we’re hoping to get him on KHUM within the hour.

UPDATE, 3:52 p.m.: (It turns out that HPRC hadn’t received a shutdown letter from the DOJ. Rather, they had received a note about the crackdown from NORML. Don’t ask.)