Industry Victory! California cops agree to stop stealing cannabis cash from armored vans Max Savage Levenson May 12, 2022 Highway robbery no more: California cops agree to stop stealing cash from marijuana transport vehicles. (AdobeStock) Was this real life, or an outtake from Super Troopers? Late last year, sheriff’s deputies in San Bernardino County in Southern California—the largest county in the United States—stopped armored vans on three separate occasions, and grabbed over $1 million in legal cannabis cash from them. Because of federal prohibition and nationwide banking laws, cannabis cannot be purchased with a credit card. So cannabis businesses get saddled with huge amounts of cash. They often depend on third-party companies to transport that money. This literal highway robbery qualified as civil asset forfeiture. As The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights explains, the law allows police to take your property, assets, or money if they believe that it’s connected to criminal activity—no need to file charges, or even establish guilt. In response, Empyreal Logistics—which owns the vans, and operates in 28 states—sued both the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and the federal Department of Justice. Last month, DOJ agreed to return the cash.
Max Savage Levenson, Leafly, 05/12/2022 10:17:00