New York Times, 01 Jun 2013 – A medical marijuana store owner whose prosecution by the federal authorities highlighted vast disparities in how California and the Justice Department are responding to the medical marijuana industry abandoned a six-month battle against Washington on Friday and pleaded guilty to 10 charges of marijuana cultivation and distribution. The man, Matthew Davies, 35, had argued that his store in Stockton operated in accordance with California laws, after working extensively with accountants and lawyers before opening the business. But Benjamin B. Wagner, the United States attorney for the Eastern District of California, said, "Our investigation showed that it was all about the money." Mr. Davies will serve a minimum of five years. Adam Nagourney – — MAP posted-by: Matt

New York Times, 14 Jan 2013 – STOCKTON, Calif. – Matthew R. Davies graduated from college with a master’s degree in business and a taste for enterprise, working in real estate, restaurants and mobile home parks before seizing on what he saw as uncharted territory with a vast potential for profits – medical marijuana. He brought graduate-level business skills to a world decidedly operating in the shadows. He hired accountants, compliance lawyers, managers, a staff of 75 and a payroll firm. He paid California sales tax and filed for state and local business permits.

New York Times, 21 Dec 2012 – LOS ANGELES – Let Colorado and Washington be the marijuana trailblazers. Let them struggle with the messy details of what it means to actually legalize the drug. Marijuana is, as a practical matter, already legal in much of California. No matter that its recreational use remains technically against the law. Marijuana has, in many parts of this state, become the equivalent of a beer in a paper bag on the streets of Greenwich Village. It is losing whatever stigma it ever had and still has in many parts of the country, including New York City, where the kind of open marijuana use that is common here would attract the attention of any passing law officer.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 16 Oct 2010 – LOS ANGELES — The Department of Justice says it intends to prosecute marijuana laws in California aggressively even if state voters approve an initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot to legalize the drug. The announcement by Eric H. Holder Jr., the attorney general, was the latest reminder of how much of the establishment has lined up against the popular initiative: dozens of editorial boards, candidates for office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other public officials.

New York Times, 16 Oct 2010 – LOS ANGELES – The Department of Justice says it intends to prosecute marijuana laws in California aggressively even if state voters approve an initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot to legalize the drug. The announcement by Eric H. Holder Jr., the attorney general, was the latest reminder of how much of the establishment has lined up against the popular initiative: dozens of editorial boards, candidates for office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other public officials.