It's the final countdown for the Mother Earth Dispensary, the only legal-- according to county and state laws-- medical marijuana dispensary in San Diego County. If no action is taken and no one comes to the defense of the co-op, the owner will have until September 4 to shut down shop and move from the building.

U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy has proved to be quite effective in her crusade against medical marijuana and the stores that dispense it. Instead of focusing on the co-ops, the U.S. Attorney has taken pot shots at the land owners who lease retail space to marijuana dispensaries.

“The closure of the Mother Earth dispensary in El Cajon will leave more than 70,000 legitimate medical marijuana patients in San Diego County with little or no access to urgently needed relief for severe medical conditions,” said dispensary owner and spokesperson Bob Reidel spokesperson in a written statement.

“These are people who are suffering from cancer, chemotherapy treatments, severe arthritis and other conditions which leave them in constant pain. Depriving these patients of this resource will literally result in completely unnecessary suffering for countless individuals and families.”

Reidel hopes Governor Jerry Brown and the State Attorney General will convene and find a solution to what seems to be an unbridgeable gap between state and federal law.

“It is clear that the U.S. Attorney’s action violates state law and we believe that the Governor and the State Attorney General confront the federal government and resolve this conflict once and for all. In the meantime, patients will suffer and the black market will flourish. The federal government should spend its valuable and limited resources on such concerns as Southwest [border] security and trafficking,” stated Reidel.