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The federal government's crackdown on medical marijuana now extends to banks, The Bay Citizen has learned.

As part of the crackdown, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag has sent letters to the landlords of pot clubs located near schools, ordering the property owners to evict the clubs within 45 days or face possible criminal action.

Haag’s office — which covers Northern California — also sent a warning letter to Chase Bank, which owns the mortgage on a building that houses a pot club, the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana.

The letter warned that criminal charges are possible and that the property as well as “any money JPMorgan Chase Bank receives or has received may also be subject to seizure and forfeiture,” according to Greg Anton, a lawyer for the dispensary who read a copy of the letter to The Bay Citizen.

Legal observers say the letters to banks are an indication that federal prosecutors are serious about shutting down pot clubs down.

“You’re cutting off the ability for a medical marijuana dispensary to operate,” said Rich Cutler, a former federal prosecutor who now works for the law firm Dechert. “You either take away the property or you take away the mortgage.”

The Fairfax dispensary is run by Lynette Shaw, a marijuana advocate and former candidate for lieutenant governor. It has operated for the past 14 years near a Little League field in the small Marin County town. 

Haag declined to comment on the case, but said that in general, federal prosecutors would notify both the landlord and the lien holder, like a bank that owns the mortgage, before moving in to seize the property. In all cases, Haag has given dispensaries 45 days to move before risking the loss of their property.  

Anton, the lawyer for the dispensary, said he was outraged that the federal government is “putting the banks in the middle” in an attempt to squeeze medical marijuana dispensaries out of existence.

Chase Bank spokesman Tom Kelly declined to comment on the letter — or on the bank’s policy regarding medical marijuana dispensaries. The California Bankers Association also declined to comment on the matter.

Advocates for pot clubs say the banks have become yet another battleground in the fight between the state-sanctioned medical marijuana industry and federal prosecutors upholding the government's ban on marijuana.

Pot club advocates say banks routinely refuse to do business with dispensaries once they find out what industry they’re in. Oakland’s Harborside Health Center, the largest dispensary on the West Coast, was recently dropped by its bank, Harborside officials said.

Aaron Smith, who runs the National Cannabis Industry Association, a lobbying group, said that more dispensaries have been dropped since the crackdown began.

“A lot of times, these folks are going to five banks a year. They’re being punished for being forthright about their operations,” said Smith. “It has been a problem over the years, but there does seem to be an uptick right now.”

Shaw, the Fairfax dispensary owner, will be one of the speakers at a Tuesday morning demonstration against the crackdown. The protest will be held near a San Francisco hotel where President Barack Obama is holding a fundraiser. Medical marijuana advocates believe Obama betrayed them by reversing course on a campaign promise to leave state-sanctioned pot clubs alone.

Haag, the U.S. attorney, said she has received numerous letters from people concerned about marijuana dispensaries in their communities, particularly near schools.

“I hope these people who believe that marijuana dispensaries should operate unfettered can step back and understand that not everyone shares their position,” Haag said.