Feds Raid 11 Medical Marijuana Clinics

DEA Does Not Recognize California Law Legalizing Medical Use Of Pot

(AP)  Federal drug agents raided 11 medical marijuana clinics, seizing several thousand pounds of processed marijuana, along with weapons and money, authorities said.

Several people were detained, although no arrests were made after five dispensaries in West Hollywood and six others in Venice, Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley were searched Wednesday, said Sarah Pullen, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Pullen declined to provide details of the investigation, saying the search warrants remained under seal.

"But obviously we are looking for marijuana and other illegal drugs, marijuana edibles and evidence of ongoing criminal activity and anything from paperwork to documents — you name it," Pullen said.

City officials in West Hollywood said they were surprised by the action, learning of the raid as it was happening.

West Hollywood spokeswoman Helen Goss said the city has a "long-standing commitment" to the use of medical marijuana for people suffering from illnesses like HIV and AIDS.

Agents in bulletproof vests, gloves and face masks left a West Hollywood storefront with boxes and trash bags filled, as about 50 protesters booed and shouted "states' rights."

At one dispensary, The Farmacy on Santa Monica Boulevard, amateur videographers and others mobbed officers filling three cars with evidence.

California voters approved Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, in 1996. It made marijuana available by prescription for medicinal uses.

The DEA, which does not recognize California laws legalizing medical marijuana use, has recently increased its enforcement.

"Today's enforcement operations show that these establishments are nothing more than drug-trafficking organizations bringing criminal activities to our neighborhoods and drugs near our children and schools," said Ralph W. Partridge, head of the DEA in Los Angeles.

[nothappyatall]

In other words the Govt does not recognize STATE's rights to vote and set their laws.

[jonw1115]

I don't disagree that the state's rights are being disregarded here, but you have to question the fact that they are finding weapons. As usual the details are very vague, but there should be no reason weapons would be seized if these places were on the up and up. It makes you wonder how closely the state of California watches these clinics?

[bluestardad]

Then California should not recognize the Federal Governments Rite to take California tax money and with hold sending taxes to the Federal Government.

[bobgee_1999]

I'm not a pothead, and I find recreational drug users to be tedious twerps, but---states' rights or no---isn't this a smidge overzealous? The number of people in every walk of life who use pot would shock the straights if they had any inkling of the reality. And if we're talking about medicinal use, who cares anyway? Morphine is misused, but it is still considered a legitimate therapy; why is the government so medieval and irrational in its thinking where this plant is concerned?

[creeper00]

Good grief. Can't they buy their own pot? Do they have to steal it from the states?

[inventagod]

Prohibition does not work.

[tpeks40]

Just another attempt at big brother knowing what's in our best interests. If the government is so worried about our health, why haven't they made alcohol and cigarettes illegal? The people that run this country should have enough guts to defend what's truely right, instead of pandering to drug enforcement agencies that depend on drugs staying illegal to justify their jobs. Our tax money could be better spent on prevention and education. Instead we spend billions of dollars and clog our jails and courts with a problem that mostly hurts the users. If regulated properly it would make things safer for the users (who aren't going away) and eliminate the trafficers, and therefore the crimes related to illegal distribution. Wake up America. Lets tackle this problem with realistic expectations. Since the war on drugs began, have we actually accomplished anything?

[waldojj]

Stop the drug war now! The Bush Administration should be ashamed, targeting sick and ill patients is an outrage. Stand up and make some noise- we cannot stand for this.

None of us are free if some of us are persecuted.

Prohibition does not work- lets end it now.

Help us fight- Join a patient advocacy group, Join NORML, Help us please- this is an outrage.

I thought Republicans respected State's rights?

Jon
Medical Marijuana User
AIDS Patient

[gtorlando]

Ghost of J. Edgar Hoover still haunts us all.

[lewismohr]

The people must become knowledgeable about the concept of venue. While "the state" "the state of California" has approved of mary jane use for state citizens, "this state" the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," which has a trustee called "the United States," and "this state" "THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA," is a communitarian political subdivision of "the state" governed by public policy of "the United States; and if you have a social security number, you have made a voluntary political decision to become a communist member of "this state" subject to benefits and public policy. Everything is by contract. Everyone must become aware of the conditions and terms of his contracts and applications. L -o-

[cadmantwo]

This is just one more example of government of, by and for big money. The Marijauna Tax Stamp Act of 1937 came about in large part due to the efforts of William Randolph Hearst. Hearst wanted Marijauana to be illegal because a process had been developed for making paper from it, and that threatened the profitability both his paper-making plants and tree plantations. Since then the "war on drugs" has ruined countless American lives, cost the taxpayers billions of dollars and enriched big business enormously. Yes, it's insane, but the rich are still getting richer.

[getserious1]

This is just another example of what happens when the press corps starts making up issues for our government to address.

The Press: "There is a problem with people abusing different chemicals called drugs, what are you, Mr. Government going to do to fix this problem?"
Answer: "We will make them illegal and this will stop people from using them. And then we will spend billions of tax money to arrest and incarcerate all users and sellers. Once they are all in jail, the problem will be solved."

Duh??? Prohibition has NEVER worked in any nation on any continent on this earth. Another example of a 'feel good' truth not paying any attention to facts and real truth.

[educates]

Good Grief, what next? Apparently States Rights only apply to the KKK. Chronic pain is alleviated by marijuana. As the police state intensifies so go our rights.
IMPEACH Bush and do it now!!!
ed u cates

[imprisonbush]

Bush is so angry that he can no longer use his cocaine and other drugs (without losing his wife and what remains of his lockstep neoNazi/neocon supporters) that he insists that others should not be able to use any drugs -- even if taken for a medical purpose.

[wolf563]

we need to put some one in office who smoked pot and then legalize it so it can be used for the pain of having the kind of government we have .

[legendary240]

Why would anyone want to set fire to that stinking stuff and breathe it in just to feel relaxed - sheesh, just kick back in a recliner and watch a golf tournament - you'll be mellow in two minutes! Best of all, you won't reek with that horrible stench!

[beehive21-2009]

fire the DEA.

[sesavjo]

Isn't it funny you never hear of someone getting in a car accident while stoned (alcohol), or aperson murdering his whole family,or raping someone(meth,alcohol) or in jail because of being stoned is rare(unless a cop raids your house for growing for medicinal users), or in rehab because of weed???? NO, never to very rarely!! Mary Jane should be legal all the way around,it's alot safer than alcohol! The goverments pissed because they can't find a way to tax it and profit! Don't they have anything better to do, like crach down on the meth heads and drunk drivers that are polluting our streets daily!!

[legendary240]

Potheads...

[amber2122]

I think that medical marijuana should be allowed in every state I think marijuana should be allowed everywhere we should be able to smoke it any time we want! It helps people and it is way better than cigarettes.

[dkg17]

Man, you commies never stop thinking about President Bush do you. Everything is his fault and all things are caused by him. You're little obsession can't be healthy. I think you and you're boys Chavez and Ahmadinejad need to get some help with your obsession.

[tonnie45]

It's about time.....

[dogsoul]

Oh please... you act as though this were somehow Bush's invention - marijuana has been illegal at the Federal level thru MANY presidencies both Republican AND Democratic - Clinton certainly didn't work to repeal or ammend its illegality... regardless of where you stand on the issue, it's existance is not a byproduct of any particular party...

then again... when you're even willing to blame natural disasters on the president - this doesn't seem much of a stretch...

[vancouverboo]

I went through chemo and radiation and it was the pot brownies that got me through it. If we can't get it legally we can get it illegally. The government is the enemy is what I've learned from all of this.

[djberson]

Wolf563, that is funny. But I think whisky is more in order....

What is up with this??? Why is the government so obsessed with marijuana? And haven't they devoted the same zealousness over the years to our infrastructure? Like addressing "engineering" in Lousiana, or poverty in the rust belt, or funding cancer research??

[amber2122]

marijuana should be allowed to be smoked from ages 16 and older not just for medicine usage
F*** THE FEDS

[spoincey1]

I find it remarkable that there are those who believe that the reason backers of legalizing marijuana want it to be legalized is so that patients can better manage pain. What utter nonsense; morphone works just fine, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar or an idiot. What they want is the legalization so that they can smoke themselves into their Persian Bazzar stupor like the dead heads that they are. And don't try to make this about President Bush, creating another reason why liberal/communists/socialists (they're all identical) can hate him even more--Bill Clinton didn't legalize Pot either. How come I didn't hear any of you rum-pot drug addict, stoners complaining about it then????

[churchof1000]

With the war in Iraq going SO horribly, it is nice to see that the war on our own citizens is going well.

[hungry1968]

It's such a shame that drugs that are clinically proven to help people with certain medical conditions, are banned at the federal level. I don't smoke it (anymore), but if it's going to releive someone's pain, or make them feel better, why not let them have it? As long as it's dispensed with a doctor's prescription, it should be permitted. Once again, the government is telling us what is morally right and wrong, while defying logic.

[amber2122]

I DONT SEE WHY MARIJUANA IS ILLEGAL CUZ ITS BETTER THAN ALCHOL PEOPLE THAT SMOKE DONT GET IN ACCIDENTS BUT PEOPLE WHO DRINK DO SO WHY CANT WE SMOKE

[dogsoul]

Look - I'm in agreement that compared to alcohol, pot is a walk in the park. I would also say that it's illegality was originally born of trying to keep all those prohibition agents on the payroll after the repeal... we've all seen the refer madness propoganda movies from way back, and we all know how laughable they are relative to the true effects of marijuana. I also recognize this issue runs a bit deeper, i.e. state's rights vs federal... frankly, I'm in favor of medical use - although the one poster who noted that driving on pot is safe, can't say as I agree there - it definitely slows reaction time. Personally, I think the danger of pot is simply that it makes doing nothing a lot more fun - normally, when you get bored - you go out & DO something - with pot though... you tend to just sit around, become more isolated, perhaps a bit paranoid - it can be an ambition killer of sorts. That's about it...

[hungry1968]

What utter nonsense; morphone works just fine, and anyone who says otherwise is a liar or an idiot.Posted by spoincey1 at 10:15 AM : Jan 18, 2007

So you're saying they should be forced to use a class II, highly addictive narcotic instead of the much more safe marijuana?

[dogsoul]

I do find it telling how something as totally unrelated as the legalization of marijuana can somehow be tied back to Bush, the war in Iraq, and the natural disaster created by hurricane Katrina. I sometimes wonder if you folks don't sit around & gripe about how Bush made it rain today or how his management of FEMA caused your driveway to start cracking...

[dogsoul]

I can see why drugs in general are banned at the federal level - I mean... if cocaine, crack, or a host of other drugs were to voted in as legal in one state - that state would basically become a major, and wholly legal, processing point serving to then ILlegally transport shipments throughout the country... it almost HAS to be a federal mandate in that sense. Medical use, however, is a bit different - there are LOTS of medically approved drugs that are illegal to obtain, sell, use without prescription - many of which... like morphine... are highly addictive & infinitely more dangerous than pot. BUT, if a change must come - it almost has to come at the federal level for reasons stated above... no presidency since it was made illegal has moved to make medical marijuana use legal at the federal level - you can't just pin this on Bush - and if we want that to happen, fine... but it SHOULD really be done at the federal level & applied to all states.

[bks59]

What is morphone?

[inspire411]

spoincey1 your comments are ignorant,
Morphine does NOT work just fine for anyone. It's probably one of the most used and overprescribed painkillers in the hospital, and it does NOTHING for ALOT of people.

I was hospitalized several times for severe backpain (and nausea), and NOTHING the doctors gave me could help me. Only thing that helped was going home and smoking a joint.

People's bodies are receptive in different ways to different medicines. Even cold medicine affects people in different ways (makes one person sleepy, while it jacks up someone else).
I also knew several of the first people in the country to get AIDS back in the 80's.. and the ONLY THING THAT HELPED THEM COPE AND LIVE A DECENT LIFE was their government-sponsored ration of marijuana. Let dying people heal and deal with life in the most comfortable way they can; if it is marijuana, then so be it.

Now, let's talk about alcohol as being the WORST LEGAL DRUG in the country, I'm with you all on that one.

[marcpcbs]

Hay Feds

My wife used to let the spiders go when she would clean away their webs. The Feds seem to do the same thing with pot growers when they go after their plants. Both of you are always amazed how quickly the webs and the pot plants return.

In Mendocino County there are literally, tens of thousands of rich pot growers, selling pot to tens of millions of kids across the country for tens of billions in profits and we don't have one Federal Agent doing anything in this area all.

Hay Parents

I just wanted to let all the parents who are watching their kids fail because of drugs know where the drugs are coming from and who's not doing anything about it. There's a ten Billion dollar river of drug money running through Mendocino Co. and all the cops want the rest of us to believe they don't get any of it at all. Paying police to do nothing is just one way that drug money corrupts.

[pjatpeace]

Well, it is something that has become a major controversy. I really do not agree with legalizing a drug just because it is "better" than another drug that is illegal. If it is bad for you (whether you hear about people murdering people, in accidents, etc. under the influence of Marijuana) it is still bad for you.

The lesser of two evils does not make it okay. I think that the unfortunate thing is that people are using the new law to sell to people who really don't have an illness that warrants it.

We have become a society that banks on taking medication/drugs (illegal or legal) to deal with life and it is sad. I have someone I know that tells me he is getting marijuana from a place that is supposedly supplying it for medical marijuana purposes and he does not have a condition that would even come close (even if I agreed with it).

The other sad thing is that people are so quick to bash people and blameshift. I think that if it is going to be a drug that a law was passed to legalize, then it should be recognized in California. It is puzzling to me that it is made a law but a state can choose to not follow the law. I guess that if someone wants to get their hands on anything when it is made illegal, we know that it is going to happen (just like in the days of prohibition) but, again, it does not make it okay.

[pjatpeace]

To my first post, I meant to say "it does not make it okay to legalize a drug just because it "is better" than a LEGAL drug. Sorry.

[marcpcbs]

janem4

Your right about California voters being the ones to start this massive drug show. It's part of a huge "Legalize Drugs" Campaign and George Soros is just on of the money sources behind it.

I call out to the feds because all the Law Enforcement in California seem to be OK with watching drugs flow into our schools. They say their hands are tied. The Feds just flew over the home of the Mendocino Co DA and there was a field of pot in his back yard. Many of the local Police and Sheriffs also grow and sell saying "It's Legal".

There sure is no one to turn to around here.

The voters were duped with lies and images of cancer patients being helped. It was always a crock of S--T.

[Syndicate]

There they go again. Wasting my tax dollars. I can think of a lot better things for these DEA to do. Like taking out Meth production. POT inforcemant is a waste of time money and resources. Some one should have a national smoke out on the mall. get a couple million people out there. Get everyone arrested. Refuse to waive time and cripple the court system. Just to show the stupidty of POT inforcemant. I voted for the medical marijauna law. I expect the feds to respect the decision of the people of California. If they can't then maybe the feds should give us back our tax money.

[gmond]

I am so relieved to know that the FBI is satisfying the needs of lobbyists and corporations, rather than actually having to exert themselves and go after terrorists and mass murderers.

[dogsoul]

Prescription drugs DO represent a problem on the black market - just watch COPS & you'll see plenty of instances where dealers get their hands of these drugs & sell them for recreational use... point being that there is plenty of precedent for abuseable drugs being legally available by way of prescription, most of which having far more potentially dangerous effects on users compared to pot, addiction being just one among many. So stepping away from the issue a bit & seeing it on a macro scale - there's frankly far less danger of making pot available by prescription than already exists in massive quantity & variety in the arena of prescription medicine.

That being said, this specific issue seems to stem more from states vs federal rights - and honestly, while I agree pot should be legal for medical use, I also believe that for sheer practicality, it HAS to fall under federal juristiction.

[rharrin1]

I can't believe it. Just where in helll is RUSH going to get his supplies now.

[marcpcbs]

These are the only reasons someone would not care about the poisoning of millions of kids, and still want pot to be legalized.

1 They grow and sell pot to kids and want to keep making money and not get busted.

2 They use pot and don't want to get busted.

3 They are naive about what's really happening and they are still under the influence of the lies used to promote "Legal Pot" in the first place.

cbscrash07 & gmond
I mention that there are literally millions of kids having their health, educations and futures destroyed by the extremely powerful pot that's being sold at schools today, and all you say is "So What"
Which of the above categories do you fit into?

None of them care enough about kids.

[bildooreilly]

What a load of *** marcpcbs you sound like those loony letters that used to go around about the horrors of LSD and about how people were dosing unknowing victims up... Turns out the government itself was doing this exact same thing to study it.

[rusty50-2009]

"I just wanted to let all the parents who are watching their kids fail because of drugs know where the drugs are coming from and who's not doing anything about it. There's a ten Billion dollar river of drug money running through Mendocino Co. and all the cops want the rest of us to believe they don't get any of it at all. Paying police to do nothing is just one way that drug money corrupts.

Posted by marcpcbs at 10:58 AM : Jan 18, 2007"

marcpcbs - That's the most ridiculous statement anyone has made yet. You'd better go to your closet and pray the Mendocino boogeymen don't get you! LOL

Selah

[bildooreilly]

Hey Marcpcbs, what about real drugs like heroin and cocaine? Do you want your kids doing those? Do you know who brings those drugs into our country? The Feds the people we pay taxes to, the democrat and republican parties are both funded by drug money, if drugs were legalized wall street and quite a few banks that exist solely for laundering money would crash... Say high to Ollie North for me, don't forget about Bushs ole pal Manuel Noriega or the tons of Cocaine the Bush gang has smuggled into our country. Now of course they're running the poppy fields in Afghanistan so heroin is easily availible to americas youngsters... You support these people marcpcbs, you freakin ***.... Go have a look at the Iran Contra Cocaine operation and read the book "Powder Burns" by a former DEA agent.

[marcpcbs]

I have been in Mendocino County for 22 years and have personally seen and heard everything I have been telling you.

Where have you been?

I tried to get the growers I know to put "Keep Out Of Reach Of Children" stickers on their pounds and they laugh and tell me that the kids are their best clients because they cant tell good pot from bad and they pay top dollar.

What do you know?

What do you care?

[bildooreilly]

Sounds like you live around a bunch of retards marpcbs, perfect place for you....