San Francisco, CA: On Wednesday, June 22, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other federal agencies raided three medical marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco. Apparently more than 20 residences, businesses and cultivation sites were searched and at least 13 individuals were arrested.
In a separate and ongoing investigation, a federal grand jury in Sacramento indicted Marion (Mollie) Fry, MD and her husband Dale Shafer, Esq. of Cool. They were arrested at their home, charged and have pleaded not guilty in federal court to charges of distributing and manufacturing at least 100 marijuana plants. Both Dr. Fry and her husband Dale have been speakers at recent NORML conferences in California.
The New York Times reports that the raids and arrests were the first large-scale actions against medical marijuana clubs and providers since the Supreme Court upheld federal authority over marijuana on June 6. The Times coverage captures what may be an ominous change in federal law enforcement policy. According to Gordon Taylor, special agent from the Sacramento office of the DEA: “We will not turn a blind eye to serious and flagrant disregard for federal law. There may be those who think we can disregard the court and Congress. DEA will not be among them.”
“One fears this is the beginning of a massive federal crackdown to close the medical marijuana dispensaries currently serving California’s patient community; one hopes that common sense will yet prevail, and the tens of thousands of medical marijuana patients in California will not be forced to search for their medicine on the black market,” said NORML Legal Counsel Keith Stroup. “This looks as if the federal law enforcement officials may have misconstrued the Raich/Monson decision as a mandate to treat patients and their providers as criminals.”
A spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department, Sgt. Neville Gittens, said in a statement that its officers “did not take part in any investigation of these clubs or take any law enforcement action against these clubs.” A spokesperson for San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said that federal investigations reinforced the importance of “trying to protect the legitimate uses of medicinal marijuana in the state.”
For more information about the state of medical marijuana laws post-Raich, please visit:
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6550