Los Angeles, CA: Federal law enforcement agents raided 11 medicinal marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles county yesterday in one of the most high profile actions taken by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in California since the state’s passage of Proposition 215 in 1996.
According to the Los Angeles Times, federal agents simultaneously raided five dispensaries in West Hollywood, as well as additional medicinal cannabis operations in Venice, Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, and Woodland Hills. Government officials told the Times that more than 20 people had been detained for questioning, but charges had yet been filed. Spokespersons for the DEA said that hundreds of marijuana plants and several thousands pounds of cannabis were seized in the raids.
Speaking on the NORML AudioStash regarding yesterday’s raids, NORML Legal Committee member Bruce Margolin of Los Angeles said: “The government is just rattling their swords … taking down these dispensaries. Do they think they are going to stop the need for medical marijuana in California and other states [by raiding these clubs]? I don’t think so, but by shutting down these safe access locations, patients are going to have to turn to the black market [for their medicine.]”
The raids came just hours after city officials in West Hollywood and Los Angeles approved regulations limiting the number of medicinal cannabis dispensaries operating in their cities.
For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Executive Director, at (202) 483-5500, or visit http://www.normlaudiostash.com.