cannabisnews.com: DEA Raids Pot Clinics in LA County DEA Raids Pot Clinics in LA County Posted by CN Staff on July 25, 2007 at 18:25:45 PT By Andrew Glazer, Associated Press Writer Source: Associated Press Los Angeles, CA -- U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided 10 medical marijuana clinics Wednesday just as city leaders backed a measure calling for an end to the federal government's crackdown on the dispensaries. Federal officials made five arrests and seized large quantities of marijuana and cash after serving clinics in Los Angeles County with search warrants, said DEA spokeswoman Sarah Pullen. She refused to disclose the clinics' locations and other details. It was the agency's second-largest raid on pot dispensaries, and came the same day the Los Angeles City Council introduced an interim ordinance calling on federal authorities to stop targeting pot clinics allowed under state law. A final vote on the ordinance was scheduled next week. Pullen said the timing of Wednesday's bust and the city's action was "purely coincidental." Federal and local governments have clashed over the dispensaries ever since California voters approved medical marijuana sales in 1996. The drug remains illegal under federal law. Councilman Dennis Zine, who earlier in the day wrote a letter to DEA Administrator Karen Tandy asking the agency to stop the raids, called the federal agents "bullies." "I think it's more than a coincidence, the raids today," he said. "They're trying to bully us. Instead of using resources to go after drug dealers ruining neighborhoods and poisoning school kids, they're going after individuals dying of cancer and suffering from AIDS who need cannabis to have any type of appetite." The DEA has maintained the clinics are distribution points for illegal drugs and earn their owners big profits. Zine said he and the council support a bill proposed by U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher R-Huntington Beach that calls for withholding funding for DEA raids on medical marijuana clinics. The proposal also would prohibit new clinics from opening until the city finds a way to better regulate its more than 100 dispensaries. The clinics are largely unregulated, which Zine and others said invites illegal pot use and sales. The council proposed Wednesday requiring existing dispensaries to obtain a city tax registration certificate, a seller's permit, a property lease, business insurance, proof of dispensary membership and a county health permit within 60 days. Federal officials raided 11 Los Angeles-area dispensaries in one day in January, the largest-ever such crackdown by the agency. Earlier this month, the DEA sent letters to at least 30 landlords of marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles County warning their property and assets could be seized. Agency officials said at the time the letters were not a threat.Complete Title: DEA Raids Pot Clinics in LA County, Irking Local OfficialsSource: Associated Press (Wire)Author: Andrew Glazer, Associated Press WriterPublished: July 25, 2007Copyright: 2007 Associated Press Related Articles:Congressional Scrutiny of DEA Reaches Fever Pitchhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23201.shtml Feds Target Owners Renting To Pot Dispensaries http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread23183.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #4 posted by unkat27 on July 26, 2007 at 22:12:54 PT DEA satire This is how I see the DEA (click on link for pic) DEA Fascists [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by Wayne on July 26, 2007 at 19:46:47 PT dongenero No big surprise there. The Bushes and the Nazis are tied together in the history books. Frankly, I would have been surprised if GW was a complete opposite. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by dongenero on July 26, 2007 at 07:32:45 PT comment #1 Great quote there.Chilling in it's parallel to the Bush administration and Neocon tactics. [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by legalizeit on July 25, 2007 at 19:49:57 PT Shadows of the Fuhrer Didn't Hitler also declare war on sick people?Plus, doesn't this sound familiar - be it a war on drugs or a literal one:"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."-- Herman Goering, Nazi Reichsmarshall, at the Nuremberg trials [ Post Comment ] Post Comment