DEA Attacks Med Marijuana Clinic

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DEA Attacks LA Medical Marijuana Center

She Who Remembers
http://www.geocities.com/sheremembers ~
"Don't hate the media, become the media"
~Jello BiafraFrom: Dale Gieringer canorml@igc.org

Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 09:36:41 -0700
To: dpfca@drugsense.org aro@drugsense.org
Cc: natlnorml@aol.com
Subject: DEA Attacks LA Medical Marijuana Center
MEDICAL MARIJUANA EMERGENCY
DEA DECLARES WAR ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA, WIPES OUT LA CANNABIS CENTER

Protest at West Hollywood City Hall - 2 PM, Oct 26
Over 1000 patients left without medicine

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 26. On the very afternoon that Congress
was approving new restrictions on civil liberties for the federal
government, scores of DEA agents descended on the LA Cannabis
Resource Center, seizing all of the center's computers, files, bank
account, plants, and medicine. The DEA cited the recent Supreme
Court decision as justification for their action. No charges have
been filed.

The raid effectively shut down the largest, best organized
and most respected cannabis center in Southern California. West
Hollywood city officials, who have strongly supported the club, are
calling a press conference to protest the action at City Hall on
Santa Monica Blvd at 2 PM.

- Dale Gieringer, Cal NORML
Jay Cavanagh reports:
October 26, 2001

Dear All,
News has been received that last evening the DEA raided the offices
and clinic of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Cooperative (Los
Angeles Patient Resource Center). The news remains fragmentary at
this late hour.

Apparently, the patient cannabis garden at the West Hollywood site
was seized by DEA agents despite the loud protestations of the West
Hollywood Mayor and many local officials and residents. No arrests
have yet taken place nor have any charges been filed.

As I have repeatedly pointed out, the Federal war on medical cannabis
is concentrated at points of distribution. Last month a garden in
Ventura, California which grows for the West LA facility was seized
by federal agents. Additional DEA action was recently highlighted in
the ongoing case of a Cool, California physician and attorney while
reports have been noted of increased DEA surveillance of Bay Area
cannabis centers.

Coupled with actions in other portions of California, this most
recent raid by the DEA clearly demonstrates that stopping State
approved efforts to provide medical cannabis to needy patients is a
top priority of the Justice Department despite our national concerns
with terrorism and the state of war.

Knowing the howls of protest
from citizen and officials alike, it is unlikely in the extreme that
the DEA raid was anything but part of an organized effort to stamp
out medical cannabis much as DEA Chief Asa Hutchinson promised he'd
do shortly after his controversial appointment.
Yours in faith,
Jay R. Cavanaugh, Ph.D.,
West Hills, California
(818) 346-4493
--
----
Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml@igc.org
2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114

2 posts:
From: canorml@igc.org (Dale Gieringer)
Date: Fri, Oct 26, 2001, 11:43am
Subject: ALERT: PROTEST FEDERAL WAR ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA
California NORML Action Alert - Oct 26th PROTEST FEDERAL
WAR ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA
          The DEA raid on the Los Angeles Cannabis
Resource Center makes it clear that the Bush administration is bent on
waging war on medical marijuana.
            MAKE YOUR VIEWS KNOWN TO PRESIDENT
BUSH! The day the administration gets a new anti-terrorism bill from
Congress, it decides to attack medical marijuana instead. Phone the
White House comment line: (202) 456-1111
            CALIFORNIANS: PHONE SEN. FEINSTEIN
NOW! Tell her that the feds should be waging war on anthrax, NOT medical
marijuana. Urge her to vote "No" on confirmation of John Walters for
drug czar. Walters epitomizes the creepy intolerance of medical
marijuana that the Bush administration is pushing.

Phone for Sen. Feinstein:
LA Office 310-914-7300 SF Office 415-393-0707
(DC office 202-224-3841 closed today due to anthrax scare)
----
Dale Gieringer (415) 563-5858 // canorml@igc.org 2215-R Market St. #278,
San Francisco CA 94114

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

From: MPP@mpp.org (Marijuana Policy Project) Date: Fri, Oct 26,
2001, 2:11pm (PDT+3)
Subject: URGENT: DEA raids L.A. mmj club; protest at 2 p.m. today.
Reply to: state@mpp.org
This alert is intended for the greater Los Angeles area. If you live in
another part of California, please help improve MPP's future targeting
of action alerts by replying to this e-mail with your full address (or
at least your zip code). Thank you.
==========================================
DEA Escalates War on Medical Marijuana Users, Wipes Out L.A. Cannabis
Resource Center
Protest today (Friday) at West Hollywood City Hall, 8300 Santa Monica
Boulevard,
at 2:00 p.m

.
On October 25, scores of DEA agents descended upon the L.A. Cannabis
Resource Center in West Hollywood, seizing the center's computers,
files, bank account, plants, and medicine. The DEA cited the May 2001
U.S. Supreme Court decision as justification for its action. No charges
have been filed.

The raid effectively shut down the largest, best organized, and most
respected medical marijuana distribution center in Southern California.
West Hollywood city officials, who have strongly supported the club, are
calling a press conference to protest the action at City Hall at 2:00
p.m. on October 26.

The federal war on medical marijuana users continues to target
distribution centers, while leaving STATE medical marijuana laws and
individual patients and caregivers unmolested.

Last month, a garden in Ventura, California, that grew marijuana for the
L.A. Cannabis Resource Center was seized by federal agents. Additional
DEA action was recently highlighted in the ongoing case of a Cool,
California, physician and attorney whose medical marijuana distribution
operation was raided, with the DEA seizing thousands of patient records,
in addition to a small number of marijuana plants that were being grown
for personal use.

These heavy-handed DEA actions can only be interpreted as the will of
Asa Hutchinson, the new DEA administrator (and former U.S. House member)
who declared war on medical marijuana during his confirmation process in
the U.S. Senate in July.

MPP's strategy to address the DEA problem is to pass H.R. 2592 in
Congress, which would allow states to determine their own medical
marijuana policies without federal interference. If H.R. 2592 were to be
passed and signed into law by President Bush, then California could
authorize medical marijuana distribution centers, which would therefore
be immune to federal raids and prosecution.

On September 27, MPP sent a mailing to its nationwide membership asking
people to write to their U.S. House members in support of H.R. 2592. In
the next few days, MPP will issue an e-mail alert to its 30,000 members
and allies nationwide, asking everyone to visit MPP's
soon-to-be-unveiled Web page that will make it easy for citizens to fax
pre-written letters to their members of Congress.
==========================================

She Who Remembers
http://www.geocities.com/sheremembers ~
"Don't hate the media, become the media"
~Jello BiafraFrom: Peter Webster <vignes@monaco.mc>
Reply-To: drugnews-owner@yahoogroups.com
Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 13:34:28 +0000
To: drugnews@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [drugnews] ! Staff Of W Hollywood Medical Marijuana Clinic Protest DEA Raid
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Pubdate: Fri, 26 Oct 2001
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Copyright: 2001 Associated Press
Author: Christina Almeida, Associated Press Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?115 (Cannabis - California)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

STAFF OF W. HOLLYWOOD MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLINIC PROTEST DEA RAID
Operators of a medical marijuana clinic raided by federal agents blasted
the action Friday as a "death sentence" for people who use the facility.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents searched the Los Angeles Cannabis
Resource Center Thursday afternoon, seizing computers, financial documents,
400 marijuana plants and medical records of some 3,000 current and former
patients, said Scott Imler, resident of the resource center.

"This action is effectively a death sentence for patients all across Los
Angeles County," Imler said. "Our immediate concerns are our 960 patients
who have no place else to go for marijuana."

The center, which has been open since 1996, provides marijuana to patients
suffering from AIDS, epilepsy, glaucoma, cancer and other serious
illnesses, he said. To receive the marijuana, patients must be referred by
their physicians and undergo a screening process.

The raid is the latest in an ongoing battle between states and federal
courts over the medical use of marijuana.
Eight states including California have passed legislation allowing the use
of marijuana for medical purposes only. In May, the Supreme Court upheld a
1970 law that says marijuana has no medical benefits.
That ruling was cited in the search warrant, which allowed officers to look
for evidence of the manufacture of marijuana and the possession of the drug
with intent to distribute.

"It is a felony violation of federal law to cultivate, distribute or
possess with intent to distribute marijuana," said U.S. Attorney John S.
Gordon in a written statement.

At a press conference on Friday, Imler was joined by members of the West
Hollywood City Council and a representative of the Los Angeles County
Sheriff's Department, who both expressed support for the resource center.
"Our city is going to stand with our residents and this club," said
Councilman John Duran, who also provides legal representation for the
center. "These people will be forced once again into the streets to deal
with drug dealers."

Sheriff's Capt. Lynda Castro said she was disappointed when she heard about
the raid because the department has worked hard over the past five years to
be understanding and sensitive to the issue.

"This is going to hurt a significant population in this community," she
said. "I respect them for doing it, for operating a significant service. To
turn around and have them targeted is a hard pill to swallow."
Marlene Rasnick, who suffers from ovarian cancer, urged her fellow patients
to protest the federal government's action against the center.

"Medical marijuana made it possible for me to sit in my garden and enjoy my
friends," she said. "If the federal government wants to say life is over, I
don't accept that."
__________________________________________________________________________
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