cannabisnews.com: DEA Raids in California 





DEA Raids in California 
Posted by FoM on October 12, 2001 at 16:27:13 PT
By Emi Kane, AlterNet
Source: AlterNet
It looks like the next round in the battle of feds vs. state in medical marijuana is just beginning in California. In what the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) called a "government crackdown on patients", federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers raided the offices of longtime marijuana activists Dr. Molly Fry and Dale Schaefer, who run the California Medical Research Center. 
The raid, which took place on Friday, October 5, marks the first time federal agents have targeted a state medical marijuana facility since voters legalized the possession and cultivation of medicinal cannabis in 1996, and comes only weeks after newly-appointed DEA director Asa Hutchinson announced that any use of marijuana as a medicine is a violation of federal law and we're not going to tolerate any violation of the law." During the search, DEA agents seized 32 marijuana plants, computer files, and medical records of the over 6,000 club members from Fry, a physician, and her attorney husband Shaefer. NORML Foundation Legal Director Donna Shea spoke out against the raids. "In addition to violating the rights of Californians to set their own public health policy, the DEA has seized records that are protected by attorney/client and doctor/patient privilege," she said. Also on October 5th, DEA agents seized more than 200 plants from a medicinal pot farm outside of Los Angeles, the L.A. Times reported. The marijuana was being grown for patients at the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Cooperative, the paper said. In another case, the director of the Salmon Creek Cannabis Cooperative in Humboldt County, CA is facing federal charges after police raided and seized 200 plants from the club. California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer called the decision to prosecute the case federally "highly unusual" since the federal government typically involves itself only in pot cases averaging 1,000 or more plants. Marijuana activists are worried that the recent raids are indication of a trend in DEA activity that could target medical marijuana clinics, particularly in California, where the issue has received much public attention and support. Keith Stoup, director of NORML said, "We can only hope these actions do not represent a new federal intitiative to override the will of the voters in California." But with the John Walters nomination [as of this writing, the final outcome of his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing are not yet known] looming over reform advocates' backs, this could be the first in a long series of battles with the new administration to simply keep things where they are. For more information on the case, visit DRCnet -- http://www.drcnet.org/wol/206.html#dearaidSource: AlterNetAuthor: Emi Kane, AlterNetPublished: October 12, 2001Copyright: 2001 Independent Media InstituteContact: info alternet.org Web Site: http://www.alternet.org/Related Articles & Web Sites:California NORMLhttp://www.canorml.org/Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmCourt Case Challenges Privacy Boundarieshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11041.shtml DEA Seize Files on Medical Marijuana Patients http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11023.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by Silent_Observer on October 13, 2001 at 05:41:43 PT
Did someone say..
that our best hope for State's rights was Bush?Who was it? The same idiot who thought there were only 2 candidates for the Presidential election, no doubt.
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Comment #2 posted by firedog on October 12, 2001 at 21:29:30 PT
Clinton/Gore were angels by comparison
The "election" of Bush is the worst thing to happen to this country in a long, long time. Worse than September 11. To be fair, though, G.W. is being used as much as we are.You can't trust one word out of his mouth, because no word that comes out of his mouth is his own. "His" words have been carefully scripted by people behind the scenes. And it's those people that I don't trust.I wasn't a big fan of Clinton, because of his slippery tendencies, and I wasn't a big fan of Gore, because he wasn't true to his own principles when it counted. But at least their hearts were in the right places, and (I think) that they were genuine people. Even though they were defeated by their own personal weaknesses, I still respect both of them.I can't say that Bush is evil. I don't think he's really capable of either good or evil. He's a facade, when it comes down to it. So when I speak of Bush, I really speak of the powers behind the throne, the ones pulling the strings. And I think that they are evil."What you get is what you get" is good advice when dealing with any politician. I ignore what all politicians say, I only look at what they actually DO. (Well, I don't exactly ignore what they say. I compare what they say with what they have done, and any discrepancies are duly noted. But when evaluating whether I trust a politician, I ignore what they say.)
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Comment #1 posted by Poisoned1550Days on October 12, 2001 at 16:44:19 PT
The states should decide said Bush ?
I though President Bush said
when he was campaigning that states 
should set their own policy? Molly Ivins
has a saying about President Bush. She says
"with President Bush What you see is not 
what you get, What you hear is not what
you get. What you get is what you get."
I hope this does not turn out to be true.
Clinton/Gore may end up looking real good 
by comparison. 
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