cannabisnews.com: Arrests Highlight Pot Conflict Arrests Highlight Pot Conflict Posted by CN Staff on May 31, 2002 at 17:45:36 PT By Lori A. Carter Source: Press Democrat Two Santa Rosa men who say they use medicinal pot were released on $100,000 bail Thursday, a day after federal drug agents arrested them on suspicion of cultivating marijuana.Drug Enforcement Administration agents took Dan Nelson, 41, and Edward Bierling, 44, into custody Wednesday, but federal prosecutors kept the charges against them secret until a hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court. Unsealed Thursday, the criminal complaint alleges that Nelson and Bierling were growing more than 100 marijuana plants each in violation of federal law. Nelson was charged with a separate count of maintaining a premises for the cultivation.On Wednesday, drug agents raided the Aiko Compassion Center, a storefront marijuana buyers club on College Avenue, where Nelson was arrested. Bierling's home was searched in March.The case underscores the conflict between state and federal laws regarding marijuana use, which some users say is often the only treatment that alleviates their chronic ailments.California voters approved an initiative in 1996 allowing marijuana use for medical purposes with a doctor's approval. But under federal law, marijuana use and cultivation remain illegal.The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the clubs last summer, clearing the way for a federal crackdown. DEA agents say they aren't targeting the clubs, but they don't ignore them if investigations point to them.After Proposition 215 legalized medical marijuana use in California in 1996, local authorities crafted a countywide protocol to deal with pot users who have a doctor's recommendation to use the drug.Local police generally have not pursued documented medical marijuana growers and users unless they suspect the operation is a front for illegal drug sales.Santa Rosa attorney Richard Ingram, who represented the men in court Thursday, protested to Magistrate Elizabeth Laporte that Nelson and Bierling have peer-reviewed doctor's recommendations to use marijuana for chronic medical problems.Assistant U.S. Attorney George Bevan said that as much as confirms the men illegally use marijuana."That is a violation of federal law, regardless of local agreements, which I'm finding are a sham," he said."I'm not going to assume they're a sham or anything else," the judge said with a smile, "but as you know, there is a conflict between state and federal law on this issue."The case is one of a handful in the court system involving marijuana cooperatives that have been raided by federal authorities in the past several months.Local medical marijuana advocates have rallied to support those caught up in federal legal tangles. A representative from the Marin Alliance for Medical Marijuana was in court with Bierling and Nelson supporters."This hurts and scares and destroys the little patient collectives that aren't doing any harm - in fact, they're helping people," said Lynnette Shaw of the Marin group.In Santa Rosa on Thursday afternoon, medical marijuana advocates marched in front of the Aiko center that agents closed down Wednesday.While DEA drug agents working in Sonoma County have said they are not targeting medical marijuana clubs, Ingram said that's exactly what Nelson's arrest appears to be about."It's very discouraging to have the federal government utilize its resources to go after people who are in compliance with local and state law," he said.Some cities and counties have issued ID cards to certified medical marijuana users. In Sonoma County, certified users can obtain a letter from a panel of doctors set up to review applicants and are allowed to possess up to three pounds of pot.Nelson will appear in court on June 6 to confirm his own counsel for further proceedings. Both men will appear June 18 for arraignment.Nelson and Bierling each face a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison if convicted of the cultivation charge. The maximum sentence for Nelson's charges is 60 years; Bierling faces up to 40 years.According to the DEA, marijuana, cash, a car and a weapon were seized during the search of Bierling's home and Aiko.Charged: Santa Rosa men released on bail.Source: Press Democrat, The (CA)Author: Lori A. Carter, The Press DemocratPublished: May 31, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Press DemocratContact: letters pressdemo.comWebsite: http://www.pressdemo.com/Related Articles & Web Sites:Americans for Safe Accesshttp://safeaccessnow.org Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmMen Arrested in DEA Raid Appear in Court http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13017.shtmlPatients Push Back After DEA Raids in Santa Rosa http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13016.shtmlDEA Raids Santa Rosa Pot Club, Arrests 2 http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13000.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #8 posted by michael on June 01, 2002 at 09:27:07 PT: --------SO F---ING WHAT!!!!!!!!! It flips me out everytime the media chooses to throw in the " Gun, cars and cash" crap. Are any of these against the law!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggg!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by Jose Melendez on June 01, 2002 at 07:39:49 PT: June 6th DEA protest Protesting June 6th? Check this out, from:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A42304-2002May31.html Capitol Ban on Protests Nullified Appellate Court Opens Sidewalk To Demonstrators A federal appeals court yesterday struck down a 30-year-old ban that keeps protesters from the House and Senate entrances of the Capitol, ruling that security concerns do not outweigh First Amendment rights at a building that is "a centerpiece of our democracy." A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously agreed that U.S. Capitol Police regulations violate the right of protesters to gather on the sidewalk on the east side of the Capitol and pass out leaflets or hold signs. "We declare the entire demonstration ban unconstitutional," Judge David S. Tatel wrote in an opinion also signed by the other panel members, Judge Harry T. Edwards and Senior Judge Laurence H. Silberman. Tatel ordered a lower court to immediately enter an injunction barring enforcement of the ban. But he also wrote that police have the right to regulate and limit Capitol protests. "In the atmosphere we live in today, this is a tremendous affirmation of the First Amendment principle," said Robert Lederman, the New York City artist and activist whose 1997 arrest at the Senate entrance sparked the suit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union. "If you can protest on the sidewalk of the Capitol, then you should be able to protest at government buildings around the country." Arrest Prohibition [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by John Markes on June 01, 2002 at 06:01:55 PT Black Market Support from the DEA Interesting, eh? By closing down buyers clubs that can show they are keeping moneys from terrorists via the black market the DEA is in fact ensuring more money gets to terrorists by forcing patients to get their medicine from... black markets, no control at all. It seems the greatest national security risk for the USA is the US federal government. [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by mayan on June 01, 2002 at 04:14:47 PT More... on Robert G. Wright Jr.Agent: FBI Could Have Prevented 9-11 http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/5/30/161204.shtmlFrom the article:The assets of the Drug Enforcement Agency could be used to fund an anti-terrorism agency, he said. "Simply switch the terrorism responsibilities of the FBI with the nation’s illegal drug responsibilities." [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by mayan on June 01, 2002 at 03:40:17 PT New Mexican... Scary link! This bottom link is pretty scary too!C-SPAN 2 Wright Video - A Tearful FBI Agent Accuses Superiors Of 911 Coverup! http://www.truthout.org/mm_01/4.WrightKlayman, Schippers, Wright, Vincent, Carmody, Rowley, Conyers...it is getting awfully loud around here. Can the Bush administration and the FBI avoid the shouting? Have we crossed a line here, from freedom-hating terror attacks to willful negligence on the part of this government? Where will the politics of treason take us next? http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/06.01A.wrp.treason.htmScams Away - The Boom Is Falling: http://almartinraw.com/column58.html [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by The GCW on May 31, 2002 at 21:31:50 PT Busk ( he knows) Is very powerful. But Busk is loosing credibility fast. He is not gaining assets in this war, and in fact is loosing them fast. All indicators show people are distancing themselves from the Busk evil, on this issue. He is showing the world his lack, RIGHT HERE, with his inability to see it is wrong to cage humans for using cannabis.When the planet sees the grotesque scale of this failure, oozing from this bunch, they are going to skewer them.What is sinking in, to more and more citizens, (that it is not right to cage, for using plants), is never going to get past the Busk financial needs.Something says, they are making last efforts to crack what ever is True about cannabis. There going to take all Truth and discard it to oblivion, they think. Man, I just gotta stand up and say, wait, My Father said that all that is done in darkness will be brought to the light. That is going to disappoint Busk.They have a timeline mode of evilness, that is over the horizon. Busk – Gestapo – SWATSTIKA – urine suckers – (are they) natural gas hoarders, too?Do they think we are cock roaches?We are talking about a race, like, group of, what ever they are, that sniffs out the sick and corners them, confronts them, cages and kills them and does it at their benefit. They profit by this persecution and want to increase their profits, through extermination.Great Benefactors. This is at Our expense. Normal, frail, sick people that want to use a basic plant, with out being exterminated.Seems elementary enough...People getting cancer, finding out the Truth, will be put to death, if necessary, to protect what is theirs.The secret is out. Cannabis is medicine, on a Biblical scale. Think about the implications, here. Busk, from Skul N Bones, knows full on, what we have been trying to say. Biblically, cannabis has been medicine and a whole lot more, since the beginning. All the beginnings that You can imagine, and more. With a God awesome safety record, cannabinoid receptor sites in the brain, gamma linolenic acid in mothers milk and hemp seed oil, along with the Bible a plant book, written in green from the very 1st page through the very last page. This genealogy, knows full well, as they knew full well, what was going on with the planes. They carry on as though they are getting ready to make a big take, on the whole world.When in anger, Jude helps Me.Aren’t we told that this is coming?Aren’t they described as the self-condemned, Titus 3:9-11?Aren’t they described as those who hate Christ, in John 14-16?Those who have “fallen away from the faith”, in 1 Tim. 1-5 (The Apostasy), and “men who... advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth.”I KNOW THE TRUTH!When they get the chance they will exterminate all who (EVEN) know the Truth.Does it remind you of the man of lawlessness revealed as the son of destruction,... in 2 Thess. 2? + :11-12; For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, 12 in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness."but as you know, there is a conflict between state and federal law on this issue." THE CONFLICT IS REALLY BETWEEN MANS LAW TO CAGE, AND GODS LAW SAYING IT IS A BLESSING.Trust My Father, when He said, He gave Us all these good green seed bearing plants. Distrust anyone who says otherwise!It's the litmus test.ETC.ETC. [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by Nuevo Mexican on May 31, 2002 at 18:52:02 PT More Bushit!!!!! More actions leading up to the big backlash, eh? More articles to disgust an American: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/72504_cuss30.shtml Just another skirmish in the battle to save the world from darkness! Speak now, or forever hold your peace! Anon [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by MDG on May 31, 2002 at 18:48:58 PT What would happen if... the Governor of California, Gray Davis were to (this would never happen with Davis as Gov) send the State Police to enforce State Law by preventing the DEA agents from entering? I imagine George Bush would probably call in the Armed Forces to drive a tank through the Coop. At least he'd be affirming, once-and-for-all, that he really doesn't care about States' Rights. I've gotta say, as a bit of a daydreamer, I love the idea that 1) a Governor (besides Johnson) would stick up for his constituents and 2) all the money building up SWAT teams to use on us citizens will be used against our oppressive government. Can you imagine what kind of news would break about a massive shoot-out between a State Police SWAT team and DEA agents? Wow! I'd pay-per-view on that one! [ Post Comment ] Post Comment