cannabisnews.com: Raid Targets Marijuana Activist 





Raid Targets Marijuana Activist 
Posted by CN Staff on December 19, 2002 at 12:29:54 PT
By Jeff McDonald, Union-Tribune Staff Writer
Source: Union Tribune 
Supporters contend amount of pot seized within proposed limit. San Diego police raided the home of a well-known medical marijuana activist, seizing 13 pounds of the drug, more than 100 plants and thousands of dollars in cash but making no arrests. Investigators said they found evidence that the suspects were illegally growing and selling marijuana, including more than $11,000 in cash discovered at the house. 
Medical marijuana supporters argued yesterday that the amount of marijuana confiscated appears to be within guidelines approved in October by a committee of the San Diego City Council. It was the second raid targeting a prominent activist this fall. Tuesday, police searched the College Area home of Dion Markgraaff, a 33-year-old marijuana user who once ran a cannabis club in Ocean Beach and who testified often before the city's medical marijuana task force. "We found evidence that indicates cultivation and selling of marijuana," said Lt. Cesar Solis, who served on the task force that developed the proposed medical marijuana guidelines. "Qualified patients do have a right to marijuana, but they don't have the right to stockpile large amounts." The raid came as members of the San Diego City Council prepare to consider recommendations next month that, if approved, would lay out conditions under which medical marijuana patients could grow and possess the drug. In October, the council's Public Safety and Neighborhood Services committee approved guidelines allowing patients to possess 72 plants and three pounds of marijuana. Caregivers would be allowed to have 90 plants and up to nine pounds of the drug. Markgraaff and his roommate, who was not identified, were deemed by police to be qualified medical marijuana patients. In fact, police allowed them to retain one plant each and an ounce of marijuana between them. Markgraaff also is a recognized caregiver. The amount of marijuana found in the Stewart Street residence appears to be permissible under the city plan developed in response to Proposition 215, the state initiative that approved medical marijuana. However, the drug remains illegal under federal law. Markgraaff said police approached him at a coffeehouse near his home about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. They handcuffed him, took him to his house and about 20 officers began searching the residence. "For them to come like storm troopers, with battering rams and machine guns – that's pretty extreme," Markgraaff said yesterday. "I don't know how we rate so high on their list of priorities." Markgraaff, who uses marijuana to alleviate symptoms of diabetes, served probation after pleading guilty to a charge of maintaining a place where pot is distributed. He was arrested in 1998 along with Steve McWilliams, another medical marijuana activist who also served probation. McWilliams is facing federal drug charges after his arrest by drug enforcement agents in October. Markgraaff said $1,200 of the money seized Tuesday was his. But the majority belongs to his roommate's relative, who was traveling out of the country, he said. The case will be forwarded to the District Attorney's Office, which will decide whether to file charges. If county prosecutors decline to act, federal officials may. "How can you not look at it as drug trafficking when (more than) $10,000 was seized?" said Michael Vigil, special agent in charge of the San Diego Drug Enforcement Administration office. Vigil also said he may testify against the city guidelines at the upcoming hearing. "Anybody would be able to get access to marijuana," he said. Juliana Humphrey, a public defender who serves as chairwoman of the committee that developed the proposed guidelines, questioned the timing of the raid. "It's not a coincidence that they are doing this right at a time when the council is weighing the guidelines," she said. In May, as the medical marijuana task force was completing the proposal it sent to the council committee, San Diego police raided a marijuana garden in City Heights. In that case, police confiscated two dozen seedlings and about a half-dozen mature plants from a woman whose garden was discovered by an officer responding to a robbery report. She never was charged. Mayor Dick Murphy declined to discuss yesterday's raid. Staff writer Marisa Taylor contributed to this report. Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)Author: Jeff McDonald, Union-Tribune Staff WriterPublished: December 19, 2002 Copyright: 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.Contact: letters uniontrib.comWebsite: http://www.uniontrib.com/Related Articles & Web Site:Medicinal Cannabis Research Linkshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/research.htmPolice Raid Home of Medical Marijuana Activist http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15014.shtmlS.D. City Panel OKs Medical Pot Rules http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14477.shtml
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