| Artwork by Jimmy Wheeler (R.I.P.) |
An attorney representing a majority of the 12 San Luis Obispo County, California residents arrested last week for allegedly operating mobile medical marijuana delivery services said Tuesday that they received “appalling treatment” when task force officers arrested them at their homes.
According to one report of the raids, the police kept people, including a grandmother and two children, handcuffed facedown on the ground. The children were later hauled off to CPS after their parents were thrown in jail.
The arrests were made on December 27. Three other people from around Southern California were also arrested, reports Cynthia Lambert at The San Luis Obispo Tribune.
Two of the arrestees, Valerie Hosking, 41, and David Hosking, 46, both of Pismo Beach, were arraigned December 30 and each charged with two counts or selling or furnishing marijuana or hashish. A pre-preliminary hearing is set for January 20 for the two.
Attorney Patrick Fisher of Fisher & Fisher, who represents the Hoskings as well as six other defendants, said additional arraignments have been scheduled for January 11. He also represents Christopher Austin, 33, and Amy Austin, 33, both of Paso Robles; Peter Miller, 56, of Paso Raboles; Steven Gordon, 55, of Pismo Beach; and Rachel Tamagni, 57, and Charles Tamagni, 47, both of Paso Robles.
Fisher said his clients were operating nonprofit dispensaries, and said it appears they were abiding by California’s medical marijuana law.
San Luis Obispo County Sheriff Ian Parkinson, who was sworn in on Monday, said he was briefed on the case but claimed he was “not aware” of what specifically led to the arrests. He said one deputy from the department serves on the task force.
Two supervisors at Tuesday’s SLO County Board of Supervisors meeting said they want to meet with the sheriff to discuss a “rational approach” to dealing with medical marijuana.
Sheriff Parkinson responded that he is interested in making sure people have access to information to ensure they’re compliant with the law.
Medical marijuana delivery services have increased to as many as 20, by some estimates, mainly as a result of local law enforcement hostility, including federal raids and prosecutions against storefront dispensary operators. This led to an absence of storefront dispensaries in the county, which in turn gave rise to the delivery services, according to patient advocacy organization Americans for Safe Access.