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Washington Marijuana Dispensaries: Does Veto Mean Raids?

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 4, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation

Photo: Steve Elliott

Bud room at The Healing Center Organization in Seattle

Here in Washington state, in the Puget Sound area, I have seen a beautiful flowering of the cannabis subculture in the past 18 months.

It has been my privilege to be part of a moment that will almost inevitably be seen as something of a golden age in the medical marijuana scene in Seattle, when for a brief moment a vibrant, caring community felt its power and potential.

Since I became an authorized patient in 2007, I’ve seen the scene change from a handful of insular, exclusive (and often paranoid) collectives — none of which would take me as member, even with my legal authorization — to a plethora of dispensaries competing for my business.

Washington Medical Marijuana Patients Protest Federal Raids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 2, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Zazzle

A coalition of medical marijuana patients from around Washington state will gather in Seattle and Spokane on Monday to demonstrate against the Obama Administration’s use of federal agents to raid medical marijuana dispensaries in the state. According to the activists, the raids are in violation of the Administration’s own written policy stating they they would not use federal resources to conduct raids in states with medical marijuana laws.

Protesters will gather in Seattle and Spokane at 1 p.m. on Monday. The protest in Seattle will be in front of the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building, 915 Second Avenue, downtown. Protesters will also gather in Spokane at the Thomas Foley Federal Courthouse, 920 Riverside, Spokane, also at 1 p.m.

DEA Raids Marijuana Dispensaries As Bill Hits Governor’s Desk

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 29, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Photo: Jesse Tinsley/The Spokane Spokesman-Review

Outside the THC Pharmacy medical marijuana dispensary, activists chant “DEA, go away!” in protest on Perry St. in Spokane, Wash., Thursday, April 28, 2011. The DEA raided the dispensary while most dispensary owners and pot activists were at a meeting about how to handle DEA raids.

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) conducted aggressive, SWAT-style raids on Thursday on at least three dispensaries in Spokane, Washington, that provided medical marijuana to qualified patients.

Earlier this month, numerous facilities shut down after U.S. District Attorney Michael Ormsby threatened numerous landlords in Spokane with seizure of their property if they keep letting their tenants provide medical marijuana to state-compliant patients. These actions come at the same time the state is trying to pass Senate Bill 5073, which modifies Washington’s 1998 medical marijuana law to specifically allow dispensaries.

Marijuana Raid Training Interrupted To Protest Raids In Progress

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 28, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Graphic: Phawker

It didn’t take long for the feds to follow through on their threat of federal raids in Washington after the governor refused to sign a bill which would have legalized medical marijuana dispensaries in the state.

A medical marijuana raid preparedness class in Spokane was interrupted Thursday so that the participants could go protest ongoing dispensary raids by federal agents, according to patient advocacy group the Cannabis Defense Coalition.

CDC, based in Seattle, had already scheduled raid preparedness classes around the state this week. It turns out that the training is even more timely and needed than the group may have imagined.

At about 2 p.m. on Thursday, federal agents, apparently assisted by local police, began executing a raid against a medical cannabis provider, THC Pharmacy, at 1108 South Perry Street in Spokane, according to Phil Mocek of the CDC.

Governor Worried About Raids On Bureaucrats, But Not Patients

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on April 28, 2011 Dispensaries, Legislation, News

Photo: The Reagan Wing

Washington Governor Christine Gregoire seems to be wavering between a partial veto and a full veto of a medical marijuana dispensary bill passed by the Legislature last week.

“I’m looking at it only with what I can save,” Gregoire said at a news conference on Wednesday. “Not whether I will sign it.”

SB 5073 would license storefront dispensaries and grow operations, and protect registered patients from arrest, reports Andrew Garber at the Seattle Times.

But the governor indicated the bill would not survive in its present form.

No Charges Yet In MT Dispensary Raids; $4 Million ‘Seized’

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 17, 2011 Medical, News

Photo: THC Finder

Dumb-ass DEA agents felt they needed to wear masks and respirators while raiding and killing medical marijuana gardens in Montana on Monday, because otherwise they might get some of that evil cannabis on them.

There are still no charges related to this week’s medical marijuana dispensary raids across Montana, but an examination of civil seizure warrants reveals a possible motive behind the raids: The warrants authorized federal agents to “seize” more than $4.2 million from dispensary bank accounts.

Following what authorities claimed was an 18-month investigation, 26 search warrants targeting seven dispensaries were executed on Monday, reports Angela Brandt at the Helena Independent Record. Federal agents claimed they were looking for evidence of “large-scale trafficking” as well as tax evasion.

Dispensary Raids In Hollywood As Obama Breaks Promise

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 16, 2011 News

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Federal agents carry away stolen merchandise, I mean “evidence,” March 15, 2010

Drug Enforcement Agency agents, with the help of the Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, raided two medical marijuana dispensaries in West Hollywood, California on Tuesday. It was the first such action in the city since the Obama Administration decided two years ago to take a hands-off approach to dispensaries in compliance with state laws.

The federal warrants were served on the Zen Healing Collective and on Alternative Herbal Health Services, and one individual was taken into custody, which may result in arrest. Both shops were among the four dispensaries the city had authorized to operate, reports John Hoeffel at The Los Angeles Times.

DEA Raids Marijuana Dispensaries Across Montana

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on March 14, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: KXLH

Both federal and local law enforcement took part in the raid on Montana Cannabis in Helena.

You have to wonder about the timing. On the very same morning that a Montana Senate committee failed to endorse a bill that would have repealed the state’s medical marijuana law, federal agents, with guns drawn, hit at least 10 dispensaries across the state Monday.

“The timing is impeccable,” said Chris Lindsey, a Missoula attorney who specializes in medical marijuana cases, reports Gwen Florio of The Missoulian.

“They’re seizing everything — plants, marijuana, grow equipment, files and computers,” Lindsey said. “It’s very, very broad in its scope.” The attorney said he retains a business interest in Montana Cannabis, one of the dispensaries where federal search warrants were executed.

Months After Dispensary Raids, No Charges And No Money Back

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on February 21, 2011 Dispensaries, News

Photo: Cal Pot News/Corning Observer

More than seven months after Butte County, California law enforcement coordinated raids on seven marijuana dispensaries, the sheriff’s office claims it is still “investigating” the case, so the District Attorney’s Office has yet to file criminal charges.

A number of dispensary owners have since filed civil cases to have their confiscated money returned, reports Katy Sweeny at the Chico Enterprise-Record.

More than 100 law enforcement officers on June 30, 2010 served search warrants on seven marijuana dispensaries and 11 residences in Chico, Forest Ranch, Magalia and the Sacramento County town of Rio Lindo. The officers stole — I mean, “confiscated” — marijuana, guns, financial records, computers, Proposition 215 verifications, cash, and other items.

Anti-DEA Rallies Held Over Michigan Medical Marijuana Raids

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 13, 2011 Dispensaries, Medical, News

Photo: WLNS

A couple of dozen hardy protestors faced the cold to protest the DEA’s invasive demand for confidential patient records protected by state law.

A couple of dozen hardy protestors faced the cold in Lansing, Michigan, this week to protest the DEA’s invasive demand for confidential medical marijuana patient records protected by state law.

Medical marijuana advocates made some noise, raising their voices against what they call increasing federal involvement in states where medical marijuana is legal.

“I’ve been raided twice,” said protestor John Roberts, reports WLNS. “First time they raided me they didn’t even take the plants; they took all the medicine we made for the patients.”

Roberts, a medical marijuana user, caregiver and advocate, said the feds need to stay out of the confidential records of medical marijuana users.

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