DEA raid on med marij in Hollywood

[Major Variola (ret)]

Thursday November 01 08:00 PM EST
The Other War
By Michael Simmons LA Weekly Writer

Unable to find Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) or dismantle al Qaeda,

the Bush administration has attacked an easier target  the 960 mostly
AIDS (news - web sites) and cancer patients of the Los Angeles Cannabis
Resource Center.

Thirty agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration raided
the
West Hollywood center last Thursday. They detained eight
patient/staffers
for six hours and seized 400 plants, bagged marijuana and brownies,
patient
and doctors records, computers, and growing equipment. The effect on
peoples health will be devastating, said center president Scott Imler,
who
has epilepsy. I dont understand why America is declaring war on its
own.

  No arrests were made. The center remains open, but the dispensary is
closed, forcing members onto
  the black market to receive their medicine.

  The basis for the raid is the long-standing state-vs.federal
government dispute over who has say over
  drug laws. In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, which
gave patients the right to
  possess medical marijuana. The federal government has refused to
recognize the law in California and
  eight other states and Washington, D.C., which have passed similar
medical-marijuana measures. Last
  May, the U.S. Supreme Court (news - web sites) ruled against the
reopening of an Oakland club, a
  decision cited in last weeks search warrant.

  The centers leadership has yet to announce its legal strategy, or if
it will try to restore its operation,
  which serves 960 members, 80 percent of whom have AIDS and use
marijuana to combat wasting
  syndrome and the nausea from multiple medications. Another 10 percent
have cancer, for which
  cannabis is a time-honored treatment during chemotherapy. The
remainder suffer from assorted
  ailments, including glaucoma and multiple sclerosis.

  The center opened in 1996 with the help of the West Hollywood City
Council and the L.A. County
  Sheriffs Department. I stand up in support of what Scott has been
doing, Sheriff Lee Baca told the
  Weekly in 1999. Hes done an excellent job. The West Hollywood City
Council held a news
  conference denouncing the raid. Asked West Hollywood Sheriffs Station
Captain Lynda Castro:
  Wheres the sensitivity level?

  The centers supporters say the raid points up the folly of Americas
drug war, and its lack of
  compassion. Other countries are setting more progressive examples.
Four months ago, Canada
  became the first country to legalize medical marijuana. The Dutch,
whove already decriminalized
  recreational use, announced this month that cannabis will be available
by prescription. And the British
  are reclassifying pot in their least restrictive class with
antidepressants and steroids.

  While the rest of the world moves steadily into the 21st century, the
Bush administration is dragging its
  knuckles and America back into the Dark Ages, said Imler.

  A candlelight vigil will be held across the street from the center, on
the corner of Santa Monica
  Boulevard and Gardner Street, at 5 p.m. Tuesday, November 6, the fifth
anniversary of the
  passage of Proposition 215.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/laweekly/20011101/lo/29651_1.html

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It would be a shame if these feds got cancer.
Got Dioxin?