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Yes, I know its last minute - but I've seen quite a few people on here from California so I figured I'd pass along the word. If you're a member of MPP (as any self-respecting member of the Growery should be), you'll already know about this:
Quote: Yesterday, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) raided four medical marijuana collectives in west Los Angeles. The raids — conducted under the direction of Bush Administration holdovers — took place on the very day that President Obama’s pick for Attorney General, Eric Holder, was sworn into office.
These actions looked more like armed robberies than law enforcement activity. Armed agents stormed into the facilities and quickly made off with their medical marijuana and cash but, to our knowledge, didn’t arrest anyone. The Los Angeles chapter of Americans for Safe Access and local patients are planning an emergency protest of these actions at the federal building in downtown L.A. tomorrow at noon.
According to reports, the following collectives were victimized in the DEA’s sweep through west L.A.: Venice Alternative Healing, Marina Caregivers, Alternative Caregivers Discount Dispensary, and Beach Center Collective.
Please take a stand for patients' rights and our state's long-standing medical marijuana law.
In addition to attending this peaceful protest, you can make a difference by calling the Department of Justice’s main switchboard at (202) 514-2000 (between 6:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Pacific time) and politely ask that Attorney General Eric Holder make sure that key Bush appointees in the DEA are replaced so that the previous administration's war on medical marijuana patients can finally come to an end. Let them know that you and the vast majority of Angelenos are sick and tired of seeing your federal tax dollars being used to undermine state and local authority.
I'll also note that those of you participating, should check out Daikokuya Ramen House for their kickass lunch special. Not that their ramen isn't likely to be the BEST ramen in Los Angeles (if not the state of California... if not anywhere outside of Japan!), but their lunch special is a tasty steal and right down the block from the protest.
This is quite literally the exact 4pc sashimi + port cutlet lunch special I speak of, which also includes an awesome shreaded jap salad + miso soup + rice, for some eight dollar bills. Brew is an additional $2.50/pint. So come on and puff in support of all the tokers in the Greater Los Angeles while eating like a king for little more than $10! Should be a good time.
yeah i just got the email from MPP i actually went to one of the places yesterday to go for my first time and they were like "we got raided" i was so furious after having driven over there
so much for change if it was truly an issue of compassion and something he thought needed attention, he would have prioritized on day one the sick patients in california who do really need these dispensaries. instead we get the same
i should be there tomorrow. i'll be sportin my new LA doesha shirt
-------------------- I'm an electric smoker
ExplosiveMango said: If everyone could do mushroom, yes, it would be a wonderful world. This will never be, only some can do mushrooms. It is the responsibility of those of us who see the world most clearly to pass the clarity on to those who cannot bare to wear our lenses.
Madtowntripper said:Or just give her a cloroform soaked rag and tell her it's ether!
Washington Times - DEA Pot Raids Go On - Obama Opposes "Drug Enforcement Administration agents this week raided four medical marijuana shops in California, contrary to President Obama's campaign promises to stop the raids.
DEA Acting Administrator Michele Leonhart
The White House said it expects those kinds of raids to end once Mr. Obama nominates someone to take charge of DEA, which is still run by Bush administration holdovers.
“The president believes that federal resources should not be used to circumvent state laws, and as he continues to appoint senior leadership to fill out the ranks of the federal government, he expects them to review their policies with that in mind," White House spokesman Nick Shapiro said.
Medical use of marijuana is legal under the law in California and a dozen other states, but the federal government under President Bush, bolstered by a 2005 Supreme Court ruling, argued that federal interests trumped state law.
Dogged by marijuana advocates throughout the campaign, Mr. Obama repeatedly said he was opposed to using the federal government to raid medical marijuana shops, particularly because it was an infringement on states' decisions.
“I'm not going to be using Justice Department resources to try to circumvent state laws on this issue," Mr. Obama told the Mail Tribune newspaper in Oregon in March, during the Democratic primary campaign.
He told the newspaper the "basic concept of using medical marijuana for the same purposes and with the same controls as other drugs prescribed by doctors, I think that's entirely appropriate."
Mr. Obama is still filling key law enforcement posts. For now, DEA is run by acting Administrator Michele Leonhart, a Bush appointee.
Special Agent Sarah Pullen of the DEA's Los Angeles office said agents raided four marijuana dispensaries about noon Tuesday. Two were in Venice and one each was in Marina Del Rey and Playa Del Ray -- all in the Los Angeles area.
A man who answered the phone at Marina Caregivers in Marina Del Rey said his shop was the target of a raid but declined to elaborate, saying the shop was just trying to get back to operating.
Agent Pullen said the four raids seized $10,000 in cash and 224 kilograms of marijuana and marijuana-laced food, such as cookies. No one was arrested, she said, but the raid is part of an ongoing investigation seeking to trace the marijuana back to its suppliers or source.
She said agents have conducted 30 or 40 similar raids in the past several years, many of which resulted in prosecutions.
"It's clear that the DEA is showing no respect for President Obama's campaign promises," said Dan Bernath, a spokesman for the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, which advocates for medical marijuana and for decriminalizing the drug.
California allows patients whose doctors prescribe marijuana to use the drug. The state has set up a registry to allow patients to obtain cards allowing them to possess, grow, transport and use marijuana.
Kris Hermes of Americans for Safe Access, a medical marijuana advocacy group in California, called the raids an attempt to undermine state law and said they were apparently conducted without the knowledge of Los Angeles city or police officials.
He said the DEA has raided five medical marijuana dispensaries in the state since Mr. Obama was inaugurated and that the first took place on Jan. 22 in South Lake Tahoe.
"President Obama needs to keep a promise he made, not just in one campaign stop, but in multiple speeches that he would not be spending Justice Department funds on these kinds of raids," Mr. Hermes said. "We do want to give him a little bit of leeway, but at the same time we're expecting him to stop this egregious enforcement policy that is continuing into his presidency."
He said he is aware that Mr. Obama has not installed his own DEA chief but that new Attorney General "Eric Holder can still suspend these types of operations."
The Justice Department referred questions to the White House. "
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