Pubdate: Thu, 15 Dec 2005
Source: Press-Enterprise (CA)
Copyright: 2005 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact:  http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Kimberly Trone

DISPENSARY RAIDS SLAMMED

DEA: An Official Confirms The Agency Is Conducting A Large-Scale 
Inquiry Of The Sites

RIVERSIDE - Medical-marijuana users rallied Wednesday outside the 
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration building in downtown Riverside 
to protest the agency's recent raids on 13 Southern California 
marijuana dispensaries.

Federal agents seized large quantities of marijuana, records and 
small amounts of psychedelic mushrooms and hashish from the San 
Diego-area dispensaries on Monday.

No dispensaries in Riverside or San Bernardino counties were raided.

Misha Piastro, a DEA special agent in San Diego, called Monday's 
sweep a part of one of the administration's most comprehensive 
investigations in California history. He said the investigation is in 
its infancy.

"In many cases, we sent in undercover agents who purchased marijuana 
without providing documentation of any sort," Piastro said. "This was 
drug trafficking."

Protesters said they are worried the raids are a signal the federal 
government intends to aggressively challenge a California law that 
allows the cultivation and use of medicinal marijuana with a 
physician's recommendation.  The California law is at odds with a 
June ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people who smoke marijuana 
with a doctor's permission could still be prosecuted for violating 
federal drug laws.

Oscar Lorigo, 31, of Palm Desert, said he uses marijuana for insomnia 
after trying to treat his sleeplessness with liquor and 
pharmaceutical drugs that left him hung over or groggy the next 
day.  Lorigo, one of about 20 protesters, said the federal government 
should be focused on fighting crime and not patients who need their medicine.

While Riverside County began taking applications Dec. 1 for state 
medical-marijuana identification cards, San Diego County has refused 
to participate in the state-mandated card program.

The San Bernardino County Public Health Department next month plans 
to begin implementing an ID-card program.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman