Pubdate: Sat, 31 Mar 2007
Source: Tribune, The (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Copyright: 2007 The Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/391
Author: Leslie Parrilla

MORRO POT RAID TRIGGERED BY ALLEGED VIOLATIONS OF STATE AND FEDERAL
LAWS

Sheriff's Department officials said they were investigating both 
state and federal violations when they raided a medical marijuana 
dispensary in Morro Bay this week.

A conflict between state and federal law exists because 
voter-approved state law allows medical marijuana while federal law 
restricts the drug.

Sheriff's and federal Drug Enforcement Agency officials raided 
Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers at 780 Monterey Ave. on Thursday.

Sheriff's Sgt. Brian Hascall said both federal and state violations 
were discovered during a yearlong investigation into the business -- 
the county's only medical marijuana dispensary.

"As to which came first, I don't know," Hascall said. "We may have 
actually discovered both at the same time."

Morro Bay police were not involved in the investigation, Hascall 
said, because they have limited resources and county sheriff's 
narcotics detectives do not typically hand over investigations to 
city agencies.

Hascall said they had a local arrest warrant for two state violations 
in addition to the federal search warrants.

The two sealed federal search warrants are expected to be unsealed in 
about a month, Hascall said.

An attorney for dispensary owner Charles Lynch said Friday that his 
client still doesn't know whether he will reopen the business.

Hascall said his department can't ignore violations on any level if 
they learn a law has been broken.

"It's our responsibility to uphold both federal and state law," 
Hascall said. "It's our obligation to start an investigation into any 
violation of the law that is brought to our attention or discovered 
by us during the course of our duties."

But critics disagree. Kris Hermes, the legal campaign director of 
Americans For Safe Access, a national medical marijuana advocacy 
organization, said that argument doesn't hold up.

"This is the argument local law enforcement gets away with time and 
time again," Hermes said. "In fact, the opposite is true. There is an 
obligation for local law enforcement to uphold local and state law 
and state statutes.

"There is no requirement that the federal government places on state 
or local employees to uphold federal law."

Hermes also pointed out that if sheriff's officials were concerned 
about state violations, they should have used state-issued search 
warrants instead of federal warrants.

"The use of the federal government is still used to intimidate and 
maintain the closure of that facility," Hermes said.
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MAP posted-by: Elaine