Pubdate: Thu, 26 Apr 2012 Source: Orange County Register, The (CA) Copyright: 2012 The Orange County Register Contact: http://www.ocregister.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321 Author: Roxana Kopetman GARDEN GROVE SEEKS HELP TO OUST POT CLINICS GARDEN GROVE - Police officials have asked federal authorities who raided medical marijuana dispensaries in Costa Mesa this year to do the same in this town. Police Chief Kevin Raney told the City Council Tuesday night his department has been in touch with federal agents and "they will be coming to Garden Grove in the future." He was responding to comments by council members and residents about the proliferation of the dispensaries. "Is there going to be one in every single corner?" asked Maureen Blackmun, vice president of the Central Garden Grove Neighborhood Association. "Is this going to be our new reality?" Residents said they believe there are 73 dispensaries in the city, but Raney put the number closer to 60. Councilman Bruce Broadwater called the growing number of pot clinics "a nightmare." Raney said his department has been wrestling with the issue for the past two years, when some five to eight dispensaries first opened in the city. Two part-time employees monitor the dispensaries, he said. In January, the city stopped registering the dispensaries pending unresolved legal disputes in California. State law allows for the medical use of marijuana; federal law does not. That same month, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration raided two dispensaries in Costa Mesa and several homes connected with them. Costa Mesa had requested assistance in shutting down 27 known active medical marijuana collectives, which are illegal under city ordinance. In a brief interview, Raney declined to elaborate on specifics of the city's request but said his department is seeking the DEA's help in "enforcing federal law." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom