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."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom