Pubdate: Fri, 04 May 2012
Source: Santa Barbara Independent, The (CA)
Copyright: 2012 The Santa Barbara Independent, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.independent.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4348

DETAILS RELEASED ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA CRACKDOWN

Four Locations Raided by Santa Barbara Police and Federal Authorities

Santa Barbara police and federal agents executed four search warrants 
Wednesday and Thursday during what authorities say is part of a 
region-wide crackdown on illegal marijuana operations. The raids at 
dispensaries and houses included the seizure of money, property, and 
weed, but no arrests were made. Local officers assisted in the 
operation headed by the United States Attorney's Office, the Drug 
Enforcement Administration, and the Internal Revenue Service.

On Wednesday, a search warrant was carried out at Pacific Coast 
Collective on 331 North Milpas Street. The home of its suspected 
operator - Jeff Restivo, who's being prosecuted on marijuana-related 
charges in a separate case involving the dispensary - was also 
visited by law enforcement personnel.

On Thursday, Miramar Collective on Ortega Hill Road in Summerland was 
raided. Its owner, according to a spokesperson for the the U.S. 
Attorney's Office, is currently being prosecuted in Santa Barbara on 
state narcotics charges. A search warrant was also executed at "an 
indoor marijuana farm on East Haley in Santa Barbara, where 
substandard and unpermitted electrical equipment has been used," the 
spokesperson said.

"In conjunction with the filing of the asset forfeiture complaints," 
the spokesperson explained, "letters were mailed out yesterday to the 
property owners and operators of 10 additional marijuana stores that 
are either currently operating or were recently closed - six in Santa 
Barbara, three in Goleta and one in Summerland. All known marijuana 
stores in Santa Barbara County are now the subject of federal 
enforcement actions," he said.

Sgt. Riley Harwood, spokesperson for the Santa Barbara Police 
Department, said in a prepared statement that the SBPD has looked 
into citizen complaints against storefront marijuana dispensaries 
since 2009. "Detectives have used a variety of means to investigate 
these locations," he said, "including interviewing customers, 
conducting undercover purchases of marijuana, and searching 
facilities. In every instance thus far," he went on, "their 
investigations revealed that these storefronts were operating as 
for-profit business enterprises; conducting retail sales to 
customers, or 'members,' and purchasing from wholesale vendors bulk 
quantities of marijuana grown outside of the region."

This, Harwood said, conflicts with California law and falls beyond 
the scope of exemptions set forth in Proposition 215 and Senate Bill 
420. And such operations, he went on, are contrary to the California 
Attorney General's Guidelines for the "Security and Non-Diversion of 
Marijuana Grown for Medicinal Use"

Investigations within the city limits have resulted in the closure of 
five dispensaries and criminal charges being filed against their 
owners and/or operators, Harwood said. Three of the cases resulted in 
convictions. Two are still working their way through courts. "We will 
work within the law and we will aggressively enforce the law," Police 
Chief Cam Sanchez said in a press release.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom