Pubdate: Tue, 18 Sep 2012
Source: Mount Shasta Herald (CA)
Copyright: 2012 GateHouse Media, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.mtshastanews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3515
Author: Skye Kinkade

NO ARRESTS AFTER DEA ACTION IN MOUNT SHASTA

Collective Owner Says Medical Marijuana, Computers, and Cameras Were 
Confiscated

Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration served a federal 
search warrant at The Green Heart Medical Marijuana Collectives in 
both Mount Shasta and Anderson last week.

Gina Munday, CEO of The Green Heart, said agents entered her Mount 
Shasta store sometime before 9 a.m. by prying open the front door and 
breaking the door jamb when no one was present.

No arrests were made at either location, said Casey Rettig, special 
agent with the DEA's San Francisco office. Rettig said she couldn't 
provide further details or discuss what was seized, as the documents 
related to the warrant are under court seal.

Munday called the experience "very disturbing," and said the DEA 
confiscated "all the patients' medicine," as well as the store's 
computers, security cameras and some of her files.

"They turned the store upside down... files were poured out, dirt was 
on the floor... all the damage was not necessary."

Munday also alleges that after the raid, bills were missing from the 
Meals on Wheels Auxillary donation jar that was sitting on the front 
counter. "There were $10 and $20 bills in there, and they are gone. I 
am just disgusted."

Munday said she doesn't know what the agents were searching for, but 
said "whatever they took, we are confident that The Green Heart has 
nothing to hide."

Munday said she believes the raid had something to do with her 
"ongoing legal battle with the city of Anderson."

According to online Shasta County court documents, Gina Munday and 
her husband, Joe, are appealing a decision to shut down their 
Anderson storefront after the Anderson City Council approved a 
prohibition on medical marijuana dispensaries through a city zoning code.

A jury trial is set for December, according electronic court records.

Munday said after this experience she has made the decision to keep 
her Anderson store closed until the legal battle can be resolved, but 
said the Mount Shasta store is restocking and is open for business again.

Rettig said an investigation is ongoing but would provide no further details.

The Siskiyou County Marijuana Eradication Team assisted in the Mount 
Shasta operation, said Lieutenant Bucky Jefferson, but he referred 
questions to the DEA.

Sheriff Jon Lopey said the DEA asked the Siskiyou County Narcotics 
Interagency Task Force for assistance. Two members of the MET team 
also helped serve the warrant, Lopey said.

Mount Shasta Police Chief Parish Cross said his department was 
notified prior to the raid but did not participate.

The Green Heart and a second marijuana collective are allowed in 
Mount Shasta City under conditional use permits approved by the Mount 
Shasta City Council, Cross said.

Since opening in August of 2009, Cross said there haven't been many 
calls for service at The Green Heart. There was one theft committed 
at the store in 2010, but two suspects were apprehended about a month 
and a half later.

"We're very sorry for any discomfort the situation has caused local 
patients," Munday said. "We are just here to provide safe access for 
patients... We've been here nearly three years, and other than the 
theft, we have had no problems. We're in good standing with the local 
police and the local people. I love it up here... we're quiet and discreet."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom