Another Dispensary Raided in Palm Springs
December 4th, 2006 by Alex
Looks like it’s tense times for dispensaries in the deep south of California. After San Diego’s challenge to the medical marijuana laws failed, plenty of attention is still being paid to co-ops of all shapes and sizes.
This week’s Dispensary Gets Busted article is courtesy of the Palm Desert police. On December 2nd, Narcotics Division agents served a warrant on CannaHelp, a local co-op. The reason? To discover if the dispensary is selling weed for profit.
It looks like police are using this as a loop-hole to break into any dispensaries in the area, as this was the major reasoning behind 2 other local raids. Yes, co-ops are around to help patients but it’s hard to imagine anyone starting one just for the good feeling of it all.
Running a co-op is a service, and providing that service should allow operators to earn a profit. Not just cost-of-living expenses for the owner and staff.
Good news is, no arrests have been made in connection with the warrants. Stacy Hochanadel, CannaHelp’s owner, was questioned by police but called the entire process ‘professional’. It’s a good sign that she is more than willing to work with police about her books and where the money CannaHelp generates ends up going.
Still, it’s a troubling trend that more and more police units are preemptively raiding dispensaries in order to find things wrong. I’m interested about the judge behind this all and under what basis all of these warrants were signed.
Luckily, CannaHelp is back open and deserving patients will be able to access their medicine.
[via The Desert Sun]
