Aftermath: Los Angeles DEA Dispensary Raids
January 22nd, 2007 by Alex
As many people in the Los Angeles are aware, the DEA raided 11 Los Angeles dispensaries on Wednesday, January 17th. Despite these co-operatives being legal in California under the Compassionate Use Act of 1996, they are not legal under federal law. This creates a see-saw of struggles between co-ops to stay open and the DEA to shut them down.
How exactly the DEA chooses it’s victims is still a mystery. Maybe they go after dispensaries with too large a client base, maybe they infiltrate all dispensaries and raid the ones they believe are breaking the law. We just don’t know. An anonymous patient who walked into a dispensary during the raids had this to say:
I went by H.I.P Sherman Oaks. They buzzed me in and I was greeted by a federal agent. He was in FULL GEAR, freaking mask and everything. He told me I could turn around and leave or come in and join them, what do think I did.This sucks…
After talking with one of the raided dispensaries, I learned that the DEA has Ok’d them to continue selling medical marijuana. The catch is that they can’t sell hash, pipes or pieces. Looks like the DEA believes just the plant is good enough and all the extras like edibles, hash and others aren’t part of the deal.
Dispensaries are now taking steps to increase their safety measures. In Van Nuys, one co-op has beefed up security with 2 full-time armed guards. Other effects of the raids are increased marijuana pricing across the board. Premium is now going for up to $85 an 1/8th while regs are hovering around the $60 - $65 mark. This is going to make it much harder for patients to afford their medicine.
Overall, these raids have delivered a serious blow to the Los Angeles medical marijuana community. I expect it will take at least a few months for everything to return to normal. In the meantime, let’s hope that attitudes and laws continue to progress so that this doesn’t happen again.
Read on to see more pictures from the DEA raids…
