L.A. Asks D.E.A. to Stop Raids on Marijuana Dispensaries

HOLLYWOOD, July 25, 2007 (KABC-TV) (KABC) -- There were angry protests as federal agents cracked down on another medical marijuana dispensary. Los Angeles police stepped in to keep the peace. At least one person was arrested.

The city of Los Angeles is asking the D.E.A. to halt the raids. Agents have raided some of the 400 marijuana dispensaries in recent months. Wednesday the city council took steps to limit new clinics and regulate the hundreds that have sprung up all across Southern California.

The latest dispensary to be raided by the D.E.A. is on Santa Monica at El Centro in Hollywood.

There were a few hundred protesters, and some of them went to the alley behind the dispensary and conducted their own act of civil disobedience, blocking the D.E.A. from doing their job.

Some of them were taken away in handcuffs.

The raid on the medical marijuana dispensary came on the day L.A. City Councilman Dennis Zine, a retired cop, asked for a moratorium on the opening of these dispensaries and, with signatures from other members of the city council, sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Agency to, in simple terms, back off from raiding the dispensaries.

"We're asking the federal government to let the state of California implement, which the voters voted for, and the city of Los Angeles to come in with regulations that will be reasonable, regulations we can control ... and if people are working outside the law, then there will be consequences with law enforcement. But we want to regulate it, and we believe that Congress working with us ... will help us bring about a solution" Zine said.

A few years ago voters passed Proposition 215, legalizing the medical use of marijuana.

The D.E.A. has said federal laws supersede state laws, so any type of marijuana use is illegal.

Councilman Zine got unanimous support Wednesday from fellow council members in asking the planning department to come up with rules and regulations on medical marijuana dispensaries.

One dispensary operator told me she's concerned how long she'll be open because her landlord was given notice by the D.E.A. that he could lose his property if he continues to lease to her.

"The D.E.A. didn't want me here a year and a half ago when we opened. They still don't want me here. Nothing's changed as far as I'm concerned. The patient's need their medicine and we're gonna be there to give it to them for as long as we can," Yamileth Balanos, of a medical marijuana dispensary, said.

Right now, there really are no rules or regulations on the books when it comes to medical marijuana dispensaries.

According to a spokeswoman from the planning department for the city, it'll take a year to set up those rules and regulations.

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