DEA raids small collective medical marijuana grow

[motorhead]

Emergency Response: DEA RAIDS IN PALM DESERT, CA
March 14th, 2006

1. Call the local Riverside DEA offices to tell them to stop harassing patients!
2. Call for Action at Federal Buildings Nationwide - 12 Noon on Thursday, March 16th
3. National Congressional Write in Day on Thursday, March 16th
4. Forward this Message to Lists & Friends

This morning, in a cruel act of harassment and intimidation DEA agents, along with Riverside County Sheriff's officers, raided a small medical marijuana collective grow outside of Palm Desert, California.

When the DEA knocked on the door, patient Gary Silva went to open it. DEA agents proceeded to kick in the door, dislocating Gary's shoulder and causing lacerations to his face. Gary uses medical marijuana for degenerative disk disease and nerve damage. He is currently being treated in the emergency room of a local hospital.

Agents confiscated less than 80 plants and dry medicine, which were grown for several patient collective members. Patient records and equipment were seized as well. No arrests were made. DEA agents repeatedly told Gary that they would not be charging him, and that he would only be charged if he grew again.

Please stand up against this blatant harassment of patients! There are four ways you can get involved:

1. Call the local Riverside DEA offices to tell them to stop harassing patients!

Please call (951) 328-6000 to express your dismay with this attack on patients. Tell them the patient community will not stand up for this behavior!

2. Call for Action at Federal Buildings Nationwide - 12 Noon on Thursday, March 16th

We are asking all medical cannabis supporters to rally in opposition to these raids at noon on Thursday, March 16th in front of your local federal building. Please contact Rebecca immediately at rebecca@safeaccessnow.org if you plan to organize one of these actions so we can post the information on our website.

These demonstrations are a vital part of our grassroots opposition to the federal crackdown. Please make plans to attend and encourage others to do so. Please check our web site or call the ASA office if you need additional information.

3. National Congressional Write in Day on Thursday, March 16th

On Thursday, please visit our website to write to your congressional representatives and educate them about the need and the ways to stop DEA raids. Look for more details on the write-in tomorrow.

4. Forward this Message to Lists & Friends

Please pass this message on to any and all supporters you know.

Our web site is www.safeaccessnow.org You can reach the ASA office directly at (510) 251-1856.

Thank you for your active support and participation.

[motorhead]

Medical Marijuana: DEA, Local Cops Raid Another California Collective -- Angel Raich Arrested at Protest 3/17/06
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/...therraid.shtml
DEA agents accompanied by Riverside County sheriff's deputies raided a small Palm Desert medical marijuana growing collective Tuesday and sent homeowner Gary Silva to the hospital with a dislocated shoulder when they burst through his door in the early morning assault. The raid was only the latest DEA attack on medical marijuana patients and providers since the agency got a green light from the US Supreme Court last June when it ruled that federal law outlawing marijuana trumped any state laws making an exception for medicinal production, distribution, and use.
Agents confiscated 80 plants and an unspecified quantity of prepared marijuana from the home, as well as seizing patient records and equipment. The grow was operated as a legal patients' collective under California law. No arrests were made, but DEA agents told Silva he would be arrested if he grew again.
"Everything I was doing was within California law," said Silva after being released from the hospital where he was treated for his law enforcement-inflicted injuries. "I grew for myself and a few other patients, and donated the excess to a nearby dispensing collective. There was no need for our California sheriffs to call in federal agents to injure me and harass my family."
"This sounds like pure harassment by the DEA and by a local sheriff that isn't happy to uphold state law," said ASA field director Rebecca Saltzman. "It was just a matter of time before a patient would be injured from a federal raid, and if this hostility by the DEA continues, it's going to happen again."
In addition to injuring Silva, who suffers from degenerative disc disease, agents also held his wife and daughter at gunpoint, Silva said. He liked the encounter to being assaulted by robbers. "They did a home invasion," he said.
Medical marijuana supporters and activists planned protests at locations across the country Thursday, including Austin, Denver, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Missoula, Montana, and Riverside, California. The medical marijuana defense group Americans for Safe Access also urged people to call the Riverside DEA offices to tell them to quit harassing patients. Late Thursday afternoon, California NORML head Dale Gieringer reported that medical marijuana patient and Supreme Court plaintiff Angel Raich had been arrested at an Oakland protest against the Palm Desert raid. According to Gieringer, a security guard told Raich she was using a megaphone too close to the building and arrested her after she talked back to him through the megaphone as she walked away. She was released with a citation.