Palm Desert: Cannahelp Raided- Meetings to Protest It

From: "Lanny Swerdlow" <lannyswerdlow at earthlink.net>
Lanny Swerdlow reports;
Hi Everyone,

Itís outrage time again. Today the Riverside
County Sheriffís Office conducted a raid against
Cannahelp, the MMJ Dispensary in Palm Desert.
Disregarding the fact (or maybe because of it)
that the city of Palm Desert last month extended
Cannahelpís business license for another year,
the Sheriffís office conducted a raid to shut
them down. Here is a statement from a press
release issued by the Sheriffís office as to why
the raid was conducted.

ìThe investigation uncovered the business
operating as a dispensary "for profit" in
violation of 11362.775 of the California Health
and Safety Code. The violations pertained to the
illegal sale and distribution for profit of
marijuana by "CannaHelp".

Let me get this straight. The Narcotics Task
Force raided Cannahelp not because they were
doing anything illegal by furnishing marijuana to
patients, but because they made a profit and they
canít furnish marijuana and make a profit. Well,
I have a problem with that.

If I operated a thrift store for the non-profit
Friends of 4-footed Creatures and for some
reason, the police concluded that I was making a
profit, I really doubt if the local police would
come into the store and seize all my records
along with all the merchandise I have for sale. I
doubt if they would come at all, let alone
conduct an investigation as to whether I make a
profit or not. That kind of stuff is usually
handled by some taxing authority like the state
Dept. of Revnue ñ not a local county sheriffís
office.

Like the raid against Gary Silva, this is just
another egregious example of Riverside County Law
Enforcement run amuck. This is made all the more
blatantly outrageous considering the decision
last week by the state court in San Diego which
ruled that there is no conflict between state law
and federal law and that state officials must
enforce state law.

What an insufferable waste of law enforcements
time! What an intolerable waste of taxpayersí
money! What really buzzes me is that this was not
done by the Sheriffís office by themselves, but
was most absolutely done in cahoots with the
Riverside County DAís office. Actually, I donít
believe the Sheriffís office even came up with
the idea. The legal machinations behind todayís
raid bear the same footprints as does the
infamous White Paper authored by Riverside Co. DA
Grover Trask.

Raiding Cannahelp because of questions on whether
Cannahelp was for profit or not is akin to the
White Paperís absurd legal arguments that the
Riverside County Board of Supervisors risked
arrest if they passed an ordinance regulating
dispensaries. Well, the Supervisors are not
risking arrest by regulating dispensaries and a
full-scale NARCOTICS TASK FORCE drug raid is NOT
conducted against a business over the issue of
whether or not they were making a profit.

This is just the same mean-spirited, malicious
and frankly sour grapes actions against medical
marijuana because THEY DONíT LIKE IT.

I was on the phone most of the afternoon trying
to get in touch with someone, anyone, in the
Sheriffís office to request that they send a
representative to our meeting to explain just
what is going on and why. I do not imagine that
you would be surprised when I tell you that I was
unable to contact anyone with the authority to do
that and none of the messages I left with those
people were returned.

Well they might not be willing to talk about it,
but we are and we must. This despicable raid will
be one of the major topics at our meeting this
Sunday, Dec. 3 at the Cathedral City Library. AND
YOU NEED TO BE THERE ñ YOU REALLY DO.

Enough is enough is enough! We have the vote of
the people, we have the legislation passed by the
California state legislature, we have multiple
court ruling upholding everything and yet our
local law enforcement just doesnít get it. They
continue to act like a bull in a china shop.

If we donít take on this bull on, then OUR CHINA
will continue to get broken and I am tired of
having to spend money buying super glue to keep
putting it back together. The Riverside County
DAís office and the Sheriffís office are mighty
big bulls and itís going take a lot of us to stop
them. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT TO STOP THEM.

I know itís a drive, I know you have other things
going on in your life - but how much
ìlawlessnessî are you going to put up with. At
some point, we all need to throw open our
windows, stick our heads out and yell, ìIím mad
as hell and Iím not gonna take it anymore.î

The meeting this Sunday is really going to give
you the information and ammunition to actually do
something about this.

1. You will learn about the raid and what is being done.
2. Attorney Ken White will present the
lawsuit MAPP will be filing to stop local law
enforcement from cooperating with the federal
police in the arrest of medical marijuana patients
3. Gary Silva will talk about his arraignment last week
4. Information on the San Diego state court
ruling affirming that there is no conflict with
federal law
5. Explanation of the ruling that just came
out yesterday from the California Supreme Court
recognizing the patients have the right to
transport marijuana in their vehicles
6. And just because we never forget that
MAPPís mission is education and the empowerment
of medical marijuana patients, we have a nice
selection of books informing you on how you can
cultivate your own medicinal herbs.

The Sunday, December 3 MAPP meeting begins at 3
p.m. and is held at the Cathedral City Public
Library, 33520 Date Palm Drive in Cathedral City.
Invite a friend, family member or neighbor to
join you at what is going to be an exciting,
informative and uplifting meeting.

Got any questions? Email me back or give me a call 760-799-2055.

See ya Sunday.

Lanny

P.S. There is also the High Desert meeting at the
Joshua Tree Community Center, 6171 Sunburst Ave.
on Wednesday, December 13 at 7:30 p.m. It has
been some time since I have been able to attend a
High Desert meeting, but school is over and I
will be there. I look forward to meeting with the
High Desert folks again.
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