Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
DEA Terrorism
An aggressive federal offensive targeting medical marijuana providers,
growers and patients in California is rapidly energizing common
citizens and elected officials alike in support.
growers and patients in California is rapidly energizing common
citizens and elected officials alike in support.
An aggressive federal offensive targeting medical marijuana providers,
growers and patients in California is rapidly energizing common
citizens and elected officials alike in support. The raid September 5
against the Santa Cruz Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana
(http://www.wamm.org) may mark the beginning of a real anti-federal
mobilization in California.
In late breaking news, DRCNet learned Thursday evening that the DEA had
struck again, this time raiding the Genesis medical marijuana
dispensary in Petaluma and an associated garden in Sebastopol and
arresting Genesis owner Robert Schmidt, who was being held by the DEA
as of Thursday afternoon. Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org), the coalition that has spearheaded
protests against previous raids, has issued an emergency alert calling
for demonstrations at federal buildings across the country on Monday.
According to ASA, large numbers of plants were seized, witnesses
reported an ambulance at the scene, and Schmidt had been charged with
assaulting an officer.
"We are shocked that the DEA would make medical marijuana its top
priority while the rest of the county is at a high state of alert,"
said ASA executive director Steph Sherer. "While the country was on
orange alert on September 11, 30 DEA agents were busily plotting an
attack on the medical marijuana community. The president warned us of
an attack," Sherer continued, "but he didn't tell us it would be from
our own government."
The Santa Cruz raid has been denounced by the local sheriff's
department, which failed to intervene when angry WAMM patients blocked
DEA raiders from leaving the WAMM garden they had just destroyed, as
well as by members of the Santa Cruz city council and other state
political figures -- including Attorney General Bill Lockyer, long
criticized by medical marijuana advocates as too flaccid in supporting
the law.
Santa Cruz city council members are not limiting themselves to angry
words. City officials announced this week that they will join a
medical marijuana giveaway at City Hall next week to send a message to
the Justice Department that medical marijuana is welcome in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz residents approved Proposition 215, the 1996 medical
marijuana initiative, by a 74% margin. In 2000, the city council
approved an ordinance allowing medical marijuana to be grown and used
without a prescription.
"It's just absolutely loathsome to me that federal money, energy and
staff time would be used to harass people like this," vice mayor Emily
Reilly told reporters as she announced she would participate in handing
out medical marijuana to sick people at City Hall.
While the city of Santa Cruz has passed a resolution denouncing the
raid, the City Hall action is not an official city event. City
officials and members of the public will be allowed to use city
facilities for the protest, the city attorney explained.
The DEA's San Francisco spokesman pronounced himself flummoxed by the
announced event. "Are you serious?" Richard Meyer asked the Associated
Press when told of the giveaway. "That's illegal. It's like they're
flouting federal law," he said. "I'm shocked that city leaders would
promote the use of marijuana that way. What is that saying to our
youth?"
[Editor's note: It could well be saying to our youth that marijuana,
like morphine, cocaine, sedatives, tranquilizers and many other
substances, has legitimate medical uses and that drug war
totalitarianism should not interfere with medical care.]
If the DEA is "shocked" at the Santa Cruz giveaway, California Attorney
General Bill Lockyer has aroused himself long enough to send a letter
to DEA head Asa Hutchinson and Attorney General John Ashcroft
complaining about the raids and asking for a meeting to discuss the
matter.
"I must question the ethical basis for the DEA's policy when these
raids are being executed without apparent regard for the likelihood of
successful prosecution," Lockyer wrote. "Whether or not the US
Attorney decides to file in the Santa Cruz case, my Department is aware
of other recent DEA-initiated raids involving as few as six marijuana
plants in which no charges were ever filed, and no convictions were
obtained. Conversations with DEA representatives in California have
made it clear that the DEA's strategic policy is to conduct these raids
as punitive expeditions whether or not a crime can be successfully
prosecuted."
The US Attorney's office in San Francisco announced this week that
Valerie and Michael Corral, the operators of WAMM, would join the
growing list of those raided but not prosecuted. Such tactics make
sense for the DEA in California. Raids effectively destroy the
operation in question, and the federal government doesn't have to worry
about actually winning a case in a state where the electorate voted for
medical marijuana.
"A medicinal marijuana provider such as the Santa Cruz collective
represents little danger to the public," Lockyer wrote, "and is
certainly not a concern which would warrant diverting scarce federal
resources away from the fight against domestic methamphetamine
production, heroin distribution or international terrorism to cite just
a few far more worthy priorities."
Whether the Lockyer letter will lead to any concrete response remains
to be seen. According to Lockyer spokeswoman Hallye Jordan, DEA head
Hutchinson called to acknowledge receiving the letter, but no meeting
has been set. There has been no response from the Justice Department,
Jordan told DRCNet. And like her boss, Jordan used the medical
marijuana issue to plump for increased funds for the state's Campaign
Against Marijuana Production (CAMP), which she characterized as
"seizing a million plants from Mexican narco-traffickers, as opposed to
medical marijuana that would benefit seriously ill and dying patients."
"We are pleased to see the Attorney General finally responding to this
crisis," said ASA executive director Stephanie Sherer. "We hope he
will follow up," she told DRCNet.
While Lockyer scribbled to the feds, medical marijuana supporters took
to the streets in cities in Northern California and across the country
last weekend, demonstrating at federal buildings in 15 cities and the
Justice Department in Washington, DC, Sherer said.
More protests are scheduled for September 23 at the sentencing hearing
for convicted medical marijuana grower Bryan Epis, who faces a federal
mandatory minimum prison sentence. A coalition led by ASA will lead
those protests. But now, given Thursday's raid on Genesis, immediate
attention will turn to Monday's emergency response protests. "We
really want to get people to turn out, even if it's just a few of you,"
said Sherer. "Last week, we had two people in with a sign in front of
the federal building in Austin, and they were quoted on the AP wire."
As California's political class slowly mobilizes in support of the
state's medical marijuana law, as editorial page writers chime in to
denounce the raids, and as medical marijuana supporters and their
allies take to the streets, the federal government may have finally
found the confrontation it has been so assiduously seeking.
Please visit http://www.safeaccess.org for details. All marijuana users must come out of the closet now!
growers and patients in California is rapidly energizing common
citizens and elected officials alike in support. The raid September 5
against the Santa Cruz Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana
(http://www.wamm.org) may mark the beginning of a real anti-federal
mobilization in California.
In late breaking news, DRCNet learned Thursday evening that the DEA had
struck again, this time raiding the Genesis medical marijuana
dispensary in Petaluma and an associated garden in Sebastopol and
arresting Genesis owner Robert Schmidt, who was being held by the DEA
as of Thursday afternoon. Americans for Safe Access
(http://www.safeaccessnow.org), the coalition that has spearheaded
protests against previous raids, has issued an emergency alert calling
for demonstrations at federal buildings across the country on Monday.
According to ASA, large numbers of plants were seized, witnesses
reported an ambulance at the scene, and Schmidt had been charged with
assaulting an officer.
"We are shocked that the DEA would make medical marijuana its top
priority while the rest of the county is at a high state of alert,"
said ASA executive director Steph Sherer. "While the country was on
orange alert on September 11, 30 DEA agents were busily plotting an
attack on the medical marijuana community. The president warned us of
an attack," Sherer continued, "but he didn't tell us it would be from
our own government."
The Santa Cruz raid has been denounced by the local sheriff's
department, which failed to intervene when angry WAMM patients blocked
DEA raiders from leaving the WAMM garden they had just destroyed, as
well as by members of the Santa Cruz city council and other state
political figures -- including Attorney General Bill Lockyer, long
criticized by medical marijuana advocates as too flaccid in supporting
the law.
Santa Cruz city council members are not limiting themselves to angry
words. City officials announced this week that they will join a
medical marijuana giveaway at City Hall next week to send a message to
the Justice Department that medical marijuana is welcome in Santa Cruz.
Santa Cruz residents approved Proposition 215, the 1996 medical
marijuana initiative, by a 74% margin. In 2000, the city council
approved an ordinance allowing medical marijuana to be grown and used
without a prescription.
"It's just absolutely loathsome to me that federal money, energy and
staff time would be used to harass people like this," vice mayor Emily
Reilly told reporters as she announced she would participate in handing
out medical marijuana to sick people at City Hall.
While the city of Santa Cruz has passed a resolution denouncing the
raid, the City Hall action is not an official city event. City
officials and members of the public will be allowed to use city
facilities for the protest, the city attorney explained.
The DEA's San Francisco spokesman pronounced himself flummoxed by the
announced event. "Are you serious?" Richard Meyer asked the Associated
Press when told of the giveaway. "That's illegal. It's like they're
flouting federal law," he said. "I'm shocked that city leaders would
promote the use of marijuana that way. What is that saying to our
youth?"
[Editor's note: It could well be saying to our youth that marijuana,
like morphine, cocaine, sedatives, tranquilizers and many other
substances, has legitimate medical uses and that drug war
totalitarianism should not interfere with medical care.]
If the DEA is "shocked" at the Santa Cruz giveaway, California Attorney
General Bill Lockyer has aroused himself long enough to send a letter
to DEA head Asa Hutchinson and Attorney General John Ashcroft
complaining about the raids and asking for a meeting to discuss the
matter.
"I must question the ethical basis for the DEA's policy when these
raids are being executed without apparent regard for the likelihood of
successful prosecution," Lockyer wrote. "Whether or not the US
Attorney decides to file in the Santa Cruz case, my Department is aware
of other recent DEA-initiated raids involving as few as six marijuana
plants in which no charges were ever filed, and no convictions were
obtained. Conversations with DEA representatives in California have
made it clear that the DEA's strategic policy is to conduct these raids
as punitive expeditions whether or not a crime can be successfully
prosecuted."
The US Attorney's office in San Francisco announced this week that
Valerie and Michael Corral, the operators of WAMM, would join the
growing list of those raided but not prosecuted. Such tactics make
sense for the DEA in California. Raids effectively destroy the
operation in question, and the federal government doesn't have to worry
about actually winning a case in a state where the electorate voted for
medical marijuana.
"A medicinal marijuana provider such as the Santa Cruz collective
represents little danger to the public," Lockyer wrote, "and is
certainly not a concern which would warrant diverting scarce federal
resources away from the fight against domestic methamphetamine
production, heroin distribution or international terrorism to cite just
a few far more worthy priorities."
Whether the Lockyer letter will lead to any concrete response remains
to be seen. According to Lockyer spokeswoman Hallye Jordan, DEA head
Hutchinson called to acknowledge receiving the letter, but no meeting
has been set. There has been no response from the Justice Department,
Jordan told DRCNet. And like her boss, Jordan used the medical
marijuana issue to plump for increased funds for the state's Campaign
Against Marijuana Production (CAMP), which she characterized as
"seizing a million plants from Mexican narco-traffickers, as opposed to
medical marijuana that would benefit seriously ill and dying patients."
"We are pleased to see the Attorney General finally responding to this
crisis," said ASA executive director Stephanie Sherer. "We hope he
will follow up," she told DRCNet.
While Lockyer scribbled to the feds, medical marijuana supporters took
to the streets in cities in Northern California and across the country
last weekend, demonstrating at federal buildings in 15 cities and the
Justice Department in Washington, DC, Sherer said.
More protests are scheduled for September 23 at the sentencing hearing
for convicted medical marijuana grower Bryan Epis, who faces a federal
mandatory minimum prison sentence. A coalition led by ASA will lead
those protests. But now, given Thursday's raid on Genesis, immediate
attention will turn to Monday's emergency response protests. "We
really want to get people to turn out, even if it's just a few of you,"
said Sherer. "Last week, we had two people in with a sign in front of
the federal building in Austin, and they were quoted on the AP wire."
As California's political class slowly mobilizes in support of the
state's medical marijuana law, as editorial page writers chime in to
denounce the raids, and as medical marijuana supporters and their
allies take to the streets, the federal government may have finally
found the confrontation it has been so assiduously seeking.
Please visit http://www.safeaccess.org for details. All marijuana users must come out of the closet now!
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
Feds raid Sebastopol pot farm; 6 detained
DEA seizes thousands of plants; Petaluma man accused of assaulting agent
September 13, 2002
By JEREMY HAY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
SEBASTOPOL -- Federal agents Thursday raided a ranch on the outskirts of Sebastopol, carting away
thousands of mature marijuana plants and arresting the owner of a Petaluma pot club.
It was one of the largest marijuana seizures on the North Coast in recent memory.
At least six people were being questioned, but only one had been arrested by late Thursday.
Robert Schmidt, 51, owner of the Petaluma marijuana buyers club, was held on suspicion of assaulting
a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
One agent, who insisted on anonymity, said Schmidt was arrested after he tried to strip another agent
of his firearm.
Schmidt had rented the six-acre property since March. His Petaluma club, Genesis 1:29, also was
raided Thursday.
A Chevrolet Blazer loaded with what one agent said were computer hard drives from the club drove
up and parked beside the ranch house while agents were taking a lunch break from cutting down
marijuana plants with chain saws.
Crossbows and knives also were seized at the ranch, agents said.
Neighbors said Schmidt was growing marijuana for Genesis and numerous other clubs around the
Bay Area that sell marijuana for medical use.
California voters approved an initiative in 1996 allowing medical use of marijuana with approval from a
physician. But possession of marijuana remains a federal offense, and the Justice Department has
stepped up enforcement since the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge last year.
Medical marijuana activists condemned Thursday's raid, saying it would endanger an amicable
relationship they have developed with local law enforcement agencies.
In 2001, Sonoma County District Attorney Mike Mullins said he wouldn't prosecute small-scale
growers who could show a viable medical marijuana claim. Under county guidelines, people with
physician approval may have up to 99 plants or three pounds of dried marijuana.
"Trust has built up between the Sheriff's Department and the medical marijuana community, and the
DEA, by these kinds of actions, really puts that at risk," said Ernest "Doc" Knapp, spokesman for the
Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana.
David Charlebois of Sebastopol, who owns the ranch, said Schmidt told him he was going to grow
corn. He had suspicions about the operation but didn't confirm that Schmidt was growing marijuana
until Wednesday.
Although he supports medical use of marijuana and called Schmidt an excellent tenant, Charlebois
said he'll consult an attorney about evicting him.
"That's my retirement investment over there, so I have to protect the property," he said.
Throughout the day, the pungent aroma of marijuana mingled with the sweet smell of Gravenstein
apples from a nearby orchard as about a dozen armed agents took down a crop they estimated at
about 3,000 plants. Neighbors said Schmidt told them he had more than 5,000 plants.
"Is this the medicinal part?" one agent could be heard saying, his joke followed by a chain saw's loud
grinding.
Officials at the DEA and the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco declined comment, refusing even
to confirm that a raid had taken place or that Schmidt had been arrested.
Neighbors, who asked not to be named, said they began complaining about Schmidt a month ago to
county authorities and were told he'd been under investigation for a year and a half.
Some neighbors said Schmidt had been open, even somewhat "of a braggart" about his operation.
"He said he has around 5,400 plants and it's worth millions of dollars," said one woman. "He's very
proud of what he's doing, trying to provide marijuana to patients."
One neighbor said the conflict wasn't with Schmidt or with medical marijuana.
Their concern was the large quantity of marijuana being grown in a residential area. They were
worried particularly about the potential for violence that can accompany the valuable crop.
In 1999, armed robbers invaded Schmidt's Petaluma home, tying up Schmidt and four other
occupants, including two children, before making off with marijuana being grown for his club.
Last year, in response to pressure from the city and neighborhood complaints, Schmidt moved the
club to a commercial office park on South Point Boulevard in east Petaluma.
Over the past year, the DEA has conducted at least four raids in Sonoma County targeting pot clubs
and self-described medical marijuana advocates and growers.
Schmidt, a former welder, has said he suffers from asbestosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling
asbestos fibers. He went to federal prison in the 1970s for smuggling marijuana from South America.
In 1996, after being arrested in Petaluma for growing pot at his home, he opted for a drug treatment
program instead of battling the charges in court as a way to test the newly-passed Proposition 215.
News researcher Michele Van Hoeck contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay
at 521-5212 or jhay [at] pressdemocrat.com.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/13pot_a1.html
DEA seizes thousands of plants; Petaluma man accused of assaulting agent
September 13, 2002
By JEREMY HAY
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
SEBASTOPOL -- Federal agents Thursday raided a ranch on the outskirts of Sebastopol, carting away
thousands of mature marijuana plants and arresting the owner of a Petaluma pot club.
It was one of the largest marijuana seizures on the North Coast in recent memory.
At least six people were being questioned, but only one had been arrested by late Thursday.
Robert Schmidt, 51, owner of the Petaluma marijuana buyers club, was held on suspicion of assaulting
a Drug Enforcement Administration agent.
One agent, who insisted on anonymity, said Schmidt was arrested after he tried to strip another agent
of his firearm.
Schmidt had rented the six-acre property since March. His Petaluma club, Genesis 1:29, also was
raided Thursday.
A Chevrolet Blazer loaded with what one agent said were computer hard drives from the club drove
up and parked beside the ranch house while agents were taking a lunch break from cutting down
marijuana plants with chain saws.
Crossbows and knives also were seized at the ranch, agents said.
Neighbors said Schmidt was growing marijuana for Genesis and numerous other clubs around the
Bay Area that sell marijuana for medical use.
California voters approved an initiative in 1996 allowing medical use of marijuana with approval from a
physician. But possession of marijuana remains a federal offense, and the Justice Department has
stepped up enforcement since the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge last year.
Medical marijuana activists condemned Thursday's raid, saying it would endanger an amicable
relationship they have developed with local law enforcement agencies.
In 2001, Sonoma County District Attorney Mike Mullins said he wouldn't prosecute small-scale
growers who could show a viable medical marijuana claim. Under county guidelines, people with
physician approval may have up to 99 plants or three pounds of dried marijuana.
"Trust has built up between the Sheriff's Department and the medical marijuana community, and the
DEA, by these kinds of actions, really puts that at risk," said Ernest "Doc" Knapp, spokesman for the
Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana.
David Charlebois of Sebastopol, who owns the ranch, said Schmidt told him he was going to grow
corn. He had suspicions about the operation but didn't confirm that Schmidt was growing marijuana
until Wednesday.
Although he supports medical use of marijuana and called Schmidt an excellent tenant, Charlebois
said he'll consult an attorney about evicting him.
"That's my retirement investment over there, so I have to protect the property," he said.
Throughout the day, the pungent aroma of marijuana mingled with the sweet smell of Gravenstein
apples from a nearby orchard as about a dozen armed agents took down a crop they estimated at
about 3,000 plants. Neighbors said Schmidt told them he had more than 5,000 plants.
"Is this the medicinal part?" one agent could be heard saying, his joke followed by a chain saw's loud
grinding.
Officials at the DEA and the U.S. Attorney's Office in San Francisco declined comment, refusing even
to confirm that a raid had taken place or that Schmidt had been arrested.
Neighbors, who asked not to be named, said they began complaining about Schmidt a month ago to
county authorities and were told he'd been under investigation for a year and a half.
Some neighbors said Schmidt had been open, even somewhat "of a braggart" about his operation.
"He said he has around 5,400 plants and it's worth millions of dollars," said one woman. "He's very
proud of what he's doing, trying to provide marijuana to patients."
One neighbor said the conflict wasn't with Schmidt or with medical marijuana.
Their concern was the large quantity of marijuana being grown in a residential area. They were
worried particularly about the potential for violence that can accompany the valuable crop.
In 1999, armed robbers invaded Schmidt's Petaluma home, tying up Schmidt and four other
occupants, including two children, before making off with marijuana being grown for his club.
Last year, in response to pressure from the city and neighborhood complaints, Schmidt moved the
club to a commercial office park on South Point Boulevard in east Petaluma.
Over the past year, the DEA has conducted at least four raids in Sonoma County targeting pot clubs
and self-described medical marijuana advocates and growers.
Schmidt, a former welder, has said he suffers from asbestosis, a lung disease caused by inhaling
asbestos fibers. He went to federal prison in the 1970s for smuggling marijuana from South America.
In 1996, after being arrested in Petaluma for growing pot at his home, he opted for a drug treatment
program instead of battling the charges in court as a way to test the newly-passed Proposition 215.
News researcher Michele Van Hoeck contributed to this story. You can reach Staff Writer Jeremy Hay
at 521-5212 or jhay [at] pressdemocrat.com.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/local/news/13pot_a1.html
"Santa Cruz city council members are not limiting themselves to angry words. City officials announced this week that they will join a medical marijuana giveaway at City Hall next week to send a message to
the Justice Department that medical marijuana is welcome in Santa Cruz."
This is excellent! Santa Cruz will be leading the revolution after all, not Berkeley!
The DEA/Bush Monarchy will probably try a regime change in Santa Cruz. Bushladen will soon be calling for the terrorists in the Santa Cruz city council to be removed from office . . . then what?
The start of the revolution?
the Justice Department that medical marijuana is welcome in Santa Cruz."
This is excellent! Santa Cruz will be leading the revolution after all, not Berkeley!
The DEA/Bush Monarchy will probably try a regime change in Santa Cruz. Bushladen will soon be calling for the terrorists in the Santa Cruz city council to be removed from office . . . then what?
The start of the revolution?
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$230.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network