DEA RAIDS SANTA ROSA MEDICAL MARIJUANA CLUB

SANTA ROSA, Calif. (AP) - Federal agents raided a medical marijuana buyers'
club here Wednesday and arrested two people, part of a tug-of-war between
local and federal officials over the sale of pot for medicinal purposes.

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman said two addresses were
searched, including the Aiko Compassion Center near downtown. Marijuana,
cash, a car and a weapon were seized.

Authorities declined to identify the arrested pair, saying all information
about the case was sealed by a federal judge.

Santa Rosa attorney Rich Ingram said the men were Edward Bierling of Santa
Rosa and Dan Nelson. Bierling is a medical marijuana user, said Ingram, who
is his lawyer. Neither Ingram nor club manager John Sugg would provide more
information about Nelson.

Both men are scheduled to appear Thursday in U.S. District Court in San
Francisco, Ingram said.

"We have not targeted marijuana clubs. We have investigated marijuana
trafficking groups,'' said San Francisco DEA spokesman Rich Meyer. "As we
develop leads, we follow those leads. If one takes us to a marijuana club,
then we continue that investigation.''

According to one witness, at least six DEA agents stormed the store around
10:45 a.m.

"They made a big show of it,'' Mark Nabavi, who runs the Printing Express
store next door, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. ``They took down
everyone's license plate number.''

In February, DEA agents raided a San Francisco medical marijuana club and
arrested four people.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that it is illegal to distribute
marijuana for medical purposes. But some local law enforcement officials
have said their job is to enforce the laws of California, where voters
overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana use in 1996.

The Aiko Compassion Center serves more than 100 people, according to Ernest
Knapp, a spokesman for the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana. In Sonoma
County, certified users can obtain a letter from a panel of doctors and are
allowed to possess up to three pounds of pot.