AGENTS RAID MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY

Palm Springs: Federal And Local Authorities Probe Illegal Sales And
Distribution Allegations.

PALM SPRINGS - Authorities Wednesday raided a medical marijuana
dispensary and carted off drugs and cash as part of an investigation
into illegal sales and distribution by some associated with Palm
Springs Caregivers.

The raid was part of a federal Drug Enforcement Administration probe
and came a day after Riverside County imposed a ban on marijuana
dispensaries in unincorporated areas. Riverside County has joined
other counties in a court challenge of state medical-marijuana laws.

Rodrigo Pena / The Press-Enterprise A Palm Springs police officer
secures boxes of evidence removed from Palm Springs Caregivers.

The investigation began in September after an incident at the Spa
Hotel and Casino and involved a bag of edible marijuana left as a tip
for an employee, according to a press release by the Palm Springs
Police Department.

Tanya Garcia, office manager for the dispensary at 2100 North Palm
Canyon Drive, said Palm Springs Caregivers follows city guidelines
and the raid has nothing to do with how the dispensary operates. They
plan to reopen Friday.

"All we can do is be here for our patients," she said, standing
outside yellow police tape ringing two suites at the dispensary.
"That is our first concern." Federal agents, accompanied by the Palm
Springs Narcotic Task Force officers and Riverside County sheriff's
deputies, knocked on the door about 11 a.m. They spent more than five
hours at the dispensary.

Officers hauled out about 15 boxes and two black trash bags -- one
large and the other small.

"They took everything," Garcia said just before the pickups drove away.

Rodrigo Pena / The Press-Enterprise A task-force agent describes the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's objectives to Tanya Garcia,
office manager for Palms Springs Caregivers, a medical-marijuana
dispensary that plans to reopen Friday.

The dispensary, which opened in July, serves hundreds of patients.
About 150 to 200 were turned away Wednesday, including producer/actor
Jason Dottley, 25, who has a play at the Annenberg Theater.

He drove in from Los Angeles with his pot prescription intending on
filling it at Palm Springs Caregivers. Dottley said he takes
marijuana for migraine headaches and insomnia.

"I came to Palm Springs, pulled up and saw DEA everywhere," he said.
"It's kind of crazy and disheartening."

No arrests were made Wednesday. California voters decriminalized
medical marijuana for qualified patients in 1996, but cultivating,
selling or using the drug remains a crime under federal law. The
dispensary is one of three in the Coachella Valley.

News of the raid spread quickly among patients and advocates who were
disappointed earlier this week when Riverside County supervisors
banned dispensaries in unincorporated areas.

"When I heard about it, I got the chills. If people have never been
through it, they don't know. It's a very scary feeling," said Krista
Silva, whose home outside Desert Hot Springs was raided in March by
the DEA. Silva and her husband say they were cultivating marijuana
for medical purposes. Palm Springs City Manager David Ready said the
activity alleged by authorities would violate any type of permanent
ordinance the city might adopt governing marijuana dispensaries.

A temporary, emergency measure enacted this summer by Palm Springs
allows the dispensary to operate. "The raid has nothing to do with a
permanent ordinance," Ready said. The city manager said the raid
"certainly doesn't help the cause" of providing marijuana to help sick people.

Riverside County District Attorney Grover Trask has said dispensaries
are illegal.

Riverside County Sheriff Bob Doyle said Wednesday's raid sends a
message to dispensary operators that they are subject to federal laws.

"That seems clear to me," Doyle said. County Supervisor Roy Wilson,
whose district includes Palm Springs, dissented on the supervisors'
marijuana dispensary ban. He said it defies a state requirement that
local governments establish ways for patients to obtain the drug.

The action against the dispensary validates his view that cities and
local governments should set up regulations strictly monitoring their
operations without banning them, Wilson said.

Staff writer David Olson contributed to this report.