DEA SWOOPS DOWN ON SOMA POT CLUB

The federal Drug Enforcement Administration raided a home and
buildings where medical marijuana was grown Tuesday, December 20, but
left the Hope Net pot club in the South of Market District after five
hours without raiding it, only to return in the early evening hours.

The actions came just a week after a DEA sweep of 13 medical marijuana
clubs in San Diego.

"It seems like our government is out of control," Dale Gieringer of
the California chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of
Marijuana Laws told the Bay Area Reporter . "The feds are playing the
Grinch at Christmas."

The raids began early Tuesday morning at a marijuana growing facility
in Penngrove, in Sonoma County, where agents seized some 200 cannabis
plants.

DEA spokeswoman Casey McEnry said the raids arose out of an anonymous
tip that led to a 2-year investigation. The agency maintains that
federal drug law supercedes California's 1996 Compassionate Use Act
(Proposition 215).

At about 6:30 am, 10 DEA agents searched the Clara Street home of Hope
Net directors Steve and Catherine Smith. Steve Smith was handcuffed
and taken outside in his underwear while the search was under way.

Agents also raided a second cannabis growing facility near the Smiths'
residence. At the home and the warehouse agents seized about 600
additional plants, processed marijuana and cannabis food products,
growing equipment, financial documents, patient records, and
approximately $20,000 in cash. No arrests were made at any of the locations.

DEA agents arrived at the Hope Net dispensary at 223 Ninth Street
around 11 a.m., where they observed the club from two black pickup
trucks. Responding to an action alert from Americans for Safe Access
and other medical cannabis advocates, nearly 100 demonstrators
gathered outside the club starting about noon.

District 6 Supervisor Chris Daly, who represents the South of Market
neighborhood where Hope Net is located, was among the speakers at an
impromptu early afternoon press conference.

"To take medicine away from those who need it at a time like this is
an outrage," he said.

District 5 Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, who sponsored the new cannabis
dispensary regulations adopted by the board on November 15, urged city
officials to find out what the federal government was up to, saying
"No matter what legislation we craft, we always have to look over our
shoulder."

San Francisco police did not take part in Tuesday's actions, although
they provided traffic control during the protest outside the dispensary.

"I am outraged by the federal government's continued crusade against
medical cannabis dispensaries that provide thousands of patients with
safe access to the medicine they need," Assemblyman Mark Leno (D-San
Francisco) said in a prepared statement. "The federal Drug Enforcement
Administration is severely misguided in expending its precious
resources to harass patients and providers rather than working on
other public safety issues that actually pose a threat to the public."

Hope Net, which is well regarded among medical cannabis supporters,
provides free cannabis to about 100 cooperative members, in addition
to selling pot to other patients with ID cards issued by the San
Francisco Department of Public Health.

"This [club] is one of the most respected for what it does to take
care of patients who can't afford their medicine," said Gieringer.

Despite the rain, protesters remained outside the dispensary for more
than two hours while the DEA agents stayed in their vehicles,
reportedly awaiting a search warrant. At about 3 pm, the agents
departed, drawing cheers and applause from the crowd.

"We chanted 'DEA go away!' and they went away," longtime medical
marijuana activist Michelle Aldrich told the B.A.R.

But the demonstrators' glee proved to be short-lived. After the last
protesters left, DEA agents returned around 6 p.m. and broke down the
door of the dispensary.

"They broke the door in and made a mess of the place and of course
they broke some stuff," Catherine Smith wrote in an e-mail message to
supporters soon after the evening raid. "I think that they will come
back to arrest us at some point."

The DEA's McEnry said the agency was reviewing evidence and future
arrests are possible.

The dispensary will remain closed indefinitely, since it no longer
has an available supply of cannabis.