BIG DISPUTE IN CITY POT BUST

Oakland Pot Bust Heats Up

Oakland -- A routine traffic stop Wednesday afternoon for an illegal
turn resulted in the discovery of what could be the largest
pot-growing operation ever found by police in the city.

But what the California Highway Patrol described as "a major criminal
grow" is being claimed by medical marijuana advocates as a legitimate
business operation for one of three city-approved medical marijuana
clubs.

The dueling descriptions coupled with the past criminal history of the
building's owner and the involvement of a federal drug enforcement
agency turned what appeared to be a simple drug bust into a possible
test of the city's medical marijuana laws. The CHP said it is turning
the case over to the DEA, which doesn't recognize the state's medical
marijuana law.

"That place is so medical. It is so medical," said Angel McClary
Raich, a medical marijuana advocate and user who worked on the Oakland
law. "The people that were involved in that were basically getting the
blessing of the city. The California Highway Patrol should not have
just busted through the door."

The Highway Patrol did just that shortly after 2 p.m. following a
traffic stop two hours earlier -- and three blocks away -- that
resulted in an officer finding 88 marijuana plants in the back of what
was described as a U-Haul truck.

The officer stopped the truck after its driver made an illegal turn,
police said. As he walked up to the truck, the officer smelled
marijuana, conducted a search and found the plants and "documentation"
that led officers to the warehouse at 2638 Market St., police said.

Once there, officers saw three people run from the building. They
caught all three, went inside to search for more suspects and found
almost 2,000 plants worth "several millions of dollars," police said.

"Our officers noticed the smell as soon as they arrived," said Lt. Rob
Patrick. "This is a major criminal grow."

Patrick said the four arrested, the driver and three people found at
the warehouse, all were born in the mid-1970s and live in San Leandro,
Richmond, Santa Clara and Oakland.

Bob Berry, owner of Berry Bros. Towing, which owns a lot and a
warehouse next to the growing operation, said his employees began
smelling the drug last week.

"One of my guys said it smelled like marijuana to him," Berry said.
"They told us they were contractors fixing up homes in West Oakland
and using the warehouse as offices."

Also being investigated is the building's owner, Thomas Grossi, a
pawnbroker arrested several years ago on two counts of transporting
narcotics for sale and distribution, police said.

That charge resulted in the city of Oakland revoking Grossi's
pawnbroker permit.

Contacted by the Oakland Tribune, Grossi denied knowledge of the
growing operation and said he leased the building to others, whom he
refused to identify.

"Holy mackerel, Holy Jesus," he said. "This is such a shock, I didn't
know anything about this."

In September 2003, Grossi, then owner of a medical marijuana club in
Oakland, told the Tribune the clubs were helping sick people and
businesses in the city's Uptown neighborhood.

"I can't emphasize that enough," he said at the time. "If you sit
there on a daily basis, you will see people who are definitely ill and
seeking comfort and solace and relief."

Grossi, however, refused to discuss his past Wednesday, including the
prior criminal charges, which he said were misdemeanors.

The connections between the growing operation, the city's medical
marijuana laws and the Highway Patrol's decision to call in federal
agents troubled medical marijuana advocates.

They questioned why the city's police department was not called and
said it is too much of a coincidence that a traffic stop blocks away
led to the bust.

By having federal agents involved, federal drug charges could be used
to prosecute the growers, setting up another challenge between
federal, local and state medical marijuana laws, advocates said.

Raich, whose fight against the federal government over the
legalization of medical marijuana is blazing a path through the
country's legal system, said the Highway Patrol broke the law when it
entered the warehouse.

In addition, she said the federal government should have never been
called to investigate because the plants were being grown legally
under city laws.

Raich sued the federal government in 2002 for violating California's
medical marijuana law when federal agents began raiding medical
marijuana clubs. That suit resulted in a court battle, which the U.S.
Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear.

A federal appeal court ruled in Raich's favor last December and she
has been given permission to use marijuana for medical purposes.

Jeff Jones, director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, also
said the plants were being grown legally under city laws.

"There will be a medical claim," he said. "It is tied to one of the
three clubs in the city."

City officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

Highway Patrol Spokesman Wayne Ziese rejected the medical marijuana
claims.

"Why would the suspects run if they are operating a legitimate
business?" he said. "The grow is so sizable and sophisticated, this is
not a minor mom and pop type grow."

Staff writers Kristin Bender, Robert Gammon, Laura Counts and
correspondent Alicia Wittmeyer contributed to this report.