U.S. DRUG AGENTS RAID MORRO POT DISPENSARY

The owner of a medical marijuana dispensary in Morro Bay said he is
unsure whether he'll reopen after federal and local authorities
raided his business and his Arroyo Grande home Thursday.

The raid thrusts the business into the federal-vs.-state legal battle
over medical pot.

Central Coast Compassionate Caregivers employee Abe Baxter, 26, of
San Luis Obispo was arrested at the dispensary at 780 Monterey Ave.
on a warrant for allegedly possessing marijuana or hashish for sale
and selling or furnishing the drug, according to sheriff's Sgt. Brian Hascall.

He was booked at County Jail and is being held in lieu of posting
$20,000 bail, jail officials said.

Dispensary owner Charles Lynch would not comment on what
investigators seized from his house during the raid and said he's not
sure what he'll do with the co-op.

"It depends on how things go," he said from his home. "Today's the
first day of this. I'm not sure of what's going to happen."

Outside the Morro Bay business -- the county's only medical pot
dispensary -- protesters yelled and held up signs in opposition
during the search.

Sheriff's officials began the investigation about a year ago before
teaming up with federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents and
serving two sealed federal search warrants around 11 a.m. Thursday at
the dispensary and Lynch's home.

About a dozen investigators carried records, cannabis plants,
computer equipment and packaged marijuana from the co-op.

Los Angeles-based DEA officials said the searches were the only ones
carried out in the area and would not comment on details of the case.

A steady stream of customers walking up to the dispensary every few
minutes during the search were told by detectives that the co-op was closed.

One customer said he was going to a dispensary in Bakersfield to get
about three grams of medical marijuana, while a woman said it was her
first time going to the dispensary and said she was going back to her
doctor's office.

"I think it's wrong that they do this all the time to different
cannabis clubs," said Tim Oster, 39, of Morro Bay, who said he
planned to pick up about two grams of marijuana for chronic migraines
and back pain. "Now I have to go and try to hustle it up on the streets."

About 2,000 people in the area rely on the dispensary, according to customers.

The dispensary has been operating in the city through a business
license for about a year. Voter-approved state law allows medical
marijuana but conflicts with a federal law that restricts pot.
Federal authorities can make arrests and file charges for selling the drug.

Kris Hermes, the legal campaign director for Americans For Safe
Access, a national medical marijuana advocacy organization, said
there has been an increase in such raids by federal agents.

"It's outrageous what the federal government is doing at this time,"
Hermes said. "They're (the dispensaries) abiding by state law. ...
It's especially unconscionable to have local officials assist the
federal government. Local officials are supposed to uphold the law of
their state."

Hermes said the federal government has shut down at least 30
dispensaries around the state since June 2005.