DEA Sweeps Across Western Washington With Dispensary Raids

[Upton]

Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided medical marijuana collectives in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Puyallup, Rochester, and Lacey, Washington, as a coordinated raid swept across the Puget Sound region on Tuesday.

Patient advocates and legal defense groups report that at least nine dispensaries have been raided, according to The Seattle Times. Ben Livingston of the patient advocacy group Cannabis Defense Coalition said he's spoken with several dispensary owners and defense attorney Aaron Pelley, who confirmed raids were occurring.

"I'm in shock because now I have no pain medicine," said patient Cameron Christenson outside of Seattle Cannabis Co-op on Rainer Avenue, reports David Rose at Q13 Fox News. "I can think of 100 crack houses in town -- why don't you go raid those?"
------

"This is yet another example of the Obama Administration breaking their promise to leave patients and providers alone when they are abiding by state medical marijuana laws," activist Don Skakie, with the legalization group Yes End Penalties Washington (YEP WA) told Toke of the Town Tuesday afternoon. "Clearly, they were lying to us."

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/11/dea_sweeps_across_western_washington_with_dispensa.php

The DEA's raids on dispensaries in the state are ongoing and supposed to continue today..so obviously the pigs aren't done. All this from an administration that claims to support medical marijuana use.. Lying?...Yeah, I guess so..

[villager]

1. Gotta love this Obama administration!

Not.

[Upton]

5. Wonderful aren't they?

With an administration like Obama's you don't really need Republicans...they're basically already in the WH..

[Missy Vixen]

2. Frankly, I'm confused

It seems it's all "state's rights" till it's something Obama disagrees with, hm?

BTW, the law enforcement talking heads on the news here last night were alleging the various dispensaries were "fronts for illegal activity". They had "too much marijuana" on hand.

[Upton]

3. Yeah, here's more about their claims..

also there is a protest planned for this morning in Seattle against the DEA's actions..

http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2011/11/dea_weighs_in_on_washington_state_medical_marijuan.php

[redqueen]

4. I wonder how much money has been wasted on these raids. (nt)

[Newest Reality]

6. Those medical pot-heads

and their pushers are a such a major threat to our wonderful, American way of life?

Well, indirectly. There is always the motivation of certain industries that have a protection provided for them and their interests = profit.

So, what does the Administration and the DEA really have, other than obscure words on legal paper, to justify the action?

JUSTIFY THE ACTION! What is the threat and to whom?

[robdogbucky]

7. I think it's clear. Feds have declared war on the people

This and the coordinated raids and the lack of recognition/support for the peoples' aspirations and constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of assembly is trumped by business concerns.

And there is no one among our representatives in government (I now use that term loosely) willing to stand up and say the violence against the demonstrators (shooting them, hitting them with cars, disabling them with billy clubs, gassing them, destroying their property, etc.) is unconstitutional, excessive, basically illegal, and harmful to the democratic process.

We see fascist policy played out on our corp news stations that were integral in reporting the negative stuff as much as possible and highlighting the "inconvenience," and "damages to profits," of surrounding business interests.

Now the promised attacks on the medical cannabis community bring to light the reality of where we are now.

Clearly this is a fascist-leaning nation with a captive fascist-leaning government and compliant media.



Very troubling indeed.

[villager]

8. At least it's becoming tangible & definitive how little difference exists between the "two" parties

Blinders finally, fully off, we can start to think of other ways to bring, well, hope and change to the people...

[piratefish08]

9. yessir - some fucking champion of state's rights he is. when it serves his purpose.

[robdogbucky]

10. And the brutal tactics indicate that TPTB are behind the curve

and don't have a handle on the emerging paradigm. Information trumps brute force.

The smart tactical move for the Occupy Movement now is to retreat, re-tool and get the messages out 24/7 regarding what this means to our democracy and what should be done to continue to bring pressures on the financial interests that control the government and economy.

Two books that I read, one a decade ago (Smart Mobs by Reinhold) and one a couple of decades ago (Powershift by the Tofflers) describe the process by which now information is more powerful than brute force and violence to affect change, and the ability for people to organize, communicate and shift tactics is greater than ever. The social network system is just part of this process. We shall see in the months ahead whom is ahead of whom in pushing for change. The irresistible force or the immovable object?

Demonstrators have an arsenal of communication modes at their disposal as opposed to violence and brute force, and I believe they will start to use them in creative, unstoppable ways.

Cannabis? It can be re-grown in 90 days.


Still, this is all very bad and signals a change in the tactics and conditions on the ground.


We have lots of work to do this winter.

Don't let the bastards get you down.


We will not be silenced.

[RadiationTherapy]

11. The Obama Administration does not support medical marijuana.

The Obama Administration is intentionally targeting the medical marijuana industry.

[Upton]

13. Not only doesn't the Obama administration support medical marijuana

but according to ASA, they've been raiding dispensaries at a rate double that of the Bush administration. And that was before the recent crackdowns in California, here in Washington, and other MM states..

There's absolutely no excuse for these actions, just as there's no excuse for this administration's continued pattern of promising one thing and doing another....

[robdogbucky]

12. I sure hope those "concerned," posters that wondered how many and when

these raids would begin can now see what our lovely "government," has in store for the majority's opinions in this land when it comes to this and the Occupy Movement encampments.

Where the fuck are our Democratic representatives in all of this?

Are they walking door to door handing out campaign leaflets?

Inquiring minds want to know.

[hatrack]

14. More Of The Same you can believe in!

:puke: