Features

DEA raids Santa Rosa medical marijuana club

The Associated Press
Thursday May 30, 2002

SANTA ROSA — Federal agents raided a medical marijuana buyers club here Wednesday and arrested two people. 

A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman said two addresses were searched, including the club near downtown. Marijuana, cash, a car and a weapon were seized. 

Authorities declined to identify the arrested pair, saying all information about the case was sealed by a federal judge. 

According to one witness, at least six DEA agents stormed the storefront around 10:45 a.m. 

“They made a big show of it,” Mark Nabavi, who runs the Printing Express store next door, told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. “They took down everyone’s license plate number.” 

In February, DEA agents raided a San Francisco medical marijuana club and arrested four people amid an ongoing tug-of-war between local and federal officials over the sale of pot for medicinal purposes. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that it is illegal to distribute marijuana for medical purposes. But some local California law enforcement officials have said their job is to enforce the laws of California, where voters overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana use.