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By Stuart Silverstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 12, 2007
Federal agents seized marijuana and cash Thursday night from a medical
marijuana dispensary in the loft district near Little Tokyo, officials
said.
Twenty agents with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration raided the
Arts District Healing Center in the 600 block of East 1st Street.
DEA spokesman Jose Martinez said the agents searched the two-story
building for 3 1/4 hours.
There were no arrests.
Authorities had not determined as of late Thursday night the amount of
cash and marijuana they seized, Martinez said.
The affidavit submitted by the DEA to search the offices stated that
marijuana is classified as a schedule-one controlled substance, "which
under federal law means that is not recognized for having any
medicinal value."
Steven Schectman, a lawyer for the center, said he wasn't surprised by the raid.
He said the DEA has threatened to take legal action against the
landlords unless they evict the marijuana dispensary, and that the
real estate dispute will be the subject of a hearing Monday.
Referring to the raid, Schectman said, "Unfortunately, we have
anticipated something like this could happen, given our past
experience with how the situation has been developing in Los Angeles
with the Drug Enforcement Agency and the courts."
California voters legalized marijuana's use for seriously ill people
with the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996. State laws legalizing
medical marijuana have been challenged. However, in 2005 the U.S.
Supreme Court reaffirmed the right of the federal government to wage
criminal prosecutions against patients and suppliers, in California
and other states where cannabis is legally prescribed by a doctor.
