Feds Raid Again in SF

[Tafari]

Breaking News Advisory: 12/20/2005, 11:15 pm
Contact: Hilary McQuie

The directors of Hopenet, a San Francisco medical cannabis cooperative, are
currently under detention in an ongoing pre-dawn federal raid on their home
and the cooperative. Steve and Cathy Smith run the highly regarded
1000-member collective, which provides free medicine to over 40 seriously
ill low-income patients on an ongoing basis. DEA officers have reportedly
confiscated 126 starter plants, dried medicine, and computers.

Patients and supporters are gathering outside Hopenet at 223 Ninth st (&
Howard) at this writing, and a press conference is planned for 1 pm,
including speakers from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Hopenet
Cooperative, Americans for Safe Access, and the San Francisco Patients'
Union.

# # # #

Americans for Safe Access
www.SafeAccessNow.org
1322 Webster Street, Suite 208
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: 510-251-1856
Fax: 510-251-2036




--
Rebecca Saltzman
Field Coordinator
Americans for Safe Access
p (510) 251-1856
f (510) 251-2036
www.safeaccessnow.org

[Tafari]

Pot club owners' home raided in SoMa
Plants and cash seized, but no arrests made
- Wyatt Buchanan, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 20, 2005

(12-20) 12:54 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- About a dozen federal agents raided
the home of a couple who operate a local medicinal marijuana club early
today, seizing 122 plants and an estimated $20,000 in assets.

Shortly after noon, several agents of the Drug Enforcement
Administration remained in vans outside the club at 223 Ninth St. in the
South of Market neighborhood, apparently waiting for a warrant to search
it as well.

A crowd was growing around the club, including protesters carrying signs
supporting the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. California
voters legalized medicinal pot use in 1996, but it remains against
federal law.

No local law enforcement officers took part in the raid on the home of
the club's operators, Steve and Catherine Smith, activists said. The
raid happened at 6:30 a.m. on the 200 block of Clara Street, a few
blocks away from their Hopenet Co-op.

The club is next door to the California Marijuana Party, an organization
that lobbies for the national legalization of medicinal use of the drug.

In addition to marijuana plants, agents confiscated growing equipment,
bulbs, utility bills, tax documents, financial records and photographs
from the Smiths' home, the couple said. Steve Smith said he suspected
the agents had taken some patient records as well.

"They beat on the door. They took me outside in my underwear and cuffed
me and then searched the house," Steve Smith said.

However, no arrests had been made as of early this afternoon.

The Hopenet Co-op has been open for about a year and distributes
marijuana to about 100 patients for free in addition to its paying
clients, Catherine Smith said.

Wayne Justmann, a longtime medicinal marijuana activist, joined the
crowd outside Hopenet today.

"I believe this is a very isolated incident," said Justmann, who said he
suspected that someone targeting the Smiths had tipped off the DEA.

"This is a good one," he said of the coop.

Today's raid was the first of its kind in the city since June, when
federal agents seized marijuana and other items from two cannabis clubs
on Ocean Avenue in the Ingleside district and a third on Judah Street in
the Inner Sunset district.

Those raids were the first in the Bay Area since the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled this summer that the federal government had the authority to
prosecute people whose activities are legal under state law.

E-mail Wyatt Buchanan at wbuchanan@sfchronicle.com.

URL:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/12/20/MNG24GB0A89.DTL

[DdC]

San Francisco Compassion Club Raid Thwarted by Activists
More than fifty medical cannabis patients and supporters braved hard rains, and blocked the doorway of Hopenet Cooperative for three hours while the DEA attempted to get a search warrant to raid the cooperative. Agents had tried to enter the building before noon without a warrant and were rebuffed by staff at the cooperative. F U L L S T O R Y
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4610.html



SF HopeNet DEA Raid in Progress by D Gieringer, Cal NORML
Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005 at 9:54 AM from a 9:20am email

SanFrancisco, Dec 20th, 2005. Word has it that the DEA are currently busting Steve & Catherine Smith, directors of the HopeNet dispensary at 223 9th Street, San Francisco. HopeNet is one of the most respected patients' groups in San Francisco and has worked closely with patient activists to assure safe and affordable access to medical cannabis. This outrage is the sign of a federal government run truly amok. More news as it develops....
D Gieringer, Cal NORML



Blockade against the DEA right now by noclass
Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005 at 2:16 PM

I was just there. The DEA is waiting out front because they have not secured the warrant yet. There is an activist blockade of the Hope Net front door. Support is greatly needed.

Get off the internet, put on your raingear, make sure you don't have any warrants and please help blockade HopeNet folks. This is a political attack on one of the areas most active and compassionate collectives. Help stop the DEA with your body.

a press conference was held at 1pm by via asa
Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005 at 3:03 PM
Breaking News Advisory: 12/20/2005, 11:15 pm (sic)
Contact: Hilary McQuie 510-333-8554

The directors of Hopenet, a San Francisco medical cannabis cooperative, are currently under detention in an ongoing pre-dawn federal raid on their home and the cooperative. Steve and Cathy Smith run the highly regarded 1000-member collective, which provides free medicine to over 40 seriously ill low-income patients on an ongoing basis. DEA officers have reportedly confiscated 126 starter plants, dried medicine, and computers.

Patients and supporters are gathering outside Hopenet at 223 Ninth st (& Howard) at this writing, and a press conference is planned for 1 pm, including speakers from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Hopenet Cooperative, Americans for Safe Access, and the San Francisco Patients' Union.

Americans for Safe Access
1322 Webster Street, Suite 208
Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: 510-251-1856
Fax: 510-251-2036

Pot Club Owners' Home Raided in SoMa By Wyatt Buchanan
Source: San Francisco Chronicle December 20, 2005 



SF Medical Marijuana Supporters Confront DEA Agents
KTVU.com and Bay City News December 20, 2005 SAN FRANCISCO
Nearly 100 medical marijuana demonstrators gathered in the rain Tuesday to vehemently protest the pending raid of a San Francisco medical marijuana club.

As two Drug Enforcement Administration agents waited for a search warrant in a car parked outside HopeNet at 223 Ninth St., protesters chanted, "Go away DEA and stop arresting medical marijuana patients."

DEA officers raided the home of HopeNet directors Steve and Cathy Smith before dawn Tuesday, according to Hilary McQuie with Americans for Safe Access, a national coalition that works to protect the rights of medical-marijuana users.

Authorities seized 122 plants and an estimated $20,000 in assets in the raid. Agents also confiscated growing equipment, bulbs, utility bills, tax documents, financial records and photographs.

"I think it is very bizarre that this is happening to one of the best dispensers in the city," McQuie said. "This is a mean-spirited, cold-hearted act for the DEA to do right before the holiday season."

On June 6, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that California's medical marijuana law doesn't protect sick people from being prosecuted under federal law for using marijuana.

San Francisco is home to more than 40 medical marijuana dispensaries, more than any other place in the nation. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a moratorium on all new dispensaries on March 30.

"It's so backwards," said Wayne Justmann, a medical marijuana proponent. "If they wanted assault dispensaries, why not get a search warrant for the cooperative first," he asked.

Nationwide Protests Decry DEA Medical Cannabis Raids
Over two hundred medical marijuana patients and advocates protested DEA raids on 13 medical marijuana dispensaries outside the Federal Building in San Diego today, and further protests are planned in fourteen other cities nationwide at 12 noon TODAY, Wednesday, Dec. 14. F U L L S T O R Y
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/4606.html

White House Budget Office Flunks the DEA
DEAth Flunky

[DdC]

"For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." Jesus

DEA Returns and Raids SF Medical Marijuana Club
Source: Mercury News December 21, 2005 San Francisco
Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided a medical marijuana dispensary in San Francisco this evening, just hours after protesters celebrated scaring the DEA agents away. The daylong protest involved nearly 100 demonstrators who gathered outside HopeNet, a medical marijuana co-op at 223 Ninth St., after DEA agents raided the home of the co-op's directors this morning.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21398.shtml

When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without.Hos.7:1

The Ganjawar Fraud...
The Drug War Refugees



My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. Hos.4:6

Lindsay Tries To Ban Pot Stores By Aaron Burgin
The Porterville Recorder December 21, 2005 LINDSAY
The City Council piggybacked off of another local city in its attempt to eradicate medical marijuana dispensaries in the city limits. But their laws do not jibe with the state's leading law enforcement official, Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Taking a page from Exeter City Council's recent actions, Lindsay's governing board simply added a sentence to the Municipal code that in effect ends the operation of medical pot stores in the city. Section 18.01.090 of the city code says that “No use of land, under this Title, shall be permitted within the City Limits if such use shall be in violation of any local, state, or federal laws.”
Complete Article: http://tinyurl.com/cw5zq

[DdC]

Pot of Gold: Backers Hail Decision By Gretchen Wenner
Source: Bakersfield Californian December 21, 2005
For a brief spell Tuesday morning, after Supervisor Don Maben suggested the board OK medical marijuana ID cards in Kern County, time seemed to slow. Later, Maben joked that an acquaintance called the stark silence a "pregnant pause." "It was more like a full term," Maben said. "Tick, tick, tick... ." His motion -- which passed unanimously minutes later -- surprised many in the audience.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21399.shtml



Cannabis Buyers Clubs: Articles & Info
www.marijuana.org



Poison Pot By Joel Miller
Source: WorldNetDaily
As the April 17, 1978, issue of Inquiry magazine pointed out, some of this nastiness no doubt came home to roost. It was estimated at the time that more than 50 percent of cannabis in the rolled paper and bongs of America's estimated 15 million marijuana smokers came from Mexico. In an all-new sort of Montezuma's revenge, the principal poison used in Mexico's herbicidal cocktail was paraquat, which, when ingested, causes irreversible lung damage.

Massive DEA Raids in San Diego! Protest TODAY
Drugwar Lies Linked to Schizophrenia
Fascism 101: Federal Marijuana Monopoly Challenged
S.D. Family Seeks The Right To Grow Hemp
Ganjawar Monger "DEAth" Cunningham Busted 4 Fraud

“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free,
it expects what never was and never will be.”
– Thomas Jefferson

Understanding the Police State



“Today Americans would be outraged if U.N. troops entered Los Angeles to restore order; tomorrow they will be grateful…especially if their very existence were threatened (by terrorists, drugs etc.). Then they would plead with their leaders to protect them from evil. The one thing every person fears is the unknown.”
- Henry Kissinger

Medical Marijuana Provider Raided
By Bonnie Eslinger and Marisa Lagos, Staff Writers 
Source: San Francisco Examiner December 21, 2005
Federal Drug Enforcement Agents raided a South of Market warehouse, a medical marijuana club and the home of the club’s owners on Tuesday, altogether seizing more than 600 marijuana plants. Catherine and Steve Smith, proprietors of Hopenet, a medical marijuana club on Ninth Street, said about a dozen DEA agents with a warrant woke them up at 6:30 a.m. at their home in the 200 block of Clara Street and seized, among other items, $20,000 in cash, growing lights, photos, tax documents, utility bills, cell phones and 122 marijuana plants, which they said are used for sick patients who patronize their medical marijuana dispensary.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21397.shtml

Drug Czar Manipulating Data in a Report to Congress
Marijuana Drug Czar Distorts Report
Maybe John Walters, unbeknown to us, has medical expertise beyond that of the world's leading physicians and researchers. Or maybe he's lying in a desperate attempt to save a collapsing policy.

"If those in charge of our society - politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television - can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves."
Howard Zinn, historian and author

Facts on the Drug Czar's Accounting Fraud
Anti-pot propaganda 14 Mar, 2005
US feds are addicted to making up fake anti-pot news
... to perpetuate a Ganjawar fraud and justify bogus raids. DdC

"I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive."
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

[DdC]

Cathy Smith speaks to cameras

DEA Raids San Francisco Medical Cannabis Cooperative and Grow Sites
by Ann Harrison (21 Dec, 2005)
Another raid on a medicinal marijuana supplier – more terrorism by the DEA

AMMA: US CA: Feds Raid Home, Growing Facility
San Francisco Chronicle Wed Dec 21 2005 thread #1189127


Patients rally outside HopeNet

[DdC]

Narcotics Charges Possible After Marijuana Raids By Wyatt Buchanan
Source: San Francisco Chronicle December 22, 2005 
Federal agents are compiling evidence seized in raids on a San Francisco medical marijuana club and pot-growing operations in the city and Sonoma County, which could soon lead to narcotics charges, a Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman said Wednesday. Agents raided the South of Market club late Tuesday after an earlier visit drew a raucous crowd of protesters.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21403.shtml

City: Private Pot Sales Not Allowed By Heather MacDonald
Source: Oakland Tribune December 22, 2005 
Measure Z, which made private, adult use of cannabis the Police Department's lowest law enforcement priority, does not allow commercial sales of the drug at private clubs, the City Council decided Tuesday. Brimming with outrage, more than a dozen supporters of the measure — passed with 65.2 percent of the vote in November 2004 — accused council members of thwarting the will of the voters by narrowing the measure's scope.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21402.shtml

County Considers Selling Pot-Laced Food
By Alison Shackelford Hewitt, Copley News Service 
Source: Daily Breeze December 22, 2005 California  
Questions about whether Los Angeles County should allow medical marijuana dispensaries to sell pipes, marijuana-laced brownies and other products stalled a proposal Wednesday to create permits that would allow the facilities in unincorporated areas. At a hearing held by the Regional Planning Commission, commissioners also expressed concerns about where dispensaries should be located in relation to schools and liquor stores, whether on-site smoking should be allowed, and whether the facilities should have security officers, among other topics.
Read More... http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread21401.shtml

The Tribunal of US Drug War Crimes

[RogerChristie]

Hello out there,

Aloha. This is a bad sign for medical marijuana. San Francisco, the most liberal city in the USA, has officially been declared a "Sanctuary" for medical marijuana by the Mayor and the Board of Supervisors! Now this.

Where were the San Francisco police in protecting the residents of the city against the feds? I don't like the sound or the looks of this federal action and this local in-action. Where's the blessing in this?

In my opinion, distribution of 'sacramental medicine' is the proper role of a cannabis ministry or a church, something untried (as far as I know) in San Francisco.

All the best to you,

Roger


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