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Will The DEA Raid Oakland Dispensaries?

Ann Harrison ontherecord.org

San Francisco, CA June 30, 2005 -- The staff of the Vapor Room medical cannabis dispensary in San Francisco have written in to say that they are concerned about whether San Francisco’s sanctuary resolution protecting cannabis patients and caregivers will stand up to an increased DEA presence.

“How it can possibly be enforced when we will be seeing a brand new, state of the art federal building opening up within a few months. 2500 new agents in San Francisco are going to be very busy looking for things to do. What do you think the city’s stance will be then?” asks the folks at the Vapor Room.

I think it's pretty clear that the city of San Francisco will not be able to stop a concerted DEA action. Who will they call? Their own police force which cooperated with the DEA in the last series of raids? City officials are hoping that if they regulate the clubs, the feds will be less likely to shut the dispensaries down. No one knows yet whether this strategy will actually work. The dispensaries may have to go underground again – a scenario that would not benefit patients or their caregivers.

But even before the new federal building opens in San Francisco, I think the DEA will continue to wage war on medical cannabis growers and dispensaries. In Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco, there’s an uneasy feeling that the DEA may soon target that city’s four licensed dispensaries.

One of the four, Compassionate Caregivers, has until tomorrow, July 1st to reopen after having its bank accounts seized by the Los Angeles Police Department last month (see the June 15th &18th blog posting and story ”After Raich”). If Compassionate Caregiver’s don’t reopen, their permit will be given to another dispensary. Medical cannabis supporters say the DEA may raid Compassionate Caregivers to prevent it from opening and hit the other dispensaries while they’re at it.

Dispensary operators say they are on guard for any signs of trouble. “We are on the look out,” says Jeff Jones, director of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Cooperative. “We feel that daily, the step of the federal government is closer.”

Resistance to the DEA from the city government in Oakland is likely to be weak and even welcoming. Mayor Jerry Brown is running for State Attorney General and has never resisted law enforcement action against dispensaries or growers in Oakland. Members of the Oakland Police Department are cross designated to support DEA operations, and some members of the city council would be happy to see the dispensaries disappear.

We’ll stand by to see whether Compassionate Caregivers reopens. The group’s Oakland headquarters ran seven dispensaries around California that served over 20,000 patients.