The dispensary which has been providing space for the offices of the libertarian-oriented California Marijuana Party has been raided. There is a rally there today at 1pm.
Fight the power!
<<< Starchild >>>
who raided it? Feds, state, or local?
Sorry, I should have read the text below. I should have known it was the Feds.
Tony Bowles of the Marijuana Party just called me. The DA is there, and they're trying to get Supervisors to show up, and really want as many people down there as possible. So if there's any way you can spare the time, please do. I know, I know, it never stops, does it? But this IS an important, high-profile raid. Ask yourself if what you're doing in the next hour or so is more important, in the overall scheme of things.
Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>
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IF YOU CAN GET TO 9TH ST., PLEASE DO SO.
I just spoke with Starchild. The DEA is apparently sitting in a car
waiting on a warrant, and the SFPD is just doing crowd control. There are
about 50 people protesting the search, but more would be better.
~Chris
Just a reminder, my interview is supposedly going to air as part of their news coverage of the Ethics Commission hearing last night on the public financing of mayoral candidates. I'll try to record it for posterity -- or maybe grist for a newsletter article -- but multiple attempts can't hurt if anyone else has the means and the interest.
Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>
Hey Derek,
Shoot, too bad we missed you. Morey and I were there, but we were mainly down near the corner by the liquor store. trying to be a little more visible to people driving by (I brought a couple signs) and trying to be somewhere it was less noisy to use our cell phones. I was calling the mayor's office, to try to get him to come down, and then Morey had the bright idea of calling DPT and siccing them on the DEA vehicles for being in a tow-away zone. It turned out calling the DPT was an absolute joke. After like ten minutes in a voicemail cue "your call is very important to us" (yeah, sure), we both got connected about the same time, only to be given a different number to call about illegally parked vehicles, then it was more waiting on hold. Amusingly enough, a meter maid -- who was actually a guy, not a maid, and what do you call them anyway? meter butlers? -- showed up before I got through, so I hung up and tried to talk to him. He was wondering what was going on with all the police and protesters and everything, and I told him, then I tried to get him to cite the vehicle, but a couple of police officers kind of steered him away from me, one of them going "shhhh" to the parking officer, as if to say "Watch what you say, this guy (me) is listening, let's go over here where we can talk."
Anyway, apparently (and I didn't realize this until quite late), the DEA had already raided the clinic owners' house that morning and taken pot and money, if I understand correctly. So there was apparently nothing in the clinic to seize, even if they had gotten in. But they were supposedly waiting on a warrant to get in there anyway. In other raids, they have also arrested people, which they didn't do. In the end, both the local cops and the DEA picked up and left after about an hour.
Afterward, some activists present seemed grateful toward the SFPD for not arresting people, and for not clearing the crowd for the DEA to enter. According to at least one person, the DEA cannot clear people like that themselves, but must rely on the local officers to do it. I don't know about that, but in any case, I don't think the SFPD deserves much credit for refraining from arresting people. It's like thanking the dangerous looking guy you meet in an alley because he *doesn't* stick a knife in you -- yeah, you're glad he doesn't, but I'm not going to shower him with praise just for abstaining from doing what no one with any humanity or respect for the REAL law would be doing in the first place.
More later, perhaps... there are also a few pictures on Clark Sullivan's website, Why Casinos Offer No Deposit Bonuses - hempevolution.org .
Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>
I just came back from the protest. Here's what I saw:
1. There was a large black SUV parked in front of the clinic, with some men inside it who looked to be wearing the government-issue blue shirt with DEA lettering. Someone at the rally told me that they were trying to get a warrant to search that particular clinic.
2. There were about 60 of us in the crowd, a mix of rastafarians, indigents, and other activists.
3. If you wear a suit to a protest, be prepared to be asked every 30 seconds if you are with the press.
4. For the 60 or so protestors, there were perhaps 20 of the fuzz. It was peaceful though.
5. I didn't smell any "noxious odors" coming from the dispensary that so many neighbors claim to smell.
6. I did spend some time speaking with "Chris" of Americans for Safe Access.
7. I didn't see any supervisors or the DA.
8. Cars driving by seemed very supportive of the rally.It started to rain pretty hard and I had to get back to work. No word on if the warrant was actually served, although I expect it will be.
-Derek
Tony Bowles of the Marijuana Party just called me\. The DA is there,and they're trying to get Supervisors to show up, and really want as
many people down there as possible. So if there's any way you can spare
the time, please do. I know, I know, it never stops, does it? But this
IS an important, high-profile raid. Ask yourself if what you're doing
in the next hour or so is more important, in the overall scheme of
things.Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>> The dispensary which has been providing space for the offices of the
> libertarian-oriented California Marijuana Party has been raided. There
> is a rally there today at 1pm.
>
> Fight the power!
> <<< Starchild >>>
>
>> From: Rebecca Saltzman <rebecca@safeaccessnow.org >
>> Date: Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:27:38 AM US/Pacific
>> To: asa@...
>> Subject: [asa] Breaking News: Patients Protest DEA Raid Underway at
>> Compassionate Cannabis Clinic in SF
>>
>> If you live in the Bay Area, please join us at 1:00pm today at 223
>> Ninth Street in San Francisco. The DEA raids must stop!
>>
>> 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
>>
>> To unsubscribe from this list send email to
>> asa-unsubscribe@...
>> To subscribe to this list send email to asa-subscribe@...--
View my blog at http://derekj72.blogspot.comIllegitimis non carborundum
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I've been listening, and as of 635pm, the public financing item was mentioned as still coming up in the broadcast.
<<< Starchild >>>
Well, they *started* discussing public financing, and got a few seconds into the item, when it quickly became apparent that the sound quality of the recording was somehow screwed up, so they postponed it for technical difficulties. Now it's supposed to be on tomorrow night's broadcast (presumably also between 6-7pm).
<<< Starchild >>>
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Rant on. Oh, and for all the
Liberals, and trustafarians, incensed
by the DEA thugs in thier SUVs and
the torture tours of Conde Lisa, it
was the left of FDR that first
invented the concept that the
Constitution is a quaint anacronism.
And so unmoored from it's
Constutution, we careen into slavery.
Maybe if the left could be shown
where they went wrong the right would
follow. And so the best thing to pass
out at Pot Club protests is copies of
the Constitution and pictures of
Pogo.
Rant Off.