DEA RAIDS 11 POT CLUBS POLICE CHIEF SAYS DISPENSARIES PREY ON TEENAGERS.Byline: RACHEL URANGA Staff Writer The Drug Enforcement Administration The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was established in 1973 by President richard m. nixon as part of the Justice Department, thus uniting a number of federal drug agencies that had often worked at cross-purposes. raided 11 medical marijuana dispensaries across Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. on Wednesday, including five in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . The raids came a day after Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton denounced the storefront medicinal clinics as crime magnets that have begun to prey on To take prey from; to despoil; to pillage; to rob To seize as prey; to take for food by violence; to seize and devour. - Shak. To wear away gradually; to cause to waste or pine away; as, the trouble preyed upon his mind s>. - Shak. See also: Prey Prey Prey teenagers -- including passing out fliers at Grant High School in Van Nuys this past summer -- and called for a moratorium on the facilities. ``(These) enforcement operations send a message to these drug traffickers,'' said Sarah Pullen, a DEA DEA - Data Encryption Algorithm special agent. ``The DEA will continue to conduct these enforcement operations and keep our community safe by enforcing federal drug laws.'' Under a 1996 state ballot measure, the clinics can distribute doctor-prescribed marijuana to relieve anything from anxiety to nausea to acute pain. But federal officials consider all marijuana use illegal. The number of clinics has exploded from five in 2005 to 143 by the end of last year. Bratton said many of the clinics are lucrative operations aimed at recreational users. Bratton and Councilman Dennis Zine have backed rules banning dispensaries within 1,000 feet of any school, day-care facility, church or other house of worship Noun 1. house of worship - any building where congregations gather for prayer house of God, house of prayer, place of worship bethel - a house of worship (especially one for sailors) . While several medical marijuana activists support some regulation, they say the federal raids unfairly harm patients. ``It's disgusting in this day and age, when cities and counties are moving to regulate medical marijuana, that the federal government would still be busting people,'' said Don Duncan, Southern California coordinator for the Americans for Safe Access Americans for Safe Access is based in Oakland and is the largest member-based organization of patients, medical professionals, scientists and concerned citizens working to ensure safe and legal access to cannabis for therapeutic uses and research. , a national medical marijuana advocacy group. This week, the Los Angeles Police Commission released a report that found about half of all the city's marijuana clubs were in the Valley. The report found increased robberies and aggravated assaults around clubs near Van Nuys and more citizen complaints. rachel.uranga(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3741 |
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