Federal agents Wednesday raided 11 medical marijuana outlets in Los Angeles County, seizing several thousand pounds of processed drug, hundreds of marijuana plants, an array of guns and bagfuls of cash.
The simultaneous raids, part of an ongoing investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, were the largest such operation in the county in recent memory. Five dispensaries in West Hollywood were raided with the other six in Venice, Hollywood, Sherman Oaks and Woodland Hills.
The action by federal agents angered some local officials and was taken despite a state law permitting possession and cultivation of marijuana for qualified medical patients.
Officials said that more than 20 people were detained for questioning but no charges have been filed. Authorities would not release information about any other people possibly detained at the dispensaries.
Sarah Pullen, spokeswoman for the DEA's Los Angeles field division, said agents seized large quantities of marijuana-laced edibles that included "anything from ice cream bars to lollipops to cookies to candies and candy bars."
In West Hollywood, agents in bulletproof vests, sunglasses, gloves and face masks piled out of the stores -- four of which were on Santa Monica Boulevard -- with boxes and black trash bags full of seized evidence while protesters booed and shouted, "State's rights!" and "DEA go away!" among other slogans.
At the Farmacy, agents loaded three cars with bags as amateur documentary filmmakers and medical marijuana users pushed against police tape. The raid and protest clogged traffic, and motorists honked their horns to show support for the demonstrators.
In all, Pullen said, agents seized well over 100 boxes of evidence and continued their work past 10 p.m.
West Hollywood officials said they were taken by surprise, only learning of the raids as they occurred. West Hollywood has a "long-standing commitment" to the use of medical marijuana for people with such catastrophic illnesses as HIV and AIDS, city spokeswoman Helen Goss said.
"We've been fighting to support the access of medicinal marijuana for many, many years and there's just a great disconnect between the federal government and communities like West Hollywood," Councilman Jeffrey Prang said. "Medicinal marijuana provides comfort and relief to people who are seriously ill and seemingly they view those people as drug addicts who belong in jail as opposed to people who deserve compassion and assistance."
