The Drug Enforcement Administration raided a pair of medical marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles on Thursday, executing a search warrant and confiscating money, cannabis and computers. Both dispensaries are owned by The Farmacy, with one location in Westwood and the other in West Hollywood.
The Department of Justice did not disclose the reasons behind the raids. But one DEA agent at the scene of the West Hollywood raid told The Huffington Post that the move was “less about running the shop and more about running of the business.”
“If this was simply about somebody selling marijuana in West Hollywood, the DEA wouldn’t be here… It’s important that they hold shops to a high standard,” the agent said. “What’s going to happen is shops like this are going to ruin it for everyone.”
The manager of the West Hollywood location said he is “completely in the dark” as to why they were raided, and said his shop is “100% state-compliant.”
The Farmacy has a third location in Venice Beach that was not raided, but the DEA would not say why it was left out.
The raids come not long after an outgoing U.S. deputy attorney general warned that California could face federal intervention if it doesn’t soon approve some kind of statewide regulatory structure.
In an unrelated incident earlier in the week, police in Michigan raided a medical marijuana dispensary in the hamlet of South Haven, seizing more than 200 marijuana plants, 14 guns, cash and a vehicle. Three men connected to the dispensary were arrested and charged with illegally delivering and manufacturing marijuana.
The dispensary, U-Med Center, was the focus of a “lengthy investigation” by state police. Officers also searched another dispensary owned by the same company, as well as several personal residences in four nearby towns.
