Police raid medical marijuana dispensary
Posted: Sep 10, 2009 11:48 AM
Updated: Sep 10, 2009 12:13 PM
Story by:
Rob Kauder / Internet Content Manager, KXLY.com
SPOKANE - Police officers have executed a series of search warrants and arrested several people who are illegally selling marijuana out of a storefront at Maple and Northwest Boulevard in north Spokane.
Several people have been arrested on charges of possessing or distributing marijuana including the arrest of one man who showed up at the store with a pound of marijuana he had brought to the store to be sold to medical marijuana customers.
In addition to the raid on the dispensary at Maple and Northwest Boulevard officers also executed a search warrant on a marijuana grow operation at a home located at 3929 North Cedar. The homeowner is Chris Stevens, a one-time candidate for Spokane City Council. Officers seized 33 marijuana plants from his home.
Authorities raided two additional locations: A home located at 904 E. 11th and a home north of Spokane in Tum Tum where they found approximately 100 marijuana plants.
One of the co-owners of the North Spokane dispensary, Scott Shupe, was arrested several weeks ago in Oregon trying to bring four pounds of marijuana back to Washington. Shupe was already in custody on an unrelated charge at the time of the raid on his store Thursday morning.
Thursday's arrests come on the heels of the arrest nearly two weeks ago of prominent local medical marijuana advocate Darren McCrea, who was arrested on five counts of delivering a controlled substance. At the time of his arrest McCrea had five pounds of marijuana in his possession.
By undertaking the raids the Spokane Police Department has become the first law enforcement agency in Washington State to raid a medical marijuana dispensary, challenging the store's contention they can supply med marijuana to any patient.
State law allows caretakers to purchase marijuana for medical marijuana cardholders while police here contend that it remains illegal for anyone to provide it to more than one patient at a time.
Story by:
Rob Kauder / Internet Content Manager, KXLY.com
http://www.kxly.com/Global/story.asp?S=11108504
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