SEATTLE (AP) – Federal agents have raided at least five medical marijuana dispensaries in the Puget Sound region.
Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Jodie Underwood said Wednesday afternoon the operation was under way. She declined to immediately provide details about how many dispensaries were being targeted or how many search warrants were being executed.
Washington state legalized adult possession of up to an ounce of marijuana last fall, but marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
One medicinal marijuana client who didn’t want to be identified said it’s an inevitable fight between the federal and state governments.
Seattle medical marijuana attorney Douglas Hiatt said the targeted dispensaries include Seattle Cross, Tacoma Cross and Bayside Collective in Olympia.
“The voters voted,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. I think things will be brought to the Supreme Court level at some point, and this is a good test for the constitution of the United States of America.”
Source: Associated Press
Bayside employee Addy Norton said agents seized personal cell phones of dispensary workers and pot, but left computers and about $1,000 in cash. Agents told her the raid was part of a two-year investigation, and she said she was ordered to appear before a federal grand jury in Seattle in September.
The raid came just days after Bayside was burglarized on Sunday night.
