U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided the Aiko Compassion Center near downtown Santa Rosa on Wednesday 29 May 2002 and arrested two people.[1] A DEA spokesman said agents searched two addresses and seized marijuana, cash, a car and a weapon.[1]
Federal stance
San Francisco DEA spokesman Rich Meyer said the agency had not targeted marijuana clubs as such but followed trafficking leads, adding that investigators would search a club if a lead took them there.[1] The raid came after the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that distributing marijuana for medical purposes remained illegal under federal law, while California voters had approved medical use in 1996.[1]
Arrests and local context
Authorities declined to name the arrested men because a federal judge sealed the case, but Santa Rosa attorney Rich Ingram identified his client Edward Bierling and said Dan Nelson was also charged; both were due in San Francisco federal court the next day.[1] Witness Mark Nabavi, who ran a print shop next door, said at least six agents entered around 10:45 a.m. and recorded license plates.[1] Ernest Knapp of the Sonoma Alliance for Medical Marijuana said the center served more than 100 people.[1]
