This news story was updated at 12:37 p.m.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
Centralia police seized marijuana, food items suspected of containing marijuana and computers yesterday evening when they searched a downtown business they say was operating as a medical marijuana dispensary.
One man was arrested as well at Hub City Natural Medicine on the 100 block of South Tower Avenue, according to police.
The action followed a month-long investigation that grew out of numerous complaints of marijuana violations, according to a news release from the Centralia Police Department.
While the city had issued a business license to the enterprise, it was with the understanding it was dealing in products such as vitamin supplements, according to the news release.
The arrest and seizure comes as the state legislature is considering legislation to clarify issues involving the state’s 1998 voter-approved medical marijuana law.
According to police: the Centralia Police Department’s Anti-Crime Unit served a search warrant about 6 p.m. yesterday.
About a dozen officers, including deputies from the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, were on hand.
Daniel J. Mack, 39, of Rochester, was arrested for delivery of marijuana, possession of marijuana and possession with intent to deliver marijuana.
There were other people inside – determined to be “patients” or “customers” – but they were not arrested, according to Officer Chris Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald said Mack identified himself as volunteer dispensary worker, but police consider him one of three owners of the business. She expects other arrests to be made.
Among the items confiscated were dried marijuana in large mason jars and packaged for individual sale, various baked goods, candies and refrigerated items suspected of containing marijuana, as well as paraphernalia and the businesses’ computers.
Hub City Natural Medicine applied for its city business license on Jan. 31, specifying the nature of its business as “education and sales of natural medicine”, something that didn’t trigger a review by the chief of police, according to the Centralia Police Department.
The news release cited a bulletin from the Washington Cities Insurance Authority issued in December saying medical marijuana dispensaries are illegal and not entitled to a business license.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
“is on shaky ground.”
the “legal ground” on which the Washington cannabis law is founded on is “shaky” only insofar as the initiative, on the part of the federal government, to shake off the bonds of cartel money from the ‘legal’ shipments of cocaine by CIA (federal agents).
At this point, the black market will be be kept alive by the Federal Government, which is NON representative and an arbitrary system of politick installed by slave-owning, women-hating, aristrocratic men.
Indeed, we are still trying to climb out from the dark ages of rapacious lawlessness on the part of pedophile priests, swindler bankers, and dope-addled politicians.
OLJ…In theory, according to our Constitution, yes, the voters are the power in America. In actual practice…not so much.
We don’t have a pure democracy; laws are not set by the voters. Our system is a representative republic, with said representatives chosen by democratic vote. Once we have voted in the congressmen, it is up to them to make laws, and up to the President (also chosen by democratic vote, so we’re led to believe) to sign or veto the laws. As such, a law passed by a people’s initiative (or the easing of an existing law by the same method) is on shaky ground.
And again, until the US House and Senate decriminalize pot, and the President signs such a bill, marijuana is not recognized as legal.
The VOTERS trump ALL LAW.
The voters are more powerful than the president.
@DCE…No, marijuana is not legal. State law does not trump Federal law, and it’s still a banned substance according to Federal law. The State of Washington is risking losing any kind of Federal funding with this; the Feds have been tolerant of States that legalize medical cannibis, but legalizing MJ for recreational use is pushing the limits.
Is the Federal ban on MJ a good law? No, it’s a stupid law, and the sooner Congress and the White House pull their heads out of their asses and legalize it, the better. But just because a law is stupid doesn’t mean it can be ignored.
Look at the Law on Marijuana Today. It is Legal, so how do the Police Look Now. Their the criminals. Marijuana is being legaly sold all over Washington State and even Taxed by the Department of Revenue.
I happened upon the scene at about 8 or so last night. The cops had half the street blocked off, and had crime scene tape all over the place. They even had their SWAT van there… all to prosecute something that the governor and most other high officials in this state have said repeatedly is a low-interest deal…
THEN, I went to look in the windows of the place (after the cops had left), and they downright DEMOLISHED the place. There was stuff broken, power cords cut, stuff scattered all over….
Apparently, this whole thing ISN’T the “no big deal” that everyone said it was.