Prohibitionists are now persecuting our religious leaders! Maybe we should just make a fucking form-letter type blog post so we can save time and just swap the names and locations of victimized dispensaries, medicine providers, and patients because dispensary busts here in California are rising sharply! Yesterday (Thursday August 20, 2009) marked the third time in a week that the Los Angeles Police Department has raided a medical marijuana dispensary!
This time around police nabbed three people during a raid of a Rastafarian Ministry called the Royal Temple of Zion in Echo Park. Authorities say the facility has not applied for a hardship permit like all the other medical marijuana dispensaries, so selling weed is illegal. Interestingly however, proposition 215 does NOT mention anything about applying for a hardship permit. So what if the law is a bit ambiguous, that does NOT give the LAPD the right to bust Rastas for growing weed for sick people. This case will most definitely go to court and cost the taxpayers a ton of money!
Like most raids, this one happened as a result of some nosy neighbors who told police illegal drugs were being sold at the location. “This is a church run medical marijuana club providing medical marijuana for sick people, but we do it as a church,” said Rasta Pastor Craig Rubin.
“We don’t just provide marijuana, we provide for their safety, their security. Every day we give everyone a place to congregate,” added Nathan Wade, a member of the Royal Temple of Zion.
“It’s because we believe a cannabis from Revelations 22 is a plant for the healing of all nations and that people should have access to this plant. It’s not only benign, it’s benevolent,” said Pastor Rubin.
We believe this religious persecution is just another insidious tactic to win the war against people plants pets drugs. Despite the fact that the Obama administration and Attorney General Eric Holder have both demanded an end to dispensary raids, sadly raids are becoming more numerous. This time prohibitionists not only raided and successfully shut down a dispensary they closed down a sacred place of worship!
Stuff Stoners Like 
August 21, 2009 at 1:39 pm
Lets go shut down the Catholic church for serving wine to minors every sunday when taking the blood of christ!
August 21, 2009 at 2:33 pm
The LAPD lost one of their favorite victims with the death late last year of the great hemp hero Sister Somayah Kambui.
http://bit.ly/2vz1BE
http://bit.ly/27NQVJ
I guess they need more customers to fill the void and hold onto job security.
Sister Somayah use to say that “the DEA only shows up at harvest time.”
Now that we have so many clubs, around 800 in Los Angeles, CA, they no longer have to wait for the harvest. They can raid at any time for any reason, and do.
This use to be the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Stop the war on drugs. End hemp prohibition now.
August 21, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Up here it is turning in to the Emerald Bermuda triangle full CAMP & task force raids soly for the cash value of the pot even the sheriff is in the pot biz around here, why he so high he was in two accidents in less than 48 hours last week look it up that is sheriff Tom in mendo…
August 24, 2009 at 11:34 am
The Royal Temple of Zion is not shut down! We will stay and fight no matter the cost. We will return to our regularly scheduled hours sometime this week.
August 31, 2009 at 1:23 pm
What happened was not a raid, it was an attempted kidnapping of myself by the LAPD for retaliation for exposing the RICO scam our city is involved with.
The officers on the scene demanded me to come to the location even though they had no warrant to search, nor for my arrest, showing that they had other intentions for me.
I have met with several attorneys thus far and tomorrow morning I meet with a very high powered team of attorneys who understand the facts.
Also, the lead officer who has arrested me once, illegal entered our temple without a warrant and come back to threaten us if we dispense medication, is kind of famous.
http://www.lasentinel.net/LAPD-Officer-Seeking-Up-to-$4-Million-for-Alleged-Retaliation.html
Patrick