HNC Vending Machine Has Been Stolen by the Feds!

[OpenYourEyes]

Remember the recent report about a medicinal marijuana vending machine opening in Los Angeles? If not, read MSNBC's article here. Well, I live around the block from the cannabis dispensary that was home to that beautiful machine. The HNC is clean, quiet, and everyone who works there is really nice. This evening, as I was taking my Friday night constitutional down to the 7-11 for beer, a horrible sight sprang into view:

Guess who came calling? The DEA. The dispensary’s manager, who was walking around outside when I strolled by, told me that a group of federal thugs agents smashed not only the ten-foot window you see above, but also over twenty glass display cases inside. They then proceeded to steal all the medicine. This isn’t the first raid, either. The HNC was smashed to pieces last year by the DEA, on suspicion of carrying too much medicine, but were quickly cleared of any wrongdoing. The Feds just wanted to rattle them up a bit. However, the first DEA raid led the HNC owner to install that headline-grabbing vending machine in lieu of another break-in. He figured they would just take the machine and leave the interior of the dispensary intact. Nope!
Remember, this is a state certified business. It is legally entitled to operate in every way under California law and was doing absolutely nothing wrong. Don’t think we’re living under the thumb of soft fascism? Even if you don’t use cannabis, or for some reason have a problem with others using it, you should be disturbed by your federal government’s continued abuse of state’s rights.

UPDATE:
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I feel the need to explain the situation a little bit further, so as to clear up any misconceptions. This was a Federal DEA raid. They were not robbers, or robbers dressed up like DEA (that comment made chocolate milk shoot out my nose!). From time to time, the DEA does conduct raids like this in California. They are not polite because they don’t have to be- they’re sending a message, or fulfilling a quota, or whatever the precursor to the raid was. It’s true, marijuana is still a Federally recognized contraband. However, I feel the heavy-handed approach (breaking of glass, destruction of property) is not warranted. If the HNC was truly under suspicion, a simple search of the premises would have sufficed. Don’t miss the big picture because this was a cannabis dispensary. The particular article was not about the pros and cons of cannabis use (although I’ll be glad to extol the virtues of hemp anytime you want!).
Cheers!
Geoff

April 25, 2008 By: G.M. Gardner Category: Democrazy, Power to the People

Zoinks! The Pot Vending Machine Has Been Stolen by the Feds!

 

[Boss]

We need to start taking photos of these agents. Is that illegal? That was we can post thier faces all over the internet.

 

[Medical Cannabis]

Freedom of press. Its our constitutional right

 

[baldbastard420]

Federal THUGS!!!!!! THATS ALL THEY ARE IS THUGS

 

[Dankdeadhead]

Federal THUGS!!!!!! THATS ALL THEY ARE IS THUGS

Excatly^^ The government gang. That pisses me off it happened and even more that their was no news coverage about the thugs breaking in and doing that, but plenty of coverage when it opened. More and more everyday I realize that their trying to shield us from what is really going on. Saturday, in denver, the marijuana march, their was a good amount of people and we drew a good amount of attention but yet their was no media coverage what so ever, not even in the newspaper. Then the two bills hr 5842 and hr 5843, I never even heard of until the rally. Hr 5842 would prevent these bastards from doing this.
But yet if we were to raid any of their buildings, theyd probably kill us.
It sucks that were dealing with people whos insanity is soo deep they don;t even know their insane.

 

[Boss]

We have to face the fact that a certain percentage of the population will always be easily lead, brainwashed and abused. Kinda like Bushies. He has the highest disapproval rate of any president since they started polling, and 19% of the population still says they support him and his policies.

 

[darkrail]

UPDATE!!!

The feds sure are proud of the vending machine they stole.

They trotted it out at a press conference in Michigan a couple weeks ago. Drug Czar John Walters (who hilariously shares a name with subversive filmmaker John Waters, except for one letter) had it shipped up to MI for a press conference about how people up there should vote down the state's new MMJ initiative.

Who thought that they'd be touring with their loot? That machine is starting to be like the "roaming gnome."

See the press conference and kidnapped vending machine here:

Drug Czar Crosses State Lines with Stolen Property

 

[Dr. 215]

Oh my. Thats just terrible how he spun medical marijuana towards the downfall of all children.

 

[Happy Kitty]

And this is the guy thats leading the way on the war on drugs. What planet is he from? I am still amazed how cannabis is grouped into the same category as other drugs. They cannot possibly find any medicinal value in any of the other drugs questioned. But yet I have seen hundreds of reports and articles disputing the fact that cannabis has no benefits.

I hear him talk about the youth of the country and how marijuana will lead everyone to harder drugs and addiction. Anyone with an addictive personality will somewhere along the lines be addicted to something. That could be TV, shopping, coffee, porn, nicotine, etc.

All the facts are there Mr. Walters, you just can't see them because the good ole boys convention is in full swing, everyone being the "yes" man. How would he explain to someone that their life is gonna go to hell, they hold longterm jobs, are well educated, own homes, have kids. Are we also grouped in the categories of youth and addiction?

It's pretty apparent that it's not just the little guy that believes in cannabis, large corporations and many highly educated non-smokers can understand it's benefits and speak out positively. Many don't smoke, or won't admit to it.

I have always thought that the naysayers would change their tune if it was themselves or a very sick loved one that benefited from cannabis. I would love to know how many corporations directly fund the War on Drugs. I'd love to boycott them. I doubt they would admit it, giving their support under someone else's name.

Let's get back to the HNC. It's a place for people to go that get relief from their illnesses by having a place to purchase their meds and not be forced to hit the streets to find them. The city gave them a license, the state passed the law. State law trumps Fed law. Apparently not. But we knew that already.

I wonder which pharmaceutical companies pay his wage...

 

[LionofZion]

Wow, I really can't believe someone can actually make sense of what this guy is saying. How can anyone just come up with the idea that, marijuana (which has been used since the beginning of man) is suddenly bad for you? This guy is just using statistics that teenagers use this drug the most and therefore it is the worst one. Sometimes i just cant believe the world we live in, so intolerant.

 

[hskdondada]

f this dude
f the dea
f em