Pubdate: Fri, 06 Sep 2002 Source: Arizona Daily Star (AZ) Copyright: 2002 Pulitzer Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.azstarnet.com/star/today/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/23 Author: Martha Mendoza, The Associated Press Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal) FEDS RAID CALIF. MEDICAL-POT FARM SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Federal agents raided a marijuana farm Thursday and arrested the owners, who grow the pot for a medical users club, surprising community members and local law enforcement. Officers seized more than 100 marijuana plants, three rifles and a shotgun in the predawn raid, Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman Richard Meyer said in San Francisco. Valerie and Michael Corral were arrested on federal charges of intent to distribute marijuana and conspiracy, he said. "These are incredibly compassionate people who've worked closely with law enforcement to help the sick and dying in our community," said Ben Rice, an attorney for the Corrals. "This is absolutely outrageous." Suzanne Pfeil, a patient at the club who was arrested during the raid and later released, said federal agents stormed her room around 8 a.m. in full assault gear. They arrested everyone and uprooted the marijuana plants, she said. Pfeil said the weapons the agents seized from the Corrals were merely unloaded family heirlooms. The Corrals helped write the provision in California's Proposition 215 that allows patients and their caregivers to cultivate their own medicine. Their farm has been featured in national media, and they work with local authorities to grow and distribute their pot to people with doctors' recommendations to use marijuana. Mardi Wormhoudt, a Santa Cruz County supervisor, said county officials had been impressed with the Corrals' professionalism in running the club. The raid was a surprise to local medical marijuana growers and advocates, as well as the Santa Cruz County sheriff and even DEA officials in the agency's closest office, in San Jose. The marijuana farm about 15 miles north of Santa Cruz is well known to local law enforcement agencies, which have complied with the state medical marijuana law rather than federal drug laws, said sheriff's spokesman Kim Allyn. - --- MAP posted-by: Tom