Federal officials raided more than a dozen marijuana dispensaries in Colorado, with some of the targeted outlets saying they were left in the dark as to the reasons why.
The Denver Post reported that no arrests were carried out in the raids, which were carried out by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"They took $1 million worth of plants from his facility," attorney James Wollrab told the Post following the raid on Swiss Medical in nearby Boulder. "They didn't leave any instructions, saying don't replant. There was no court order of cease and desist. No explanation."
A spokesperson for the Department of Justice told the Post via email that the seizures complied with federal authorities' pledge to respect the state's newly-passed law legalizing medical marijuana sales except in cases involving, among other factors, marijuana possession on federal property; distributing the drug to minors, using marijuana sales revenue for criminal purposes and shipping the drug from states where it is legalized to other states.
The raids were carried out six weeks before the state's first legal marijuana stores were set to open, and one lawmaker and medical marijuana supporter, state Rep. Dan Pabon (D), told KUSA-TV that the raids were a way of separating "bad actors" from legitimate businesses.
"It's clear that this is a non-nonsense, no-room-for-error regulatory environment," Pabon said to KUSA. "We welcome federal partnership in protecting public safety and keeping this out of the hands of our children."
Watch KUSA's report on the raids, aired on Thursday, below.
[Image: "Man Smoking Marijuana Pipe" via Shutterstock]
