[handscreate]

I just got the call.

Please come support Ronald Naulls today at his arraignment for running the Healing Nations Collective in Corona.

As many of you know, Healing Nations Collective and the home of Ronald Nallus were raided Monday morning at 6am. Mr. Nallus' children are currently with Child Protective Services and Mr. Nallus faces up to 20 years in prison for providing medical cannabis to sick and dying patients.

I know this is short notice, but if you are able to, please come show your support. The raids will not stop anytime soon and your voice needs to be heard. These are trying times for all of us, and we need to show support for everyone faloing victim to the Federal DEA raids and persecution.

The arraignment will take place at 2pm today, Thursday July 19, 2007.

Here's the details:

Federal Building, 3rd floor
255 East Temple Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
2:00 pm today!

I was told it is quite easy to find once you get there. I am doing my best to make it down to show some support and I urge you all to do the same.

Originally Posted by handscreate

As many of you know, Healing Nations Collective and the home of Ronald Nallus were raided Monday morning at 6am. Mr. Nallus' children are currently with Child Protective Services and Mr. Nallus faces up to 20 years in prison for providing medical cannabis to sick and dying patients.

Hands, this makes me so sick........and very short notice, i wish i could make it in person to show support....

[Medical661guy]

Originally Posted by lil_missy74

Hands, this makes me so sick........and very short notice, i wish i could make it in person to show support....

Me too....

Sorry hands to short of a notice......sorry i wish i could be there.......if we can help behind the screen in ANY way,,,,,let us know(emails,cals,ect)

Once again sorry

D

[KushAgent]

Those mother f*ckers took his kids? I hope they rot in hell.

Steams me up.

Too bad for the short notice bro.. Next time.

[Lucas Jackson]

I heard this went really bad...I heard a group that was lead by Patients Advocacy Network were very volatile and ended up getting into confrontations with US Marshalls. From what I hear...the defendants attorney was very disappointed and has asked for no more court support from advocacy groups. Pretty sad. We need to remember that a "court of law" is not a place to show our asses and pissing of the DA, the judge, and a gang of US Marshalls never does anyone any good. Just another example of good intentions and bad method of delevery ending up doing more harm than good. Very unprofessional and one would hope that it does not make life any more difficult for mr. Naulls and his family. All I can say is THINK BEFORE YOU ACT....

[darksteppa1]

I just came across this right now...

HNC DEA Raid

Federal agents on Tuesday arrested the operator of a Corona medical marijuana dispensary and raided his shop as dozens of patients and employees protested outside the business.

The raid and arrest were part of a series that took place in Southern California on Tuesday. Operators of medical marijuana dispensaries in Hollywood, San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay also were arrested, according to Drug Enforcement Administration spokeswoman Sarah Pullen.

The DEA, local police, Internal Revenue Service agents and the U.S. Attorney's Office took part in the investigations leading up to the raids and arrests, she said.



Prop. 215, approved by California voters in 1996, decriminalized the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. But the sale and use of marijuana remain illegal under federal law.

Pullen said Tuesday's raids were part of the agency's enforcement of federal drug laws. She said the dispensaries had come under scrutiny because of the scale of their sales operations.

The DEA previously has conducted raids on medical marijuana dispensaries throughout California, including in such Inland cities as Riverside and Palm Springs.

The Corona dispensary raided on Tuesday, Healing Nations Collective, had sales of more than $1.2 million in a nine-month time period, Pullen said.

"Our goals are to target the most egregious traffickers out there," she said.

The raid on the strip-mall dispensary on West Grand Boulevard began about 6 a.m. Agents also raided the Corona home of its operator, Ronald Naulls, and searched a storage unit in the 2500 block of Hamner Avenue in Norco. Corona police assisted in the investigation and the serving of the warrant.

Authorities seized Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and GMC vehicles and $75,000 in cash at Naulls' home, 15 pounds of marijuana and a substantial amount of "marijuana edibles" at the business, and additional marijuana at the storage unit, Pullen said. Numerous documents also were seized.

A federal indictment charges Naulls with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, and of causing others to illegally sell marijuana, which refers to employees of the dispensary. Naulls faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted, Pullen said. He was being held in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon awaiting arraignment.

Attempts to reach Naulls or family members Tuesday were unsuccessful.



James Anthony, a civil attorney who previously represented Naulls, said Tuesday was a "sad day."

"Ronald Naulls is caught in a war between the state and federal governments over the legality of medical cannabis," Anthony said. "Today, he was arrested for standing up for his medical rights under state law."

Marie Vasquera, a 21-year-old Riverside resident who works at Healing Nations, contends the business operated as a nonprofit cooperative and followed all state and local laws.

She said the business got its plants from medical marijuana patients legally allowed to grow small numbers of plants, and the marijuana was sold only to people with valid identification cards. Nonprofit farming cooperatives were explicitly allowed by state legislation in 2003 and require identification cards for patients using marijuana for medical purposes.

Pullen said that Naulls was not charged under state or local laws, and that she did not know whether the business operated as a nonprofit.

Throughout Tuesday morning, Vasquera and others staged a boisterous and emotional protest outside the dispensary. With signs and chants and spontaneous cries, they invoked state law and patients rights, and berated federal agents and police.

"What are the police going to do for people like me? Do they care that people are going to suffer?" said Corona resident David Martinez, 45, who suffers from painful tumors and back problems and has patronized Healing Nations Collective since it opened in May 2006.

Many others said that medical marijuana was the best treatment for their host of painful and life-disrupting conditions.

"It gave me my life back," said 47-year-old Riverside resident Kathy Jones, who said a regimen of heavy painkillers taken for fibromyalgia and other conditions had previously left her incapacitated.



"I'm not a druggie, I'm a patient," she said through tears.

Healing Nations was locked and boarded Tuesday afternoon. Its fate is unclear.

The raid follows a year of Corona City Council actions and court hearings aimed at shuttering the city's only known medical marijuana dispensary.

Last summer, the City Council approved a yearlong moratorium prohibiting the establishment of new dispensaries in Corona. In April, the council voted unanimously to make the ban permanent.

In December, Riverside Superior Court Commissioner Joan R. Burgess granted Corona a preliminary injunction against Healing Nations Collective to shut down the dispensary, then stayed the injunction so the business could operate until Naulls' appeal of the ruling was complete.

About a month ago, the city refused to renew Naulls' business license. He is appealing that ruling, Naulls' attorney said. An administrative hearing was scheduled at City Hall on July 24, but it may not happen after the raid, he said.

Corona Mayor Eugene Montanez said that the possibility of the federal authorities coming into Corona to close the dispensary was a concern the city shared with Naulls when he opened Healing Nations.

The mayor said he believes there is a hierarchy in the law and the city can do little to alter that.

"Federal law always takes state law, just like state law overruns any city laws we might pass," he said. "It's a priority for the federal government and the district attorney. It's the priority of the law."

Reach Sarah Gordon at 951-893-2114 or sgordon@PE.com

Reach Melanie Johnson at 951-893-2113 or mjohnson@@PE.com

[darksteppa1]

These raids are un-neccesary. We have our rights and all this will come back upon those who ruin it. Breaking the law is constitutional.

[Lucas Jackson]

Yeah...the video was pretty sad to see the older woman in tears...The fact is that to add insult to injury and overzealous group of supporters agrivated the courtroom and made life even MORE difficult for these poor victims of the DEA. The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry....

[handscreate]

Unfortunately due to health issues, I was unable to make it to the arraignment prior to 4pm (which is when the Federal Building closes). If anyone was able to make it, please update us as to what happened. I openly apologize to everyone for being there, but if you were me yesterday, you would have stayed home in close proximity to a restroom. Not sure if it was due to something I ate, heat, my new prescriptions, or a combination of all of or some of them, but yesterday was not a happy day/evening for me. I wish the Nallus family the very best during these tough times.

[Lucas Jackson]

Naulls made his first court appearance Thursday afternoon at the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, in Los Angeles, on federal indictment charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute marijuana and causing others to illegally sell marijuana. The judge agreed to release Naulls today on $350,000 bail.

A post-indictment arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday in Riverside.

[420love]

The judge agreed to release Naulls today on $350,000 bail.

That's $50,000 less than the Morro Bay dispensary operator's bond... Maybe this judge will be a little lenient. One can only hope

Like I said I think MR. Naulls is a great guy. I think that shows some bravery to stick it to the man. I Wish the best for him and his family and I hope beyond hope that he is respected by the judge as doing a service for the community.

The only thing about HNC i didnt like was their quality control practice and high prices which fortunately they DID Improve (at least for me) in the long run. In the end they got tongs and allowed patients to inspect their medications, I liked how that was done proper ( i really had to push them in that direction though )


i saw a horrible HNC video, on IETV...
http://www.inlandempiretv.tv/pages/PressReleases.html