L.A. County Officials Raid Palm Springs Marijuana Dispensary

A cannabis dispensary in Palm Springs was raided by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Wednesday in connection with an investigation spanning four counties in the Southland, authorities said.

The raid happened at The Holistic Collective on the 2200 block of North Palm Canyon Drive just after 11 a.m.

Some five pounds of marijuana, 100 food products made with marijuana and several ounces of hash were seized by the Sheriff’s Department.

The dispensary is now closed, and authorities said it will remain that way indefinitely.

“Everything seemed to be legit,” said Nathaniel Card, a patient.

“They always pride themselves on going by the book,” said Frank Castleforte, a patient.

Castleforte recently moved to Palm Springs from Florida.

He lives around the corner and News Channel 3 caught up with him while he was stopping by to pick up his medication.

He had no idea The Hollistic Collective of Palm Springs, otherwise known as THC, was not one of the citiy’s three legally sanctioned medicinal marijuana dispensaries.

Neither Card, who has been a patient there for more than eight months.

“It’s just not right,” said Card. “They’re taking our prescriptions away from us. Now, I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

Witnesses said at least 10 law enforcement officials raided the place wearing masks and carrying weapons.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department served the search warrant.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s office assisted in the operation.

It was one of 16 search warrants served for this case.

Five dispensaries, three manufacturing businesses, seven homes and one boat were served — all of them in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside Counties.

“They just sold the cannabis and cookies, some breads — stuff like that,” said Castleforte.

The Sheriff’s Department also said that the business may have been hiding money and also overcharging its patients.

But Card said he never felt like he was getting ripped off.

“No,” he said. “I think actually just the opposite.”

“The pricess I get is comparable to all the other stores or dispensaries,” said Castleforte.

The California Tax Franchise Board is now involved in the investigation.

Authorities said that aside from THC not being one of Palm Springs three legal dispensaries, it has been operating as a “for profit” business which is against the law.

“We’re setup as a nonprofit,” said Gary Cherlin, owner of Desert Organic Solutions in Palm Springs. “That is the way that the ordinance in Palm Springs is setup.”

Cherlin’s collective is approved by the city and serves more than 1,650 registered patients.

“We’ve had probably about 10 or 15 of the patients that were previously at THC come and tell us that they weren’t open today,” he said.

No arrests were made in Palm Springs Wednesday.

Authorities said the investigation is still ongoing.