West Hollywood, CA—An armed gang robbed the West Hollywood medical marijuana patient collective The Farmacy on Thursday morning. Bearing shotguns, agents in olive green face masks, presumably of the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), arrived at the location around 10:45 AM and detained all patients on the premises.

Throughout the afternoon, yellow police tape blocked the front entrance to the collective at 8208 Santa Monica Blvd. Police tape also surrounded most of the rear parking lot. Numerous SUVs were parked at the rear of the building to carry off the purloined cannabis medicine, cash, patient records, and business computers.

The Farmacy has operated in harmony with the West Hollywood community for more than a decade. When it was raided in a January 2007 along with 11 other patient collectives, the Los Angeles Times remarked, 

"In the real world, federal agents apparently have so much free time that they can dress up in bulletproof vests and masks in order to raid clinics that serve patients battling cancer, AIDS and other diseases... We can all rest easier knowing that lollipops, cookies, candies and candy bars laced with marijuana are in no danger of reaching seriously ill patients."

A careful reading of the same newspaper reveals the Justice Department threatened California with raids on patient access exactly one week in advance of today's raid. “If you don’t want us prosecuting [marijuana users] in your state, then get your regulatory act together," Justice Department Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole told the Los Angeles Times.

One of the officers didn't appear too happy to have his picture taken. (He's got a real "fuck you" expression going on, doesn't he?)