By Lake County News Reports on October 13, 2011
 
NORTH COAST, Calif. – Less than a week after federal officials said they were cracking down on marijuana-related businesses in California, a well-known Mendocino County dispensary was raided on Thursday.
 
Agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency were reported to be raiding the garden of Northstone Organics in Mendocino County, according to a report from California NORML.
 
California NORML Coordinator Dale Gieringer denounced the raid as a “shameful and despicable” attack on California's most successful legally regulated marijuana cultivation program.
 
Gieringer and his group reported that Northstone Organics, directed by Matt Cohen, has been a
pioneering participant in Mendocino County's innovative “zip-tie” program to license medical marijuana gardens.
 
“The DEA is doing nothing but encouraging lawlessness and disobedience to the law,” said Gieringer. “This is a victory for the Mexican cartels.”
 
The dispensary's Web site also was down on Thursday.
 
Northstone, which reportedly delivers medical marijuana as far as Southern California, has two employees facing charges for transporting marijuana after being arrested on Sonoma County, according to www.miller-mccune.com.
 
Federal officials were reported to have been conducting several raids on dispensaries and related organizations around California on Wednesday and Thursday, according to various media outlets.
 
Raids also were going on elsewhere along the West Coast, with a raid netting 43 arrests taking place in northwestern Oregon Thursday.
 
In addition, this week federal officials indicated they are intending to go after marijuana advertisements in newspapers, online media and other venues.