Mendocino pot dispensary reopens after raid

A Mendocino medical marijuana dispensary that shut down in early March after being raided by authorities reopened Tuesday.

Two county supervisors, Dan Hamburg and John McCowen, were among the supporters attending the reopening of the Love In It Cooperative, said Sherry Glaser, a performance artist and the dispensary's executive director.

"It was amazing. I was impressed" by the turnout, she said.

Neither Hamburg nor McCowen could be reached Tuesday for comment.

The dispensary has been closed since the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office and other agencies raided the establishment on March 4 and three homes they believe are linked to it.

Authorities arrested nine people, including Glaser. No charges have been filed.

The raid was the culmination of a three-month investigation triggered by a package of cash that was shipped from Colorado to California, Mendocino County Sheriff's officials said. Authorities later intercepted a package of unspecified marijuana products being shipped out of state, they said.

The shipments raised suspicion that the cooperative was conducting business for profit, the Sheriff's Office said. It remains illegal in California to profit from marijuana.

Among the items seized at the four locations were packaged marijuana, pot-laced food products, 800 marijuana plants, five firearms including an assault rifle, and about $65,000 in cash, authorities said.