Oaksterdam University Raid: Federal Agents Take Over Marijuana College

[420 Warrior]

Federal agents on Monday targeted a San Francisco Bay area medical marijuana training school started by a leading pot advocate who has been instrumental in pushing for ballot measures to legalize the drug.

The doors to Oaksterdam University in downtown Oakland were blocked by U.S. marshals and yellow tape following the early morning raid by agents with the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Agents carted trash bags of unknown materials out of the school as protesters gathered to condemn the action. A museum connected to the school and a nearby medical marijuana dispensary operated by Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee also were raided.

Demonstrators outside the multistory building, some openly smoking marijuana, held signs demanding an end to federal crackdowns on marijuana, which remains illegal under federal law.

Ryan Hooper, 26, of Oakland, wearing an Oaksterdam hat and sweat shirt, said he had finished taking courses at the school in February.

"This is not in the best interest of the city," Hooper said. "If they close the dispensaries, all of this stuff is going to go back underground."

Oaksterdam University was founded by Lee, who spent more than $1 million as the main backer of a California ballot measure defeated in 2010 that would have legalized marijuana in the state for recreational use. Lee did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

The school offers classes to would-be medical marijuana providers in fields ranging from horticulture to business to the legal ins-and-outs of running a dispensary. It does not distribute marijuana.

Arlette Lee, an IRS spokeswoman and no relation to Richard Lee, told reporters that agents were serving a federal search warrant but said she could not otherwise comment on the purpose of the raid.

"What we are doing here today is under seal," Lee said.

Agents also raided Richard Lee's home and briefly detained him during their search but did not arrest him, said Dale Sky Jones, Oaksterdam's executive chancellor.

"Clearly, they're trying to knock down one of the leaders in the cannabis reform movement," Jones said.

No other arrests were reported, and it was unclear if the raid was prompted by a civil or criminal complaint. Jack Gillund, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, also declined comment.

The raid was the latest move by the federal government to crack down on California's thriving medical marijuana industry. Federal prosecutors across the state joined late last year to shut down dozens of dispensaries by threatening to seize landlords' property if they did not evict marijuana retailers.

The government's action came as a surprise to medical marijuana advocates because the city of Oakland has been somewhat of a safe haven for pot clinics. The city has long allowed four medical marijuana dispensaries to legally operate under city ordinances and recently awarded permits that would allow four more to open.

"Oakland has one of the most highly regulated systems for distributing medical marijuana in the state," said Stephen Gutwillig, California's director for the Drug Policy Alliance. "We think this is a campaign by the U.S. attorneys not just to limit but to kill access to medical marijuana in California."

Others countered that pot advocates are mistaken if they believe the Obama administration wouldn't take action.

"This is a warning signal to any city including Oakland that they should tread very carefully when sanctioning an illegal activity," said Kevin Sabet, a former senior adviser to the president's drug czar and an assistant professor at the University of Florida. "The brazenness of Oakland and other cities like this has actually made them a target."

Some observers said the federal government's decision to go after Oaksterdam shows it's not going to back down.

"It doesn't get much more confrontational than that," said Alex Kreit, a law professor at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego.

News Hawk - 420 Warrior 420 MAGAZINE
Location: Oakland, CA
Source: Huffington Post
Author: Terry Collins
Contact: www.huffingtonpost.com/contact
Copyright: © 2012 TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc.
Website: www.huffingtonpost.com

 

[GanjaAL2]

To me... it looks like they are trying to push people underground and make people out to be criminals when it is the cowboy good ol' boys violating the rights of states to govern themselves. Not to mention big pharma petitioning the DEA for the use of marijuana to to turn into a money making empire!

To bad they do not go after the cartels, biker gangs and all the others selling meth and smack to kids... this I guess makes more sense. Soft targets are much easier to hit... especially a guy in a wheelchair!

 

[TorturedSoul]

Federal agents on Monday targeted a San Francisco Bay area medical marijuana training school started by a leading pot advocate who has been instrumental in pushing for ballot measures to legalize the drug.

I have expected something like this to happen for a while now due to the high-profile nature of the business and of Richard Lee.

I generally expect the IRS to be involved whenever the government is taking - or wants to take - action against a person who is involved in something which the federal government officially considers to be verboten, especially when that something is one that the government either doesn't have a legal leg to stand on or the "legal" leg is, itself illegal in shape/form/intent (such as being based upon a premise that is contraindicated by the United States Constitution - along with its own legislation/standards/rules (in this case, that cannabis is considered to be a Schedule I narcotic and therefore illegal under federal statutes... even though it quite clearly does not meet even one of the three requirements although it legally must meet all three of them)).

One assumes that Mr. Lee, being a reasonably intelligent person, has also been expecting something of this nature to occur, and that he has prepared for it in advance.

Oaksterdam University was founded by Lee, who spent more than $1 million as the main backer of a California ballot measure defeated in 2010 that would have legalized marijuana in the state for recreational use. Lee did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

Shame that one didn't pass. Had it done so, the guys in the cheap suits would have so many other... issues... on their plate that medicinal cannabis businesses in general would probably have been way down on the list.

Mr. Lee, of course, would have been a target for persecution regardless. IMHO.

Agents also raided Richard Lee's home and briefly detained him during their search but did not arrest him, said Dale Sky Jones, Oaksterdam's executive chancellor.

I'll go ahead and mention that such a move is standard behavior when warrants are served and searches performed at multiple locations because they wish to prevent the principals from communicating with - and warning - any of those other targets. So the mere fact that he was detained for a short time says nothing one way or the other about his guilt in any (supposed) crimes or the likelihood that he will/won't be arrested/charged at some future point in time.

The government's action came as a surprise to medical marijuana advocates because the city of Oakland has been somewhat of a safe haven for pot clinics.

Respectfully, those medical marijuana advocates must either have been in a coma for several years - if not decades - or else their spaceship only recently landed on this planet. It seems obvious to this particular TorturedSoul that our government has had the medicinal cannabis industry as a whole in its sights for quite some time, and that it has been cherry-picking its targets using various criteria (the visibility of the target, its potential ability to defend itself, the "shock-value" of attacking the target, either to said target's local community, the industry as a whole, or both, the publicity value of attacking the particular target, et cetera) instead of attempting to hit everyone at once (a move which would have been rather ill-considered, not only because of the manpower it would require but also because it would almost certainly have caused public opinion among even many of the hard-line cannabis-opposers to swing away from the side of "might" and to the side of "right").

"Oakland has one of the most highly regulated systems for distributing medical marijuana in the state," said Stephen Gutwillig, California's director for the Drug Policy Alliance. "We think this is a campaign by the U.S. attorneys not just to limit but to kill access to medical marijuana in California."

Or at least one of the intermediate steps in a plan to eventually step in and federalize the entire medicinal cannabis industry "as a last resort to fight/halt... corruption and fraud" After all... There's a dollar in it. They want their 99.999999999999 cents. (Long-term food for thought, folks.)

Others countered that pot advocates are mistaken if they believe the Obama administration wouldn't take action.

<NODS>

"This is a warning signal to any city including Oakland that they should tread very carefully when sanctioning an illegal activity," said Kevin Sabet, a former senior adviser to the president's drug czar and an assistant professor at the University of Florida. "The brazenness of Oakland and other cities like this has actually made them a target."

Yep. Brazenness. That must be what it's called when a city chooses to follow the rules/laws legally enacted by its state government at the direction of its citizens. Personally, I would have called it something different, but what do I know? Trust in the politician. Always. The government is your fiend.

 

[Twelve12]

Sad news indeed.

The underground scene are opening up wider then before. This will create risky business for both sides; supplier and customers. Quality control of products will be lowered now that it is no longer a requirement. Both are seen as criminals. Rather twisted if you think about it. One of the many ways our Government is making money is jailing people. Too much unnecessary sacrifice for those who gets caught. Everything will be taken away from them; house, car, savings, etc...relationship will be torn, family broken, if they have kids they will be in foster system, and a permanent criminal record that will make it hard for future job search. All this and more in the name of profit gain for corporations. Yes, there are the strings behind this prohibition. The lobbyist have done their job well since the beginning of the program.

Statistic has shown that the war on drug is failing and will continue to because more are on board and taking part in the movement. For every grower fell there will be 10 more emerge. Do the math. That is why this plant will never dies. And this is why we continue to win.

Awareness is viral.

 

[oldred28]

"The brazenness of Oakland and other cities like this has actually made them a target."

Funny, sounds real similar to what they (the man) said about Miss Rosa Parks when she refused to give up her seat to a white man.
sometimes civil disobedience is the way to get the job done.
Governmental disobedience is intollerable, treasonous and needs to be addressed immediately!
Bravo to all the people with big enough kahonies to stand up to the bastards.

 

[CANNAJAH420]

16 plus States have raised a middle finger & dropped trow to our senseless,Mindless and Heartless, R-Tarded Nose Picking Government. Its time others follow suit & take back OUR freedoms.

 

[GanjaAL2]

16 plus States have raised a middle finger & dropped trow to our senseless,Mindless and Heartless, R-Tarded Nose Picking Government. Its time others follow suit & take back OUR freedoms.

Is that supposed to be a pun at Republican????

 

[CANNAJAH420]

Is that supposed to be a pun at Republican????

No. It wasn't. Its how I feel personally. I have no Love for Politicians nor the US government. However here is a pun, "They"- Rep & Demo's are about as useful as constipation on an all Bran diet.

 

[oldred28]

Republicans, democrats and all Polititians, just like Babies need to be changed regularly! otherwise things start stinking.. HMMMM--- You smell something?

 

[GanjaAL2]

I feel as though.. and this is my opinion. If you are doing your job and really work for the people then you should stay.... if not, out on your ass you go. I just do not understand why all the bitching though. Everybody made fun of the Tea Party and how small of a group they are but yet they tossed some fools out on their asses! Why can't we as a group be able to do the same???? I boggles my mind to no end!

Ron Paul for 2012!

 

[420 Warrior]

I feel as though.. and this is my opinion. If you are doing your job and really work for the people then you should stay.... if not, out on your ass you go. I just do not understand why all the bitching though. Everybody made fun of the Tea Party and how small of a group they are but yet they tossed some fools out on their asses! Why can't we as a group be able to do the same???? I boggles my mind to no end!

Ron Paul for 2012!

Been saying this for years too!

For what ever reason, be it fear, greed, political beliefs, or something else? Collectively, people who believe in Cannabis have a hard time getting on the same page and sticking together to fight for it.

Even here, in this, of all places, when I read all the posts, I see the division of our views on how we are going to achieve our goals?

Most of what I read, are people only seeming to care about their own geographical locations, why is this?

I keep seeing people run down the only viable presidential candidate who has been on our side in my lifetime and I wonder if there will ever be a change in this country?

We are letting a golden opportunity slip right through our fingers, by our bickering back and forth about local laws and personal political ambitions.

Then, I go out on the streets, here in Georgia and talk to people about legalizing Cannabis and almost all of them agree that it should be legalized, but you think people are willing to get active and change these horrible laws? NOPE! They don't lift a finger to help! Why?

Instead of banging out heads together and pulling against one another, we should be here, trying to figure out what more we can do to change the law on the federal level...That's the ONLY way people!

It's as simple as this...If people don't want their precious quasi legal Cannabis laws to go bye bye, we'd better find some common ground here!

We'd better figure out something to make our federal government realize that we're done with their gestapo tactics, AND FAST!

The wrong person in the White House, will end any and all chances we will ever have to achieve our dreams of Cannabis legalization, regulation, decriminalization, freedom, or what ever name we choose to place on it!

All I can say is, we'd better get busy finding some common ground, or it's all going to go away and all the hard work people have done and are doing for Cannabis, will be nothing more than a faint memory!

We've GOT to start sticking together...PERIOD! That's the way I see it!

 

[GanjaAL2]

Then what we need to do is put out the word on which canidate is in support of MMJ... not legalization. Once half the states are on board if not more, on MMJ then a full push can be for rec use. Main issue is... you can not get religious conservitives on board when it comes to rec use... but you can on MMJ.

I suggest to this site to put up a list of political figures who support state rights and our cause so people can see who to vote for come November.

 

[420 Warrior]

Then what we need to do is put out the word on which canidate is in support of MMJ... not legalization. Once half the states are on board if not more, on MMJ then a full push can be for rec use. Main issue is... you can not get religious conservitives on board when it comes to rec use... but you can on MMJ.

I suggest to this site to put up a list of political figures who support state rights and our cause so people can see who to vote for come November.

Agreed! and Great Idea! We do need a source of Cannabis friendly officials posted here somewhere?

I've even had that thought myself before!

I'd think the action forum may be a good place for it?

Let's see what the new site looks like first, then we may start posting them somewhere, cool?

It will be somewhat of a major task to make these up though, as we will have to cover all the Fed level jobs as well as state level officials in all 50 states, in their own separate threads, per state? If that makes sense?

Although, finding someone to do that job will be the main hurdle, as people aren't exactly beating down the door to do jobs like that here? So, TBH, IDK?

 

[Bonehead]

I feel as though.. and this is my opinion. If you are doing your job and really work for the people then you should stay.... if not, out on your ass you go. I just do not understand why all the bitching though. Everybody made fun of the Tea Party and how small of a group they are but yet they tossed some fools out on their asses! Why can't we as a group be able to do the same???? I boggles my mind to no end!

Ron Paul for 2012!

No tea party influence in California. It did not work. Most incumbents won. That's because the tea party is a bunch of retarded white men and that does fly in California. What we need is the Tea Pot movement!