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April 2, 2012
"Feds raid 'Princeton of Pot' in California"
The title of this post is the headline of this new Reuters article, which gets started this way:
Federal agents raided a cannabis cultivation college on Monday in the San Francisco Bay area widely known as the "Princeton of Pot" and the "Harvard of Hemp," authorities said, as the U.S. government pressed its clamp-down on medical marijuana.
The sweep turned the college, which offers courses in the growing and dispensing of marijuana, into the latest flashpoint between federal law enforcement and medical cannabis advocates in California and other states where pot has been decriminalized for medicinal purposes. "This is clearly an attack on regulation," Oaksterdam University Chancellor Dale Sky Jones said. "They just went after a school that tries to teach people how to do things legally."
Several dozen protesters gathered at the school after the raid, some of them openly smoking joints as they carried signs that read "End federal interference" and "Cannabis is medicine." Oakland police handcuffed at least one demonstrator, but the reason for the arrest was not immediately clear.
Jones said veteran medical marijuana activist and Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee was awakened on Monday morning by federal agents conducting a separate search of his home, but he was not arrested. Federal authorities said raids at Oaksterdam and other unspecified locations were carried out under a federal search warrant that was sealed by a judge, and they gave few details.
David McCullick, a faculty member at Oaksterdam, said a marijuana museum near the school and a medical cannabis dispensary run by Lee were also raided. He said the school's "grow lab" contained at most 80 to 90 small cannabis plants, while the museum contained a single plant encased in glass. "Here you've got a school that's licensed by the city," he said. "It's just a school. It's freedom of speech," he said.
Joycelyn Barnes, special agent for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's San Francisco Division, said DEA officers were joined by personnel from the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Marshals Service in the operation.
I sure am glad to hear that crime is so low throughout the San Francisco Bay area that the feds have enough time and extra man-power to worry about what is being taught at the "Harvard of Hemp." I sure hope the mass shooting going on down the block (sad news story here) did not distract the federal authorities from having all the man-power they need to ensure we are all kept safe from the wicked weed!
April 2, 2012 at 06:33 PM | Permalink
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Comments
"I sure hope the mass shooting going on down the block (sad news story here) did not distract the federal authorities from having all the man-power they need to ensure we are all kept safe from the wicked weed!"
Of course if the feds DID intervene in the investigation of the murders down the street, the cries of overfederalization would be just as loud or louder than they are about "Oaksterdam."
Isn't it old news by now that the feds are cracking down on these "medical" marijuana dispensaries in the Bay Area? At some point, if you want to stick it in the feds' faces, they're going to react. This is news?
P.S. Does anyone think that "Oaksterdam University" is about anything other than getting blasted? It's really just wonderfully high camp street theater. I love it that they have a "chancellor."
Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 2, 2012 6:50:12 PM
'Does anyone think that "Oaksterdam University" is about anything other than getting blasted?'
so why waste taxpayer dollars to make such a stupid point like 'yes, we're the feds, we have the power, it's against the law and we'll do whatever it takes to bring down all you pot smoking, low down scum of the earth criminal bad boys just to make an example and to get a 30 second or less sound bite on the nightly news
such a ridiculous waste of manpower and money...it'd be better spent reviewing the federal rank and file for potential cost saving layoffs if this is the best they can do to justify those high paying jobs and primo federal benefits they accrue
Posted by: a voter | Apr 2, 2012 7:35:25 PM
"It's really just wonderfully high camp street theater."
But the real question is whether it is more or less entertaining than that other high camp street theater, the Republican primary. I even hear that they have someone in that camp who styles himself a Presidential contender (gasp!)
Posted by: Daniel | Apr 2, 2012 7:43:09 PM
'...someone in that camp who styles himself a Presidential contender (gasp!) '
my word, I'd say that should warrant in the least a 'DOUBLE GASP'!
Posted by: a voter | Apr 2, 2012 7:55:54 PM
"But the real question is whether it is more or less entertaining than that other high camp street theater, the Republican primary."
No, that's not the "real" question. Indeed it has zilch to do with either Doug's entry or my comment. It might be the "real" question on another blog, I'll grant you that.
Do you really think anything resembling a college education is going on at "Oaksterdam University"?
Posted by: Bill Otis | Apr 2, 2012 8:34:21 PM
Whenever the feds do something like this, I can't help but think of Cartman growling "You will respect my authoritah!"
Posted by: C.E. | Apr 2, 2012 9:01:21 PM
"Do you really think anything resembling a college education is going on at "Oaksterdam University"?
Yes.
Sex...check.
Drugs...check.
Hippies...check.
Sounds like a typical university education to me.
Posted by: Daniel | Apr 2, 2012 9:13:53 PM
I guess the univ doesnt teach history or the meaning of the supremacy Clause. For the dope smokers here it is: Supremacy clause establishes the U.S. Constitution, U.S. Treaties, made pursuant to the U.S. Constitution, shall be "the supreme law of the land." The text decrees these to be the highest form of law in the U.S. legal system, and mandates that all state judges must follow federal law when a conflict arises between federal law and either the state constitution or state law of any state. Its a federal crime who cares what the states say or pass. They should be closing every pot house.
Posted by: DeanO | Apr 2, 2012 9:20:48 PM
If marijuana keeps getting put on the ballot it will eventually get legalized. As it should!
Posted by: Anon | Apr 3, 2012 12:01:42 AM
ahh deano but that only counts IF the state you are in thinks the federal govt has any LEGAL RIGHT to tell them what to do in this area!
the only problem i see is the state is a big talker about how what they are doing is legal but refuse to back it up with force when the feds try and swoop in like a big bunch of vultures.
They should be glad i'm not the governor there! If my state has decided it's legal and i can prove it's not moving out of state for sale. Fed involvment is done! The commerce clause hook they like hardly applies to somethinig they say is ILLEGAL where it crosses state lines.
Becasue at that point i'd have no problem at all inviting the federal rep for my state to my office and informing him/her in this area...it's HANDS OFF and failure to follow my directions might get them one gestapo raid but my security wouild be ready for the next one and they would have the same orders the feds get in those cases. SHOOT FIRST AND SHOOT STRAIGHT!
Posted by: rodsmith | Apr 3, 2012 1:21:58 AM
DeanO,
Nice point about the Supremacy Clause. But I have struggled with where in Article 1, Section 8; Congress is given the responsibility for creating and enforcing criminal statutes. I can't find it anywhere.
Posted by: Jardinero1 | Apr 3, 2012 11:04:05 AM
