Feds Raid Oaksterdam University Who Don’t Even Sell Pot
April 4, 2012 by admin
Filed under News Stories
April 5, 2012
Stop The Drug War
By Phillip Smith
“Prohibition has never worked, so why are we even trying?” –KTRN
Federal agents raided Oaksterdam University and associated businesses in downtown Oakland Monday morning shortly before 8:00am local time. The entire building was surrounded by yellow crime scene tape, and an hour later, agents were spotted carrying trash bags filled with unknown materials to a waiting van.
Also hit in the early morning raids were the nearby Oaksterdam Museum, the Oaksterdam gift shop, and the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Club. None of those businesses actually distribute medical marijuana.
The Bay Citizen reported that Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee had been detained at his home and that four university plant tenders had been arrested. The Bay Citizen also reported that the former location of Lee’s Blue Sky dispensary had been raided.
Oaksterdam University is the beating heart of the Oakland cannabis revival, which has helped revitalize the city’s downtown core. Founded in 2007, it was the first institution in the country devoted to providing instruction in medical marijuana cultivation.
Owned and operated by Richard Lee, who put his personal fortune into getting 2010′s Proposition 19 to legalize marijuana on the ballot, the university has trained thousands of people in how to grow their own medicine and other aspects of medical marijuana business. It has also served as an organizing center for the Bay area medical marijuana movement.
Medical marijuana defense groups, such as Americans for Safe Access, were mobilizing their members Monday morning and calling for supporters to head to the scene. They did so in large and angry numbers, shouting obscenities and imprecations at the federal agents. Oakland police were called in for crowd control after protestors spilled onto Broadway. Two people were arrested during the protest.
