Medical Marijuana Raid - Photo by Jaime Galindo
| MEDICAL MARIJAUNA RAID |
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Oakland police stood by Mar. 16 as
federal DEA agents raided the site of a former Oaksterdam dispensary
that was allegedly still being used to grow cannabis. The raid was part
of a larger attack on patients and providers that targeted "Beyond
Bomb", a medical marijuana candy supplier for patients who cannot or
prefer not to smoke their medicine. The DEA has repeatedly argued that
cannabis cannot be a medicine because it is smoked. Angry
constituents approached the Measure Z Oversight Committee that same
evening at its hearing, asking for an investigation into the role that
local agencies may have played in the raids and investigations that led
up to them. Oakland voters in 2004 passed an ordinance telling law
enforcement agencies to make private cannabis sales and cultivation the
lowest priority and telling police to concentrate on violent and
serious crime. The city's murder rate is among the highest in the
nation, as Mayor Jerry Brown campaigns for state Attorney General.
Polls show that 90 percent of city voters consider the Drug War a
failure. Medical Marijuana Raid - Photo by Jaime Galindo |