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Feds raid California's first cannabis industry training school

megayields

Grower of Connoisseur herb's.
ICMag Donor
Veteran
4-2-12 @ 8:32 AM

This JUST went down not an hour ago, Fed's, DEA and IRS agents are involved!

============================================

Federal agents swooped in Monday morning to search Oakland's Oaksterdam University in Oakland, the state's first cannabis industry training school.

Agents with the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Internal Revenue Service's criminal investigation division are searching the university at the corner of 16th Street and Broadway, in the heart of the city's widely recognized downtown cannabis-oriented district, authorities said.

The university has been cordoned off by yellow caution tape.

Arlette Lee, an IRS spokeswoman, said she could not say why the agents were there other than to confirm that they were serving a federal search warrant.

"Everything's under seal," Lee said, referring to the search warrant and documents relating to the investigation. "We're not able to comment as far as the nature of this ongoing investigation."

The federal agencies are conducting a joint investigation, she said.

The raid comes fewer than three weeks after Oakland city officials issued preliminary approvals for four new medical marijuana dispensaries, even as federal prosecutors exerted increased pressure on medical cannabis dispensaries, forcing hundreds to close.

Federal officials say they are concerned about dispensaries that are getting too big or too close to parks or schools. They have long asserted that federal law trumps the state's 1996 voter-approved law legalizing medical cannabis.



Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/02/BABJ1NTK9T.DTL#ixzz1qtiQj2OJ
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Payaso

Original Editor of ICMagazine
Veteran
Federal agents converged on Oaksterdam University in downtown Oakland shortly after 7 a.m. this morning, but officials are releasing few details about the raid or any warrants served.

Agents with Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Marshals were inside Oaksterdam University at 1600 Broadway, according to IRS spokeswoman Arlette Lee.

The front of the building was cordoned off with yellow police tape and several officers blocked the entrance to prevent anyone from going in. A half-dozen protesters with signs chanted pro-medical marijuana slogans nearby.

The school, America's first cannabis college, was founded in 2007 to provide training for the cannabis industry.

On March 14, the Oakland City Council voted to double the number of medical marijuana dispensaries, approving four new potential operators. The city's current four dispensaries generate about $1.68 million a year in tax revenue.

But a recent federal crackdown has cast doubts on whether new facilities will ever open. In October, federal prosecutors announced stepped-up enforcement efforts against the commercial marijuana industry. In the ensuing months, several Bay Area dispensaries closed, and one of Oakland's four dispensaries, Blue Sky Care Center, was forced to move to a temporary location farther away from a school.

From the San Jose Mercury News
 

TickleMyBalls

just don't molest my colas..
Veteran
Just saw this on the norml Facebook feed. Bad times. I don't like Richard lee, but fuck the Feds.
 

northstate

Member
ICMag Donor
Awww shit. Is it on? is this the big event that will be the catalyst? Fuck da feds. No waging war on a plant. This has to stop.NS
 

Grendelkhan

Member
Yet another in the line of fear tactics used by the Feds. Notice that Oakland is getting ready to approve 4 more clubs. This is the Feds saying, "You approve these and we will continue to do this type of crap."
 
T

trem0lo

These DEA bureaucrats who sit in their little offices with bloated salaries deciding what we can and can't put into our bodies so they can keep their cushy jobs and Federal funding flowing to their department NEED TO GO.

Find a real job that's not stuck in 1930!
 

Grendelkhan

Member
I have heard that they also grab a bunch of mothers and all the cuts. So it looks like Blue sky and Haborsides mother room and all their cutting have been taken! No more cutting or moms!
 

Chronage

Scholastic Warrior
When the FUCK is our goddamn Government/Country Leaders gonna come down off their crazy acid trip? CHRIST! It'd be nice if things they do made more sense to me without needing serious drugs to understand.
 
I wonder why the Feds are at the School and not the Dispensary? As I understand Richard Lee operates his enterprises as a "For Profit" vs the "Not for Profit", that other Ca. Dispensaries operate under.
 

trichrider

Kiss My Ring
Veteran
when are the states going to assert their rights?
has the federal govt. put the boots on their throats?

about a third of states recognize cannabis as medicine, is it not time for some national debate on the merits of an unjust law?

it is our duty to resist unjust laws on principle, nevermind the damage prohibition does to the ability to persue constitutional guarantees of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Freedom.

those guarantees are forfeit if someone merely accuses one of a crime...

the enemy has a face, it is one of arrogant ambivalence, and i see it often.

to hell with the govt. and all alphabet agencies, they do not represent Americans.
 

Chronage

Scholastic Warrior
I seriously think I'm going to puke. At this point being legal is just more like being on a known waiting list to possibly be busted. Or putting your name in the hat for next monthly drawing. So fucking pathetic, this state gets to make money and collect taxes where the FUCKING backup on your laws? If you're in-line with your state I mean wtf? I think we need our own state squads that some of those mmj taxes go to. That way when the feds come in, and your state does jack shit but sit back you have a FIGHT or someone FIGHT for you for gods sake. This kinda shit makes me sad to live in a country acting this way but that's to simple an answer. Really, facepalm/major facepunch to our own humanity/society. gahhhh
 

CosmicGiggle

Well-known member
Moderator
Veteran
They can bust the University but they can't controll the knowledge - it's already spread like wildfire - out of controll!:tiphat:
 
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