Oaksterdam founder to leave cannabis business

[Royal Sloan 09]

Source: Oakland Tribune

Oakland- Richard Lee said he will relinquish ownership of his marijuana-related businesses, including Oaksterdam University, as he braces for a possible federal indictment on tax charges.

"I think with my legal issues, it's the best thing," Lee said Friday. "I've been on the front lines for 20 years. I think I've done my duty and it's time for other people to take over."

Lee is one of the nation's foremost medical marijuana advocates, leading the movement to tax and regulate the drug and bankrolling Prop. 19, the failed 2010 statewide ballot measure that would have legalized it.

Federal authorities, including agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency and Internal Revenue Service, raided Lee's home near Lake Merritt early Monday as well as his four downtown Oakland storefronts, hauling away computers, files and pot plants, and leaving behind little more than office furniture. The raid was the highest profile move against California's medical marijuana establishment since October when the state's U.S. Attorney's announced new enforcement measures that have resulted in dozens of dispensaries closing down statewide.





Read more: http://www.insidebayarea.com/oakland-tribune/ci_20343751/oaksterdam-founder-leave-cannabis-business

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Just remember come NOvember, this quote from attorney, Lisa Gygax, "Every time you close down someone like Richard Lee, no one is cheering louder than Mexican cartels," she said.

Seems to be what the Powers That Be(PTB) want in this country, after all if the video from UCLA is true and shows that Cannabis can help to cure some forms of Cancers. Check out the video forum for video post on this subject matter. (Thanks to Kpete's post)

Why is Cannabis still in a class of drugs with NO medical benefits? is it in part due to the fact that Cannabis may help cure some forms of Cancer and the PTB don't want that now do they! As it would most likely harm their profit margins,.......

SO, NO cure for You! Kinda goes along with the Soup Nazi, only with Cannabis.

Thank You, Richard Lee for the work you've done and hopefully it will be carried on into the future!

[saras]

1. Yup. The placement of cannabis in Schedule I is a purely political decision..

... as are ALL the decisions about drug scheduling. There is no system in place for facts or science to have any effect on the decisions, they are made as independent judgment by people in power, and the only way of affecting them is by other people in power close to them pressuring them to decide differently.

i wonder whose job that is?

[Uncle Joe]

2. And a most evil one at that. n/t

[noiretextatique]

3. the feds are taking tax revenue away from oakland

and forcing cannabis vendors to go underground. it is really stupid and short-sighted. the demand is still there, and there are plenty of vendors who are willing to supply without paying taxes on sales. thanks, feds...you are increasing opportunities for cannabis vendors in oakland, and decreasing sales tax revenue.

[truedelphi]

4. Also, not only does Oakland and the state of Calif. lose tax revenue -

Now more people will be put in jail.

before Prop 215 passed, there were plenty of elderly people in jail for their use of medical marijuana. At a cost to taxpayers of 23 to 33 thousand dollars a year per person.

Who in the world is advising Obama on this issue? Doesn't he want to be re-elected?

Is it his friends in Big Pharma? Someone should tell the man that the reason that Kamela Harris, State's Attorney General, got elected by a squeaker is because of her non-friendly statement about the legalization of marijuana. She should have won by nine percent - instead she had to have a recount.

I guess the Obama Administration thinks it is popular enough to lose "some" voters to the third parties? Or else they don't realize some people will stay home?

Does Obama really think the 2,500 people who lost their jobs on account of the way his DEA, his DOJ, and the IRS handle this issue will vote for him? If he does, I don't know what he is smoking?

[noiretextatique]

6. right...that state will also lose revenue

and more people will be criminalized. i don't know where obama is getting his advice on this issue, but it is a total turnaround from his promise to respect state laws. it is a ridiculous waste of time and money.

[20score]

5. I hate to see the bastards win. The people going after

medical marijuana facilities are truly awful people. From the top down.

[xiamiam]

7. another step backwards...getting tired of them and so are a lot of people in california. nt

[noiretextatique]

8. some people are selling on craigslist

and given the feds interference with california law, i expect that more people will just go underground and avoid the clubs, which means even less tax revenue for the state and counties.

[starfox172]

9. good luck richard lee!

[LetTimmySmoke]

10. The Prohibitionist-in-Chief strikes again.

I swear to god Obama is a lying fuck.

[Zhade]

12. "I never ran on a public option"

"I will restore the rule of law"

[SoCalMusicLover]

11. If Shrub Were President

If * were still "president" and this were happening, people would be going nutso on this thread, about how we need a change, and this and that.

But I guess being a Democrat, Obama gets a pass.