Recent raids have pot clubs worried

Paranoia may be a side effect of marijuana, but the concerns of medical cannabis dispensaries in the Bay Area extend beyond that.

Earlier this week, Federal agents raided Oaksterdam University as well as the home its founder, Richard Lee.

Lee is known for putting Proposition 19, an initiative to legalize marijuana, on the 2010 ballot. The proposition ultimately failed.

There are no known closures of other Bay Area dispensaries related to the raid.

For now the “green stuff” will continue to flow, thanks to dispensary staff like Steven DeAngelo, executive director of East Oakland’s Harborside Health Center:

“I decided five years ago when we opened our doors that this was a risk that was worth taking, that this was a medicine that people desperately need and that I was going to continue doing it as long as I was physically able to do so.”

Oakland may be warm to patients and hippies alike, but outside of its boundaries lies a struggle for the acceptance and legalization of pot.

A friendly relationship between Oakland PD and local dispensaries was shaken during the raid, since Oakland police served as crowd control.

The raid is also being heavily criticized by politicians, particularly Oakland City Councilwoman Rebecca Kaplan (at-large), according to her spokesman Jason Overman:

“They didn’t tell us they were coming. They didn’t check in with us. Was there a crime committed and if so, what was it? Who committed it? And who was the victim? From where I’m sitting I don’t see it.”