Oakland plans to occupy President Barack Obama’s time
on Monday with a fundraiser at the Fox Theater — and a protest is
packaged along with it.
The president is scheduled to speak
at a "reception" after 4 p.m. on Monday at the downtown art-deco
theater. Protesters angry over the president’s moves on medical
marijuana will assemble at noon.
Activists from Americans for Safe
Access and California NORML are angry over the Justice Department’s
moves to shut down state-legal dispensaries, including Harborside Health
Center in Oakland, according to SF Weekly.
Harborside received a forfeiture
notice from US Attorney Melinda Haag earlier this month, the newspaper
reported. Oakland activists are still reeling from an April raid of
Oaksterdam University, the downtown Oakland "cannabis college." Federal
agents raided the business and the home of Richard Lee, who is one of
the leaders in the marijuana legalization movement.
Obama seemed to promise that he’d let
states with medical marijuana laws condcut their own affairs without
interference from federal drug agents. Many cannabis users feel he broke
that promise.
The protesting begins at noon in downtown Oakland.
