Under this administration, the idea of raiding state-approved medical marijuana facilities went from being "not a good use of our resources," to being a very popular pastime among federal police and prosecutors. They've been going completely berserk for the better part of a year now, and while they weren't exactly diplomatic before that, they've been acting lately like they won some kind of drug war lottery and are trying to spend all the money before they die.
Raiding Richard Lee is arguably the most audacious play the feds have ever made in the War on Medical Marijuana for a few reasons. He's in a wheelchair and exemplifies the image of a legitimate medical marijuana patient/provider. He runs a school that promotes professionalism in the medical cannabis industry. And most importantly, he was the driving force behind the Prop 19 campaign that nearly legalized marijuana in California.
If you're thinking all of this explains exactly why they want to take him out, well…yeah, but it isn't nearly that simple. Everyone knows who Richard Lee is, and almost everyone supports him. To go after him now, after everything he's done, is to manufacture the most perfect martyr ever to emerge in the increasingly ugly War on Medical Marijuana in America.
I could spend all afternoon speculating as to why the Obama Administration would choose to escalate a policy that's already so deeply unpopular with the American people. But I shouldn’t have to. It's Obama's turn to tell us what the hell happened here, and it's the responsibility of the press to demand an answer.
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