On April 2, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Marshal’s Service acted on a warrant and conducted a raid on Oaksterdam University, in Oakland, Calif.

Oaksterdam University is a vocational college (of sorts), specializing in training future employees of the medical marijuana industry, an industry that is recognized and legal in the state of California.

This raid comes as a shock to many supporters of the medical marijuana movement as the primary target was an institute of education, not a dispensary or other establishment distributing or facilitating the sale of marijuana, which is most commonly targeted.

Oakland, Calif. is ravaged by drug- and gun-related violence, as evidenced by the school shooting at Oikos University, a mere three-tenths of a mile away from Oaksterdam. While the government was spending of time, effort and money on shutting down a legal, law-abiding educational facility, a distressed individual was shooting at and murdering numerous students just down the road.

One cannot claim that the shooting at Oikos University could have been stopped if the raid on Oaksterdam didn’t occur, but one can see, very clearly, that the federal government’s focus needs to be turned to bringing an end to gun-violence and drug-related violence.

President Barack Obama should stick to his campaign promises. Stop raiding of medical marijuana patients and facilities, stop imprisoning non-violent drug offenders, and stop wasting resources on an expensive, failing drug war.

He should focus his time on more pertinent issues, such as ending gun violence, poverty and political corruption.

Peter Anderson

Students for Sensible Drug Policy

University of Maine, Farmington

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