City Of Oakland Files Suit To Prevent Closure Of Harborside Health Center
Oakland, Calif. – October 15, 2012 – In a historic development, the City of Oakland announced last week it had filed suit in federal District Court to enjoin U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag from their attempts to close Harborside Health Center, a city-licensed medical cannabis dispensary (www.harborsidehealthcenter.com/). Widely acclaimed as a model of legitimacy and legal compliance, and featured in the Discovery Channel series, “Weed Wars,” Harborside was targeted by Haag on July 9th when she initiated a civil forfeiture suit to seize the dispensary’s Oakland and San Jose locations.
Steve DeAngelo, Executive Director of Harborside, issued the following statement in response to the City’s action:
“We are heartened and encouraged by the City of Oakland’s lawsuit against Attorney General Eric Holder and US Attorney Melinda Haag, and welcome the City’s support. Ms. Haag has attacked not only Harborside and our patients, but also the entire system of regulated medical cannabis distribution painstakingly developed by the City. Those regulations were developed in response to very real and serious problems caused by unregulated sales of medical cannabis, and have improved public safety while raising substantial tax revenue. If Ms. Haag is successful in her efforts, our 112,000 patients will be forced to the illicit marketplace, over $25 million in annual cannabis sales will move back to the streets of Oakland, the City will lose its second largest retail tax payer, and our more than 100 employees will no longer have jobs.
It is shameful that Ms. Haag and her colleagues, who are sworn to protect public safety, have chosen to spend limited law enforcement resources closing down licensed and regulated dispensaries, instead of targeting meth labs or human trafficking. The President should immediately freeze all enforcement actions against medical cannabis providers, and review them to make sure they are consistent with administration policy to target only those providers who are out of compliance with state law.”
To learn more about medical cannabis and the ongoing controversy between local, state and federal laws, visit www.harborsidehealthcenter.com or contact us today.
About Harborside Health Center
With locations in Oakland and San Jose, Harborside Health Center is the premier medical cannabis dispensary in California. As one of the first alternative health facilities of its kind, Harborside offers the best quality product and compassionate, individualized service to all medical cannabis patients. Harborside also strives to protect community safety and cleanliness by strictly observing and enforcing state laws regarding medical cannabis. For more details, visit the Oakland medical cannabis dispensary online at www.harborsidehealthcenter.com.
Landmark lawsuit filed opposing Federal attack on medical cannabis
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(City of Oakland news release: https://bit.ly/STH0lO
City of Oakland filed complaint (PDF): https://bit.ly/TCNzsJ)
