The Feds raided Oakland’s Oaksterdam University yesterday. U.S. Marshals, DEA agents, and IRS agents converged on this medical marijuana facility, and proceeded to surround the buildings with yellow crime tape. Of course, the California state officials did nothing to stop this illegal raid.
California has made marijuana legal, and the Oaksterdam facility was practicing its business legally according to California law. So why was this federal strong-arming allowed?
California’s nullification of federal marijuana law has now in my opinion been rendered moot. Nullification in name only is a worthless venture. Without actionable defense of any nullification, it fails. Those who would advocate only legislation in order to nullify federal law are wasting there time, as legislation without teeth is never a deterrent to the feds.
Last year in my home state of Montana, heavily armed feds swarmed many legal marijuana outlets across the state, closing many down, and stealing their private property. Nothing was done to stop that federal assault, so our “nullification” was worthless.
So long as individual states will not protect their own borders from the marauding feds, nullification efforts might as well cease. Nullification can only be effective when it is defended by whatever means necessary. Anything less results in failure. Many out there continue to advocate nullification, which is proper, but they mostly advocate the legislative route. That can only work if the state in question is prepared to arrest any federal agent who is attempting to enforce federal law over state law inside state borders.
Instead of worthless resolutions, states must demand that bad federal law be ignored, and then physically defend that position if necessary. Until that happens, the feds will continue to abuse their power. The longer the feds are uncontested, the more raids that will occur, and every raid forthcoming will be more invasive and more bold than before. Eventually, the states will become irrelevant, and a nationalist system will prevail!