Retiring Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) sharply criticized the Obama administration's recent raids of medical marijuana dispensaries in states where its use is legal.
President Obama pledged during his 2008 campaign to take a hands-off approach to medical marijuana, but four years later raids and other tactics have forced as many as 200 medical-marijuana growers and distributors to cease operations, resulting in sharp criticism from likely voters and fellow Democrats.
Medical marijuana activists were puzzling Monday over a federal raid on one of the nation’s most prominent pot legalization advocates, suggesting it may be intended to send a signal that no one was safe as the Obama administration tries to crack down on dispensaries.
What many saw as the inevitable hit Oaksterdam founder Richard Lee on Monday, when federal agents came knocking at the home and businesses of the man who has become the marijuana movement's de-facto figurehead.