Oakland pot club vows to fight feds to stay open

http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/Oakland-pot-club-vows-to-fight-feds-to-stay-open-3702632.php

Harborside Health Center's co-founder said Thursday that he will fight the federal government's effort to shut down his sprawling medical cannabis complex in East Oakland.

And if he loses, he'll keep the operation going in any way possible, Stephen DeAngelo said.

"We have no intention of closing our doors," DeAngelo said at a press conference at Oakland City Hall, where he was joined by 50 community leaders, Harborside patients and other backers. "We will never abandon our patients."

U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag's office filed a federal court complaint Sunday alleging that the $22 million-a-year medical pot dispensary is in violation of U.S. law prohibiting the distribution of marijuana. A court notice was posted on Harborside's door Wednesday announcing asset forfeiture proceedings.

A similar notice was sent to Harborside's smaller sister dispensary in San Jose.

The complaint is the latest shot in a campaign Haag and other U.S. attorneys have been waging since last fall against medical marijuana operations throughout California. She has maintained that any activity that goes beyond small medical marijuana exchanges violates the spirit of the state law that voters passed in 1996 authorizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes.

Harborside, she said in a statement Wednesday, is among "superstores" that violate the spirit of the law.