Recent federal threats against Harborside Health Center, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the world, is causing an uproar among patients and advocates alike as they fight back against this aggression.

Two press conferences are going to be held in Oakland, CA on Monday, July 23rd. The first will be held at noon local time at Oakland City Hall, 1 Frank H Ogawa Plaza Oakland, CA 94612. Harborside sent out an action alert earlier today about this press conference, saying, “Ms. Haag [U.S. Attorney] failed to cite even one specific act of wrongdoing on the part of Harborside. The only reason she gave for moving against us is that we are too large. But the reason we have become so large is because we have provided patients with the very highest level of care, and have meticulously obeyed state law and local regulations.”

Another press conference will be taking place at 1:45 pm, this one at Oaksterdam University. A rally will be taking place all day at City Hall plaza to protest the medical marijuana crackdown as President Obama is in town to raise money for his reelection. Americans for Safe Access sent out a press release today as well, which read in part:

Oakland, CA – Hundreds of medical marijuana patients and advocates will stage a rally Monday in downtown Oakland at a fundraiser for President Obama’s re-election campaign. The president’s visit to Oakland follows a recent forfeiture action aimed at shutting down Harborside Health Center, a city-permitted dispensary that has operated since 2006 without incident. Earlier this year, the Obama Justice Department raided and shut down another of Oakland’s permitted dispensaries, Blue Sky, leaving the city with a dwindling number of facilities to serve Oakland’s patient population. On Monday, protesters will demand an end to federal interference and call for the firing of Melinda Haag, the U.S. Attorney for northern California.

What: Rally and press conference to protest federal attacks on the medical marijuana community and on Oakland’s dispensaries in particular
When:Monday, July 23rdPress Conference at 1:45pm (Rally Noon-5pm)
Where: Press conference at Oaksterdam University, 1600 Broadway, Oakland (Rally at City Hall Plaza)”The Obama Administration’s attacks on the medical marijuana community are unprecedented and out-of-control,” said Steph Sherer, Executive Director of Americans for Safe Access, the country’s leading medical marijuana advocacy organization and one of the groups organizing Monday’s rally. “We’re here to let the president know that there’s a political, and not just a financial, cost to shutting down law-abiding dispensaries,” continued Sherer. “Patients are demanding that the president take account for his administration’s harmful actions and address medical marijuana like the public health issue that it is.”

President Obama has been dogged for the actions of U.S. Attorneys over the past two years, as his administration engaged in an all-out attack in medical marijuana states. From thinly-veiled threats against public officials in several medical marijuana states to hundreds of SWAT-style raids and threats against property owners, resulting in the closure of hundreds of dispensaries in California and other states, Obama’s Justice Department has expended millions of dollars to target state law-compliant businesses.

Will this be the straw that broke the camel’s back, as the saying goes? Have enough people had enough of the federal government attacking legal businesses and patients?

Will President Obama hear our voice and change course?

- Joe Klare