As a result of illegal drug cartels, 40 people a day die on average in Mexico, and almost 90,000 people have died since 2006. That is almost twice the number of people killed in the Vietnam War (58,220 casualties). Mexico’s cartels are deriving 40 to 70 percent of their revenue from cannabis, DeAngelo told AlterNet.

“Fox and other people legitimately concerned about public safety have no real ax to grind as far as cannabis goes. They’ve recognized the cost of prohibition is way too high to tolerate any longer,” DeAngelo said.

DeAngelo’s medical cannabis dispensary, Harborside Health Center, was the target of a federal crackdown in May. Despite the fact that it has operated without incident and within city and state laws since its founding six years ago, U.S. prosecutors filed a forfeiture case to seize its building in 2011. They claim the dispensary—which distributes more than 70 strains of cannabis—was a "superstore" serving 100,000 customers in violation of federal law.

In an unprecedented move, the city of Oakland came to the defense of the local dispensary as the first California city ever to challenge federal threats against a local medical cannabis facility. In City of Oakland v. Eric Holder, Oakland sued the federal prosecutor to block Harborside's closing. On July 3, Judge Maria-Elena James granted a motion to stay by the city of Oakland that effectively delays the feds' case against Harborside for more than 15 months.

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