The timing of a series of recent Vallejo police raids of medical marijuana dispensaries is being questioned by some Vallejo City Council members.
"I have asked the city manager three weeks ago ... how did we start preparing a raid at the same time we were putting this on the ballot -- and so we had two ends of the city working on opposite directions, and I want to know why," Councilwoman Stephanie Gomes said at Tuesday's Council meeting. "And I want to know who made the decision to give up a $250,000-a-year tax."
Gomes was referring to the city's November's Measure C, which earned more than 75 percent of voter support to impose a 10 percent tax and business license fee on medical marijuana dispensaries.
More than a dozen people spoke out before Gomes' comments against the recent police crackdown. Gomes said she believes the raids were in contradiction to council policy, but that she was waiting for answers to her questions before she made up her mind.
The Vallejo Police Department, in conjunction with other local law enforcement and state agencies, have raided three of the more than 20 estimated Vallejo dispensaries since the first, Greenwell Cooperative, was shut down on Feb. 21. Department press releases after each raid have referred separately to six- and five-month-long investigations, and an overall effort to crack down on all dispensaries.
Medical marijuana dispensaries in Vallejo are considered to be operating in violation of the city's zoning laws
ADVERTISEMENT
by Vallejo Planning Department officials, and federal laws prohibits the sale of marijuana. Vallejo police, however, have said they are enforcing felony state marijuana possession and sales laws.
The clients, supporters and operators of local dispensaries that turned out in force on Tuesday shared personal raid experiences and voiced questions on the enforcement timing.
"Please stop the raids. This was a nightmare," said Better Health Group founder Jorge Espinosa, who was arrested in a Feb. 29 dispensary raid. "You guys have destroyed my life. You guys have destroyed the life of many of the employees and patients. I beg you to think twice before you go run through another collective and destroy their life, too."
Another dispensary operator said he was "done" with operating in Vallejo after the raids.
"The reason why I closed my doors is because I feel like I've been underhanded by the city, and I like my freedom," said the man, of the Doghouse Collective on Capitol Street. "But I feel like I've been extorted and I feel like I've been entrapped about how this whole thing was set up."
Councilman Robert McConnell called Tuesday for a special public meeting to discuss the raids, earning a yelled "thank-you" from the audience. The council does not dictate the police department's actions, McConnell said, but he still wants a status update on litigation against the raided dispensaries and other efforts, "so we can begin to formulate a response to this problem, and not be perceived as being silent any longer."
Councilwoman Marti Brown said she, like Gomes, had privately asked city staff for similar information before Tuesday, and expected a response from the city manager this week.
The council memo from the City Manager's Office was not yet available Thursday, and no date has been set for further public discussion of the issue.
Contact staff writer Jessica A. York at (707) 553-6834 or jyork@timesheraldonline.com.
- Posted using my jailbroken iPod
No comments:
Post a Comment