According to an article in today's Long Beach Press Telegram, the city is trying to revoke the commercial license of the owner of a strip mall on Anaheim Blvd. The reason? The landlord keeps renting the building to pesky pot clubs.
All of which raises a question: are there really any medical marijuana dispensaries still operating in Long Beach? (Seriously: If you're reading this and can name a spot that's confident it's secure in its location by the time you finish reading this sentence, please comment below).
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After all, the city–after raking in huge wads of cash for its
controversial lottery process allowing dispensaries to grow and
distribute pot in town–banned such clubs back in February. Meanwhile,
the cops have been targeting clubs seemingly nonstop, most recently
raiding seven outfits on Oct. 11, arresting some 40 people.
In any case, according to the Press Telegram, if the council votes tonight to revoke the landlord's commercial license, this will prevent it from renting the property to pot clubs, because it will lose the right to rent the property at all. Strangely, though, officials told the paper, this vote won't affect the pot club currently operating there.
Right, right: that's what cops are for.
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Award-winning investigative journalist Nick Schou is Editor of OC Weekly. He is the author of Kill the Messenger: How the CIA’s Crack Cocaine Controversy Destroyed Journalist Gary Webb (Nation Books 2006), which provided the basis for the 2014 Focus Features release starring Jeremy Renner and the L.A. Times-bestseller Orange Sunshine: The Brotherhood of Eternal Love’s Quest to bring Peace, Love and Acid to the World, (Thomas Dunne 2009). He is also the author of The Weed Runners (2013) and Spooked: How the CIA Manipulates the Media and Hoodwinks Hollywood (2016).