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Marijuana Dispensary wins $100,000!
When Sky High Holistic was subject to a police raid, it was hardly the end of the business. In fact, it ironically gave the marijuana dispensary a big boost, $100,000 to be exact.
The money comes from a lawsuit alleging police harassment of the marijuana dispensary, settled by the City of Santa Ana this week. Santa Ana has also agreed to drop charges against a dozen employees accused of illegally operating.
It's a good thing the cameras were on; The dispensary cameras, that is. Apparently, the cops hung around the establishment long after the raid occurred, playing darts and making demeaning comments about the staff. And once they got comfortable, they indulged in Sky High pot-laced edibles.
Article:
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/pot-shop-busts-cops-surveillance-cam-wins-100000
https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.alternet.org/drugs/pot-shop-busts-cops-surveillance-cam-wins-100000
Previously: Police Claim Recording of Marijuana Dispensary Raid is Illegal
(Score: 5, Insightful) by canopic jug on Monday October 31 2016, @01:26PM
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Gaaark on Monday October 31 2016, @01:34PM
Yes, please!
Fix the problem by making it THEIR problem.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Monday October 31 2016, @08:33PM
Not sure if that is sarcase - but that is the solution. Government employees are almost always exempt from charges of wrong doing. Federal, state, and local - government looks to protect their own.
Yes, however many cops were involved, the settlement should be divided that many ways, and each of them charged. They should also be charged with armed theft/robbery. They used their badges and their guns to get into the place, after all.
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Tuesday November 01 2016, @06:57PM
Sorry, no sarcasm intended: shite like making taxpayers pay for this malarkey?
This is also another reason I am against the TTP, etc. If Canada decides to ban Monsanto's bee/people killing products, they could sue us for lost revenue????????
WTF?
No... we need to get decent, common sense people in politics, instead of corruption.
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 31 2016, @01:49PM
A settlement with the City of Santa Ana probably comes from taxpayers. At best, the cops will be fired and less cops will be hired, saving some money (some cops make well over $100k or even $200k with benefits factored in).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 31 2016, @05:06PM
garnished from the offender's pay checks, accompanied perhaps by firing
I want some of whatever you've been eating.
(Score: 4, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday October 31 2016, @06:40PM
Too bad, the cops got to it already. Weren't you reading the summary? =P
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 31 2016, @11:37PM
Santa Ana is the county seat and the most populous city in Orange County.
After cannabis advocates had done all the legwork, a twisted business-centric, greed-centric Measure BB was put on the ballot for the November 2014 election in Santa Ana.
It would allow a very political process to pick and choose who got the limited number of licenses for medical marijuana dispensaries in the city.
A more patient-centric, community-centric Measure CC was then qualified for the ballot, with the cannabis advocates once again doing all the legwork.
Measure BB is a mistake but CC will protect the rights of patients and the community [newsantaana.com]
There was a massive infusion of money into the pro-BB/anti-CC campaign (lots of scare tactics).
In the election, BB got the most votes and was adopted, meaning that CC was defeated.
As was predicted, the licensing process was very dirty (the same entity/business group applying many times under different names) and things became very political, with Mayor Miguel Pulido (a shady machine-politics character) being widely suspected of graft.
The Sky High Collective applied for a license, was denied, and, in the Spring of 2015, opens an unlicensed medical marijuana dispensary in Santa Ana.
On May 26, 2015, the Santa Ana Police conducts a raid on the Sky High dispensary and are extremely disrespectful to the people there, in particular to a one-legged wheelchair-bound worker.
video [jifeed.net]
Police officers Brandon Matthew Sontag, Nicole Lynn Quijas, and Jorge Arroyo steal consumables, eat them, goof off (playing darts), and are recorded doing so.
The cops smash the surveillance cameras after there is already video of them being criminals.
An edited version of the recording is released June 10, 2015.
On July 1, 2015, the unedited video is released.
Report: Full Video Shows Those Santa Ana Cops Eating Even MORE Edibles [laist.com]
On June 20, 2016 the 3 bad cops plead not guilty to charges of theft and vandalism.
3 Santa Ana police officers plead not guilty to theft in raid of pot shop [ocregister.com]
On July 14, 2016, the 3 dirty cops are FINALLY fired.
Santa Ana Police Department Fires Officers In Pot Video Case [ocweekly.com]
October 26, 2015: There is a civil settlement with the dispensary for damages.
.
...and for Fristy (and others)
Who's == Who is; Who was
Whose == Belongs to whom
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Tuesday November 01 2016, @09:59AM
Who's == Who is; Who was
Whose == Belongs to whom
Thanks.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 31 2016, @05:33PM
Additionally, was the $100,000 actually enough to cover the repairs, restock the store, and if necessary cover the downtime since this all started back in the summer?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 01 2016, @12:04AM
See "Timeline", above.
This dispensary was **unlicensed**.
By city ordinances and procedures, the place had no right to be doing business.
The instigation of the raid was legit.
Now, what the -individual- cops did was criminal.
Note also that the Sky High Collective hasn't been granted a license since then.
(One of the current license holders would have to lose theirs first.)
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 01 2016, @06:49AM
what's criminal is making nature illegal.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 01 2016, @11:52AM
I won't disagree with you.
Now, if you've got a plan to rein in the economic power of Big Pharma (which leads to their political power), I'm all ears.
I've previously suggested a constitutional amendment that makes all public elections publicly funded.
Actually, I got that from Ralph Nader.
It's really hard to beat that smartie's ideas, but I'll listen if you think you have something better.
...and political careerism is a big factor too.
The jackass congressman who pushed through the Marihuana[1] Tax Act of 1937 ended up on the Supreme Court.
[1] Yup. That's the way the jackass spelled it.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Informative) by sjames on Monday October 31 2016, @05:49PM
The people paying the taxes that fund the settlement will need to demand loudly that the money come out of the cops' pay. They will also need to demand that the cops involved be fired.
And those cops really should be fired. They acted worse than common looters and thugs. At least the gang bangers don't try to frame you up for a crime after they rob you blind and trash your property.
And given that the video is incontrovertable, I would go so far as to say that any cop who doesn't want them jailed should probably go with them.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 31 2016, @09:43PM
Have you actually seen the video and can pass judgment? I haven't, but I could be convinced either way.
It could be a mustache-twirling evil like you say, in which case they should be thrown out on the ear (and probably in jail for abuse of power).
Or it could be a benign mistake. For example, they weren't sure if something was actually cannabis, so they broke evidence handling procedure to actually try a small sample at the scene (which would be an issue of bad training and/or bad judgment, not maliciousness). In this case, a departmental slap on the wrist and correcting the mistake would suffice in my opinion.
Of course, if you have actually watched the video and know they were effectively thieves and planting evidence... then yeah, they deserve worse than they'll likely get.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday November 01 2016, @12:59AM
(Score: 2) by sjames on Tuesday November 01 2016, @01:07AM
I have seen the Video [youtube.com].
What they did had nothing to do with their job. They even made fun of people with disabilities ("I wanted to punch her in the nub"). They battered down unlocked doors. Really, just watch the video, there's too much wrong doing to list here.
(Score: 2) by TheRaven on Tuesday November 01 2016, @11:22AM
Have you actually seen the video and can pass judgment?
Yes, it was posted on Soylent a few months ago when the story first broke.
I haven't, but I could be convinced either way.
So you don't really have anything constructive to add. Go and watch the video - the police were behaving in a totally unprofessional way that crossed the line into criminal several times. Even if everything in the shop had been illegal, the police deserve prosecution.
sudo mod me up