Two men are heading to prison for their role in an attempted cannabis robbery that left another man dead.

Jose Antonio Alvarez and Omar Rojo, both aged 25, “entered no contest pleas to voluntary manslaughter and were formally sentenced in late October,” according to Bay Area News Group.

Both Alvarez and Rojo received an identical prison sentence of 16 years.

The two “were originally charged with murder and robbery in the death of 25-year-old Jaime Valdovinos,” the publication said.

Valdovinos and another individual were targeted by Rojo and Alvarez for a robbery of “a large amount of marijuana” back in late September of 2019, according to Bay Area News Group.

NBC Bay Area reported at the time that Oakland police said that the “man who was with Valdovinos told police that Rojo and another suspect robbed Valdovinos and him of a large amount of marijuana,” and that the “surviving victim said that during a struggle to get the marijuana back, the two suspects shot and killed Valdovinos.”

Rojo, who was 20 at the time, “was charged with special circumstances murder” days after the shooting, according to the NBC affiliate. 

“Witnesses and video surveillance camera footage indicate that Rojo was in the rear seat of a vehicle in which Valdovinos and the other man were sitting, Oakland police Officer Michael Jaeger wrote in a probable cause statement,” the outlet reported at the time.

Alvarez, however, was not arrested until April of 2021.

Bay Area News Group has more background on the sentence of the two men.

“Police reports allege both Rojo and Alvarez fired guns during the course of the setup. The shooting happened when the victims were attempting to get the marijuana back, according to Oakland police,” the outlet reported this week.

“Investigators said in a court statement that Alvarez was identified as a suspect through ‘surveillance video and witnesses.’ The plea deal includes a court order for both defendants to stay away from the surviving victim and to not possess guns after their release from prison. Both men were originally charged with crimes that made them eligible for life without the possibility of parole.”

The disturbing case highlights the dangers that still exist within the illicit drug trade –– operations that Bay Area law enforcement continue to rein in.

Earlier this fall, law enforcement officials raided a warehouse in Oakland filled with millions of dollars worth of cannabis plants, a bust that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said was one of the biggest the Golden State has seen this year.

“We have a history of combating illegal outdoor cannabis grows, which has evolved to a broader range of operations including warehouse grows, in support of establishing a thriving legal marketplace,” Janice Mackey, a spokesperson for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told High Times in an email. “CDFW’s cannabis enforcement program is always gathering intelligence, receiving information and conducting an array of investigations with our state and county partners on various aspects of the illegal cannabis supply chain.”

Local news station KGO reported that the “authorities eradicated 41,082 illegal cannabis plants and destroyed 1,841 pounds of processed cannabis” with an “estimated retail value [of] $36,930,300” in the raid.

The station also said that three firearms were recovered in the operation.

Last year, an armed robbery at an Oakland dispensary resulted in the theft of $100,000 worth of products.

Alan Sorrentino, the owner of C.R.A.F.T. (Citizens Research Alliance for Therapeutics) Cannabis, the dispensary that was robbed, explained what transpired to local news station KTVU. Just before 3 a.m., Sorrentino said the robbers “cut the power to the whole building.”

From KTVU:

“The theft happened early Saturday morning and the owner says one of the thieves brandished a gun at him when he showed up at the store…Sorrentino says the intruders seemed to have an orchestrated plan that ultimately helped them get over $100,000 in stolen product. ‘Unfortunately they were able to get away with all of our inventory basically, so we’ve had to shut down,’ Sorrentino said. Sorrentino says his alarm company notified him of the burglary early Saturday morning and they both called Oakland police multiple times. He says he went over to the building and one of the suspects approached him with a gun, so he quickly left the area. He says he could see them on the surveillance video the whole time. ‘I sat and watched them pretty much loot the whole building for at least three hours,’ Sorrentino said. The robbers left a trail of destruction behind them: Busted walls where a secured safe was removed, broken door locks, and broken stair steps. Oakland police say there were at least three vehicles involved in the burglary.”

The post Two Men Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for Fatal Cannabis Robbery in Oakland appeared first on High Times.

The post Two Men Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison for Fatal Cannabis Robbery in Oakland appeared first on Paradise Found.

Last weekend, officials descended upon a warehouse in Oakland, California, allegedly full of illegal cannabis plants, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Not only cannabis opponents, but also law-abiding operators are not fans of illegal cannabis operations that they must compete with.

The department said that it’s one of the largest cannabis busts this year in the Bay Area, where illegal operations are common.

Agents raided the warehouse on Sept. 28, located on the 300 block of Adeline Street in Oakland. Law enforcement officers eradicated 41,082 cannabis plants and destroyed 1,841 pounds of “processed cannabis.” Officials say the estimated retail value was $36,930,300.

“We have a history of combating illegal outdoor cannabis grows, which has evolved to a broader range of operations including warehouse grows, in support of establishing a thriving legal marketplace,” Janice Mackey, a CDFW spokesperson told High Times in an email. “CDFW’s cannabis enforcement program is always gathering intelligence, receiving information and conducting an array of investigations with our state and county partners on various aspects of the illegal cannabis supply chain.”

“This is one of the largest cannabis enforcement actions (in terms of retail value) in the Bay Area this year,” said Mackey.

Fox KTVU 2 reports that three guns were confiscated at the scene as well. “No one was arrested, but suspects were interviewed,” Mackey told KTVU 2 in an email. It’s unclear what tipped off officials to the warehouse, but they typically rely on concerned citizens to bring attention to these operations.

CDFW representatives said this is an ongoing investigation and no other information is available at this time. CDFW maintains that it has a public trust responsibility to protect and conserve California’s fish and wildlife resources. Cannabis cultivators, like most other industries, must comply with Fish and Game Code.

CDFW Inspections have led to violations for water diversions and storage, grading, chemical use, wildlife threats, timber conversion, and public safety, the department notes. Between 2013 and 2018, over 700 inspections resulted in 399 tons of trash removed from public and private lands including 2.4 million feet of irrigation pipe, 50 tons of fertilizer, and 465 gallons of chemicals, many illegal. In addition, the removal of 709 dams and water diversions related to cannabis grows resulted in restoration of 800 million gallons of water back into local watersheds.

CDFW agents said they seized nearly 40,000 cannabis plants in raids on April 25, The San Francisco Standard reported. In that bust, a similar amount, over $36 million worth of cannabis, was seized in the raids at 744 Kevin Court and 4825 San Leandro St.

Oakland residents are used to rising crime in the area—sometimes with cannabis businesses and the people behind them as the victims. Last year, C.R.A.F.T. (Citizens Research Alliance for Therapeutics) Cannabis was robbed at gunpoint and about $100,000 in product was stolen. Making things worse, eyewitnesses say it took “hours” for police to arrive at the scene.

 A man was shot at the Oakanna dispensary in February 2022. Oakanna dispensary owner Joshua Chase was shot in the foot after a group of burglars tripped an alarm in the early morning hours at his relatively new retail facility. 

Criminals are also getting creative in the way they target cannabis businesses, such as smash and grab attempts, now with heavy machinery. Security footage obtained last June shows a huge forklift being used in a break-in attempt at another dispensary.

The cannabis delivery industry in the area has also been hit hard. Access to banking services could solve many of those problems and make dispensaries safer for the people who work in them.

CDFW Cannabis Enforcement Ramps Up

Wildlife officers with the CDFW’s Marijuana Enforcement Team (MET) also spearheaded several enforcement investigations in rural areas during August and September, a Sept. 27 news release indicates.

During Sept. 4-8, MET officers raided several illegal cannabis operations on rural private lands in Shasta, Tehama and Sutter counties. Often officers depend on concerned citizens to drop the dime: Officers were tipped off by a hunter who stumbled on one of the trespass grow sites and reported it. 

MET officers destroyed more than 5,500 illegal plants, arrested four suspects, seized several firearms including one stolen handgun, dismantled several water diversions and removed thousands of pounds of trash. Backup was provided from CDFW’s Air Services and K9 Units, as well as the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis (EPIC) task force.

“Many recreationists who venture into California’s backcountry are our best eyes and ears for reporting poaching, pollution and illegal cannabis cultivation on public land,” said Nathaniel Arnold, Acting Chief of Enforcement for CDFW. “These enforcement actions not only provide public and consumer safety, but they also combat the illegal cannabis supply chain. I could not be more proud of these dedicated officers.”

The recent raids in the Bay Area and beyond highlight the issue and proliferation of illegal cannabis operations in both urban and rural areas of California.

The post Nearly $37M of Illegal Weed Found in Oakland, California Warehouse appeared first on High Times.

The post Nearly $37M of Illegal Weed Found in Oakland, California Warehouse appeared first on Paradise Found.

The feature film American Pot Story: Oaksterdam will have its Hollywood premiere on Thursday, June 29 at the Dances With Films festival in Los Angeles, with festivities planned for the event including an appearance from weed icon Tommy Chong and a Q&A with the film’s directors, Dan Katzir and Ravit Markus. The premiere continues a successful string of screenings for the film about the cannabis legalization efforts of Oakland-based cannabis training school Oaksterdam University, including the world premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival in January that garnered the prestigious Audience Award for Unstoppable Feature.

American Pot Story: Oaksterdam follows two of the driving forces behind the institution, founder Richard Lee and executive chancellor Dale Sky Jones, over a pivotal decade for both the pioneering cannabis college and the marijuana legalization movement.

“In 2010, we read in the newspaper that a group of activists was saying they’re going to do a legalization ballot measure in California,” director Dan Katzir explains in a virtual interview. “To us, it seemed like the media was laughing at them in their faces treating them as stoners that think they can change a policy that will never be changed.”

Film Documents More Than 10 Years Of Activism

Katzir and Markus followed Jones and Lee’s campaign for Proposition 19, the 2010 ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana in California that captured nearly 47% of the vote. The effort led to the film Legalize It, but the proposition’s failure at the polls gave the film a “sad ending,” says Katzir.

“We didn’t want to end our journey into this world of cannabis activism with that sad defeat,” he continues. “We had a feeling that the story of marijuana policy reform is not over yet, so we decided to do a new film about Oaksterdam, America’s first cannabis school that transformed the entire downtown of Oakland into a hub of marijuana resistance.”

Jones says in a telephone interview that she found it “borderline excruciating” to watch herself on American Pot Story: Oaksterdam when she first viewed the film. But overall, she is quite pleased with the outcome.

“I’m so terribly proud of the story they managed to tell,” she says. “It really did capture the essence of what we were trying to get across.”

To gain support for Proposition 19, the campaign focused largely on how the prohibition of marijuana and the resulting War on Drugs has consumed resources that could be going to other needs including public education. 

“It’s my job to tie, whatever it is you care about to the drug war,” states Jones. “Because I promise, the drug war is only one degree of separation from stealing resources from something you care about, including maybe someone you care about.”

“Once you can start drawing lines of the cost of putting someone in prison versus the cost of putting someone in college or even more importantly, putting them in preschool, it really starts to hit home,” she adds. “And I think that’s what this movie does.”

The film also follows the evolution of Oaksterdam over more than 10 years, including a 2012 raid by the DEA that many blame on the efforts to pass Proposition 19. The film also follows the push to draft a new initiative that resulted in the legalization of cannabis in California in 2016.

Hollywood Premiere This Week

The Hollywood premiere for American Pot Story: Oaksterdam will take place on Thursday, June 29 at the TCL Chinese Theatres on Hollywood Boulevard as part of the Dances With Films festival. Running through July 2, Dances With Film is celebrating its 25th year in 2023, featuring screenings of more than 250 films.

The premiere will be followed by a Q&A with Katzir and Markus and film participants Dale Sky Jones, Jeffrey Jones and actor Tommy Chong. Later, an after-party will be held at Teddy’s nightclub at the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for ticket holders and special guests.

The directors of American Pot Story: Oaksterdam hope the film will be screened at additional events through the summer and have applied to several other film festivals for consideration. They also are vying to be selected by a streaming platform, a process that Katzir says fans can support by following the film on Instagram and Facebook.

The post ‘American Pot Story: Oaksterdam’ To Make Hollywood Premiere appeared first on High Times.

The post ‘American Pot Story: Oaksterdam’ To Make Hollywood Premiere appeared first on Paradise Found.

The nine-member committee first convened almost two years ago and gave their final approval to a lengthy list of proposals in Oakland, California over the weekend, which will now head to the governor and legislature to consider. 

The draft final report notes that federal and state governments have long targeted Black people with “discriminatory arrest and incarceration,” and the scope of this unjust policing was only exacerbated when the War on Drugs began in 1971 under the Nixon Administration. 

“Reparations are not only morally justifiable, but they have the potential to address long standing racial disparities and inequalities,” said U.S. Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, at the meeting. 

The first vote approved a detailed account of historical discrimination against Black Californians, specially examining areas like voting, housing, education, disproportionate policing and incarceration, among other topics.

In addition to reparation recommendations, the task force also approved a public apology that acknowledges the state’s responsibility for past wrongs and promises the state will not repeat them. The apology would be issued in the presence of people with ancestors who were enslaved.

“An apology and an admission of wrongdoing just by itself is not going to be satisfactory,” said Chris Lodgson, a Coalition for a Just and Equitable California organizer.

Members quantified the impact of racially discriminatory enforcement and incarceration over drugs by incorporating analysis on the cost of time spent in prison with other collateral consequences relating to drug convictions. They assessed racial discrimination based on comparisons of average arrest rates, convictions and sentencing between Black and white people who engaged in drug-related activity at comparable rates who experienced disparate consequences in the criminal legal system.

The task force “recommends that compensation for community harms be provided as uniform payments based on an eligible recipient’s duration of residence in California during the defined period of harm (e.g., residence in an over-policed community during the ‘War on Drugs’ from 1971 to 2020),” according to the report.

Members also recommended that the Legislature enact an “individual claims process” to compensate people who can prove “particular injuries,” like an individual who was arrested or incarcerated for a drug charge in the past, especially if the drug is now considered legal, as cannabis is in many states.

The panel specifically concluded that the legislature should pay an estimated 1,976,911 Black Californians $115,260 in 2020 dollars, reflecting a total of $2,352 per person for “each year of residency in California during the 49-year period between 1971 and 2020,” or a total of $227,858,891.023 in reparations for all affected, according to Marijuana Moment.

“To measure racial mass incarceration disparities in the 49 years of the war on drugs from 1971 to 2020, the Task Force’s experts estimated the disproportionate years spent behind bars for African American non-Hispanic Californian drug offenders compared to white non-Hispanic drug offenders,” the report states. “Since these disparities are measurable in years, the experts attached a monetary value to these disproportionate years spent in prison by calculating what an average California State employee would have earned in a year.”

The report notes that the drug war resulted in “massively disproportionate incarceration of African Americans,” additionally contributing to unemployment and homelessness in economically depressed African American communities once incarcerated individuals were released. The panel is also proposing additional compensation for health disparities and housing discrimination.

It also points out the sentencing disparities between crack and powder cocaine enacted by Congress during the Reagan administration, specifically citing it as one example of drug policy being authored in a way that disproportionately impacted Black communities.

Additionally, the task force made recommendations to reinstate affirmative action, abolish the death penalty, restore voting rights for formerly and currently incarcerated people, provide free college tuition to those who qualify for reparations under the proposal, eliminate cash bail and provide universal single-payer healthcare, among others.

Members will convene once more on June 29 before submitting the final report to the legislature.

The post California Task Force Recommends Apology, Drug War Reparations for Black Americans appeared first on High Times.

The post California Task Force Recommends Apology, Drug War Reparations for Black Americans appeared first on Paradise Found.

Upgraded Points, a travel information site, released a data report on Oct. 24 detailing which U.S. states are best and worst for a “canna-cation.”

For the top best places, the first three included Colorado cities of Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs; followed by Oakland and San Jose, California; Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada; and lastly, Portland, Maine (the only east coast state to make the list). “In these states, economies of scale have been built over the last decade, bolstered by a booming weed market that includes dispensaries, farm tours, and cannabis lounges,” said Alex Miller, Upgraded Points founder. “The industry supports over 83,000 jobs in California alone.”

Upgraded Points analysts based their report on a four-day cannabis vacation for one person. They based their results on numerous averages, such as roundtrip airfare, fast food meats and other meal prices, nightly lodging, local rideshare rates, the current price of 1/4 ounce of weed, and the cost of a 100 mg pack of edibles.

The report shows that in western states, cannabis flower prices are more affordable than eastern flower, and northern states also have a higher price for vacation factors as well. The top most expensive states include Burlington, Vermont; Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Boston, Massachusetts. “Canna-cations in eastern states like Connecticut, Vermont, and Massachusetts can be much pricier… as the infrastructure for using, purchasing, and producing cannabis is far less established in these areas,” Miller said.

The most cost-efficient locations were Oakland, California ($1,068 per day) and Spokane, Washington ($1,135 per day). Both of these locations were noted as 22% cheaper than the national average, which is $1,262.

Unsurprisingly, Denver was at the top of the list because of its many cannabis-related attractions, such as bus tours and a plethora of licensed dispensaries. Other more affordable locations include states on the west coast, especially those with an adult-use market that has been in place for anywhere between 6-10 years.

Locations such as Washington, D.C., Illinois, and Vermont record some of the highest flower prices, such as $590.50 for one ounce.

According to Miller, the U.S. cannabis tourism industry will only continue to grow. “Cannabis tourism is flourishing. The U.S. cannabis industry now supports more than 428,000 jobs and is anticipated to exceed $72 billion in sales by 2030. Recreational marijuana is currently legal in 19 states, Washington, D.C., and Guam, and weed tourism will only grow as more states are poised to legalize recreational retail sales of marijuana later this year. If you’re looking for the ideal destination for your ‘canna-cation’ this year, the grass is greener in cities like Denver, Oakland, Boulder, and Portland.”

A report released in June 2022 projected that the U.S. cannabis tourism industry could be valued at $17 billion. “By 2025, 50% of travelers in the U.S. are going to be millennials,” Cannabis Travel Association Founder Brian Applegarth. “And their relationship to cannabis consumption is extremely normalized compared to the stigmatized industry leaders of today.”

On an international scale, the tourism industry is beginning to open up. While Canada’s adult-use program is thriving, bringing cannabis over the border was prohibited, as of July 2021. In Amsterdam, cannabis tourism is being discouraged. However, in November 2021, Dubai in the United Arab Emirates ended jail time for travelers with THC.

Aside from the usual cannabis attractions, such as grow tours and having multiple dispensaries to choose from, cannabis-themed museums have continually begun to grow. In June, a hemp museum opened in Spain, and continues through February 2023. A Croatian museum also opened up back in April in the city capital of Zagreb. In 2019, the University of California, Berkeley had a limited exhibit called “Pleasure, Poison, Prescription, Prayer: The Worlds of Mind-Altering Substances.” Of course, Las Vegas will soon become home to a museum called the Cannabition Cannabis Museum, and the city council also recently approved consumption lounges in September which is expected to boost tourism numbers.

The post Report Breaks Down the Best and Worst U.S. Cities for Cannabis Vacations appeared first on High Times.

The post Report Breaks Down the Best and Worst U.S. Cities for Cannabis Vacations appeared first on Paradise Found.

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday vetoed a bill that would have authorized a limited number of safe injection sites, delivering a blow to harm reduction advocates trying to reign in the number of overdose deaths plaguing the state and the nation. Newsom vetoed the measure, Senate Bill 57, saying that the overdose prevention programs authorized by the bill could lead to a “world of unintended consequences.”

SB 57 would have authorized four local jurisdictions to operate overdose prevention programs, also known as safe consumption sites or safe injection sites, as a five-year pilot program. Overdose prevention centers would have been approved for Los Angeles County and the cities of San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, where local leaders had requested to be included in the legislation. The bill was approved by the California State Assembly on June 30 and by the state Senate on August 1.

“Every overdose death is preventable,” Wiener said after the legislation was passed by the state Assembly. “We have the tools to end these deaths, get people healthy, and reduce harm for people who use drugs. Right now, we are letting people die on our streets for no reason other than an arbitrary legal prohibition that we need to remove. SB 57 is long overdue, and will make a huge impact for some of the most vulnerable people in our community.”

Safe injection sites offer places where people can inject or otherwise consume drugs under the supervision of trained healthcare professionals, who can intervene in the event of a drug overdose or other medical emergency. Overdose prevention centers also offer other services including referrals to drug treatment, housing assistance, and HIV prevention services. Safe injection sites have operated successfully in Switzerland, Canada, and at least ten other countries for years, with no overdose deaths among people using the facilities recorded.

Late last year, civic officials in New York City announced that the city had opened the first publicly recognized overdose prevention centers in the United States. Since then, research published by the American Medical Association found that New York’s safe consumption drug sites have decreased overdose risk, encouraged people not to use illicit drugs in public, and provided ancillary health services to people who use illicit substances.

Veto Cites Possible ‘Unintended Consequences’

The success of other safe injection sites failed to sway the California governor, however. While expressing support for harm reduction measures, he said that they need “well-documented, vetted, and thoughtful operational and sustainability plans.” Newsom also acknowledged that overdose prevention programs could be beneficial, but vetoed SB-57 on Monday, citing potential “unintended consequences” of the legislation.

“It is possible that these sites would help improve the safety and health of our urban areas, but if done without a strong plan, they could work against this purpose,” the governor wrote in his veto message. “These unintended consequences in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland cannot be taken lightly. Worsening drug consumption challenges in these areas is not a risk we can take.”

Instead of approving the legislation, Newsom said that he would direct the secretary of the California Department of Health and Human Services “to convene city and county officials to discuss minimum standards and best practices for safe and sustainable overdose prevention programs.”

“I remain open to this discussion when those local officials come back to the Legislature with recommendations for a truly limited pilot program — with comprehensive plans for siting, operations, community partnerships, and fiscal sustainability that demonstrate how these programs will be run safely and effectively,” Newsom wrote.

Supporters Disappointed By Veto

After Newsom’s veto of the safe injection site bill was announced, Wiener said in a statement that it does not take more research to come to the conclusion that overdose prevention centers save lives.

“Today’s veto is tragic,” said Wiener. “While this veto is a major setback for the effort to save lives and connect people to treatment, we must not — and will not — let it end this movement. We’ll continue to fight for an end to the War on Drugs and a focus on drug use and addiction as the health issues that they are.”

A coalition of healthcare organizations, drug treatment specialists, policy reform advocates and civil rights organizations supported the passage of SB 57, saying the bill would save lives and create opportunities for substance abuse intervention. Jeannette Zanipatin, California state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, criticized Newsom’s reasoning for the veto, noting that local officials in the jurisdictions slated for the safe consumption sites had already signed onto the legislation.

“We are incredibly disappointed and heartbroken that Governor Newsom has put his own political ambitions ahead of saving thousands of lives and vetoed this critical legislation. Despite the Governor’s remarks, LA, San Francisco and Oakland have already designated this a priority by authorizing the programs locally and have been standing ready to implement them quickly,” Zanipatin said in a statement from the group. “We have already engaged local stakeholders in a robust process and they have taken active steps towards implementation in order to be part of the pilot SB 57 would have put in place. We don’t need additional processes. What we need is action. Without action, people are going to die.”

Shane Pennington, counsel at the cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg LLP, is also disappointed by the veto.

“Gov. Newsom’s decision to veto this bill is very disappointing,” Pennington wrote in an email to High Times. “Research proves that safe consumption sites save lives, plain and simple. I hope the Governor’s call for local leadership to develop thoughtful operational and sustainable plans for the sites bears fruit.”

The post California Governor Vetoes Bill Authorizing Safe Injection Sites appeared first on High Times.

The post California Governor Vetoes Bill Authorizing Safe Injection Sites appeared first on Paradise Found.

A California church that distributes cannabis and psychedelic drugs for sacramental purposes has filed a lawsuit against the City of Oakland and its police department, alleging that a 2020 raid violated federal protections for religious freedom.

The legal action was filed against the city and police by the Zide Door Church. The establishment serves as the Oakland center of worship for the Church of Ambrosia, “a nondenominational, interfaith religious organization that supports the use and safe access” of certain natural psychedelic drugs known as entheogenic plants and fungi, according to the group’s website. A minister wearing a robe emblazoned with cannabis leaves leads the church’s services, where members are permitted to smoke cannabis as a sacrament and pathway to connecting with a higher power.

To join the church, prospective members are required to fill out an online questionnaire asking if the applicant is a member of law enforcement and if they accept cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms as “part of your religion.” Once admitted to the church, members can pay a $5 monthly membership fee that allows them to receive cannabis and psychedelic mushrooms for a donation to the church.

Before the coronavirus pandemic began, the church would hold services on Sundays at 4:20, where founder Dave Hodges would pass out joints. The church opened in early 2019 and now has a total of 60,000 members, according to Hodges. Up to 200 come each day to get cannabis and psilocybin mushrooms.

Cannabis has been legal for adults in California since 2016, and in 2019 Oakland city leaders voted to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms and other entheogenic plants and fungi, although sales are not permitted.

Lawsuit Over 2020 Raid

In August 2020, the Zide Door Church was raided by officers with the Oakland Police Department. Law enforcement officers entered the church and seized approximately $200,000 in cannabis, mushrooms, and cash. Police claimed the establishment was operating as an unlicensed dispensary rather than a legitimate place of worship. No charges were filed in the case, but the cash and drugs seized by police during the raid have not been returned to the church.

An affidavit filed with a search warrant served during the raid states that the city received a complaint that the Zide Door Church was operating as an unlicensed cannabis dispensary in May 2019. Two months later, an undercover police officer visited the church to become a member and subsequently exchanged cash for cannabis. Only days later, the church was raided by police. Hodges was issued a fine and a warning, but no one was taken into custody.

After the raid, critics were skeptical that the church was a legitimate place of worship, alleging that it was instead a front to sell drugs. But Hodges insists that is not the case.

The lawsuit filed against the city and police argues that the raid and seizure violated constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. In the legal action, the church details the “sacramental use” of cannabis, psilocybin and other natural psychedelic drugs as a way to connect with “a higher consciousness, their own eternal souls, spiritual beings and God.” Consuming psilocybin mushrooms is not permitted at the site, however.

“This is not just an excuse to sell drugs,” Hodges told the San Francisco Chronicle. “This is what we truly believe is the origin of all religion and really what religion should be.”

The lawsuit argues that the raid violated the church’s “sincere exercise of religion” in violation of federal law, as well as the church’s right to the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The Oakland Police Department did not comment on the lawsuit when asked by The Washington Post. City Attorney Barbara Parker told reporters the city had not yet been served with the legal action but declined to comment further.

Jesse Choper, a law expert at the University of California at Berkeley, said that the church’s religious freedom argument might prevail if the lawsuit goes to trial.

“If it’s not a sham business,” he said, “I would say the smokers got a pretty good case.”

But Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California’s Berkeley School of Law, said the church is not likely to succeed with its defense that religious freedom exempts it from state drug laws.

“The general rule is that there is no exception to laws for religious beliefs,” he said. “Assuming that the California law applies to everyone and does not have discretion to grant exceptions, then there is not a basis for challenging it based on religion.”

The post Psychedelic Church Files Lawsuit Over Police Raid appeared first on High Times.

The post Psychedelic Church Files Lawsuit Over Police Raid appeared first on Paradise Found.

Suspects are still at-large after C.R.A.F.T. Cannabis in Oakland in California was robbed at gunpoint and about $100,000 in product was stolen. Making things worse, eyewitnesses say it took hours for police to arrive at the scene—once everything was taken and the damage had already been done.

In the early hours of August 6, officers responded to reports of a burglary near the 2500 block of Willow Street in Oakland. Police say that around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, three vehicles and three unknown individuals parked on the 2400 block of Willow Street, then broke into the business and cut the power.

KTVU Fox 2 reports that Alan Sorrentino, owner of C.R.A.F.T. (Citizens Research Alliance for Therapeutics) Cannabis was notified by his alarm company of the burglary early Saturday morning. The Oakland police were called multiple times. So Sorrentino checked out the situation but was forced to leave when a suspect pointed a gun at him. He continued to watch them from afar, looting the building, via surveillance camera.

“Like about 2:50 a.m. they cut the power to the whole building,” Sorrentino, owner of Craft Cannabis in Oakland, told KTVU Fox 2.  

According to Sorrentino, the intruders appeared to execute an elaborate plan in steps.

“Unfortunately they were able to get away with all of our inventory basically, so we’ve had to shut down,” Sorrentino said. Police were able to identify some of the vehicles from surveillance video.

“A white Toyota pickup truck, a small black sedan, possibly a Mazda or Toyota. Then there were a couple of other vehicles involved once they had made it into the vault area to help them unload,” said Sorrentino. 

Over the course of the next few hours, the suspects busted walls, broke door locks, and broke stair steps. Oakland police say they got to the location about 7:30 a.m. and explained they were unable to respond immediately because they simply didn’t have any officers available at the time.

C.R.A.F.T. Cannabis won numerous awards with offerings such as Dimepiece, winning High Times’ 2019 Bay Area Cannabis Cup 1st Place for Indica Flower, or perhaps the 2016 NorCal Medical Cannabis Cup First Place for CBD Flower.

C.R.A.F.T., as a processor, and Keepers of the Craft Gardens, as cultivators, boast Clean Green Certification since 2012.

No arrests have been made in this incident. Anyone that has information about the incident is encouraged to contact the Oakland Police Department’s Burglary Unit at (510) 238-3951.

Crime Waves in Oakland Dispensaries

It’s just the latest in a recent wave of crime. A man was shot at the Oakanna dispensary last February. Oakanna dispensary owner Joshua Chase was shot in the foot after a group of burglars tripped an alarm in the early morning hours at his relatively new retail facility.

The cannabis delivery industry in the area has also been hit hard.

Cannabis dispensaries a target? One reason in particular is due to the lack of the Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act, which would protect dispensaries from carrying large amounts of cash.

Politico reported that the crime spree in Oakland—and the West Coast as a whole—caused enough commotion to trigger support for banking reform on Capitol Hill with bills such as the SAFE Banking Act.

Access to banking services could solve many of those problems and make dispensaries safer for the people who work in them.

The post $100K of Weed, Inventory Stolen at Gunpoint From Oakland Dispensary appeared first on High Times.

The post $100K of Weed, Inventory Stolen at Gunpoint From Oakland Dispensary appeared first on Paradise Found.

Zide Door pushes progress forward in America’s new relationship with entheogens.

The post America’s only psychedelic mushroom store is a church in Oakland. We observed the sacrament appeared first on Leafly.

The post America’s only psychedelic mushroom store is a church in Oakland. We observed the sacrament appeared first on Paradise Found.

California’s cannabis capital is suffering from store-invasion robberies, with little help from cops.

The post The Roll-up #222: Oakland weed under siege appeared first on Leafly.

The post The Roll-up #222: Oakland weed under siege appeared first on Paradise Found.