Posted on 09/26/2024 10:03:41 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A cannabis dispensary in San Francisco was ransacked overnight Tuesday in a burglary that involved a vehicle smashing into the front of the building, causing significant damage.
Security camera footage of the incident showed at least five burglars emerging from two vehicles at 4:48 a.m. Tuesday in front of Cannabis Cultures dispensary at 2715 Judah Street in the city's Sunset District.
The burglars are seen attaching a chain from the back of an SUV to the metal security gate and yanking it free. The vehicle is then seen ramming through the store's rollup metal door and into the front lobby; the burglars are then seen ransacking the store, filling plastic trash bags with products and merchandise.
Surveillance video additionally showed a witness across the street, who was recording video of what was happening. Video also showed that around two minutes before the incident occurred, a police car was driving along the same street.
Store manager Alex Moorhouse said the break-in was the fourth in just the last three months and the most destructive. He did not have an immediate assessment of the damage or the amount of merchandise stolen.
"This is by far the worst," Moorhouse told CBS News Bay Area.
Instead of opening the dispensary doors to customers Tuesday morning, Moorhouse was picking up broken glass and trying to figure out what was stolen.
"It hurts my heart honestly to watch it. Like, I spend 80% of my week at this store trying to make sure it's nice and clean and presentable," Moorhouse said. "I think there's a big stigma that people think cannabis means dollar signs for everyone else. But we are just a specialty retailer. We're trying to make it like everyone else."
He said the industry has been struggling as it is, and even with insurance, their shop will have to make up for all the repairs.
Customers and neighbors near the dispensary said they were heartbroken to see the damages.
"This is a very decent neighborhood, but if you have property, people are going to violate it," neighbor Derek Cee told CBS News Bay Area.
Despite the break-ins, Moorhouse said he receives plenty of support from his neighbors and vowed that even with the massive damage to the front of his store, he would be back in business this week, if not by the end of the day Tuesday.
"They're happy we're here, they want us to make it, they understand some of the struggles we're going through, and so I can really appreciate our neighbors feeling some of the same things we're feeling," said Moorhouse.
San Francisco cannabis dispensary break-in The exterior of Cannabis Cultures dispensary at 2715 Judah Street in San Francisco following a break-in, September 24, 2024. Sophie Balla A GoFundMe page set up to help rebuild the dispensary. Moorhouse said he learned of another cannabis dispensary that was also hit overnight in the city, but did not specify where.
San Francisco police were alerted and took a report from Moorhouse, he said. Police had no statement available on the burglary.
Should anybody care?
I guess innocent people never die when criminals start doing there thing.
Drug dealers getting ripped off. Stop it. I’m getting misty.
Even in SF, with probably the highest (no pun intended) per capita drug use in America, it seems like most of these stupid cannabis shops do a piss-poor business. They’re all over town, but other than the ones around tourist zones like North Beach, they mostly seem pretty dead as far as businesses go. Not saying it’s what happened in this case, but it wouldn’t totally shock me if some break-ins like this are staged by failing business owners to garner publicity and/or insurance settlements
I suppose the solution, seeing that Calif. dispensaries are still restricted to industrial areas, would be to place these now-legal-for-all places in proximity of drug stores where there is more night traffic, more lighting and cameras, and security is higher.
They are not restricted to industrial areas. There are plenty in retail districts and a number of them are “high brow” design. Back years ago when it was medicinal only, they looked like head shops or tattoo parlors - bags and barrels and buckets of weed and a large safe. Cash only. Armed guards. Kind of creepy but the ‘businessmen’ couldn’t put the money in the banks very easily due to federal law. Then when it was totally legalized, a few went with the “stack em deep and sell em cheap” model with inventory on the floor like a candy shop. Now many of them have just an Apple Store style showroom and a salesman walks you around and enters your order into an iPad and they pack up your order in the back room. They still don’t take credit cards but some will take debit cards.
Makes my eye’s misty.
Stores like this are taking business away from street dealers so yes, events like this can be expected.
In related news ... The 7-11 store next door was also ransacked and cleaned out of all its packages of Oreos together with 2 gallons of milk ...
Hmmm. Wonder who the owner voted for.
This happens weekly in the Pugetopolis area. Sometimes they come in during business hours with their Glock-switch equipped handguns blazing.
You’d be a fool to be engaged in this kind of business in a blue state. The only ones making bank are the revenuers.
“cannabis dispensary.” love it. We used to call them “head shops.”
I can’t believe this has happened!
As a free peoples we must demand the immediate free distribution of alcohol, sex, drugs, rock and roll, and other culturally diverse musical stylings if we are to survive as a species.
well I won’t argue with your experience, and a ‘high brow’ location must be a sight to see. But I can only speak to my somewhat sheltered experience. In Sacramento County 10 some years ago they were in bad areas (and yes, armed security guards and a ‘waiting room’ outside steel doors).
I’d never heard of lounges so I looked and LA does have a few - who’da thunk?! I guess I’m too old but I don’t understand the ‘why?’ part.And the prices!! No wonder kids today want $20/hr. Gold bars are cheaper.
For anyone interested, here’s a little interactive map that shows where retailers can and can’t operate in each Calif. county and below that the over 50% of towns that got smart don’t allow retail or other activities at all:
https://cannabis.ca.gov/cannabis-laws/where-cannabis-businesses-are-allowed/
I doubt neighbors were too devastated. The Sunset is half Chinese and strongly opposed “cannabis dispensaries.” They were forced on us by City Hall.
Also this is not a busy commercial corridor or a warehouse district. This is a residential neighborhood with a few corner stores.
Ha! Don’t get me wrong. I don’t touch the stuff. But yeah I’ve been around. Nothing wrong with a little curiosity. Where I live now there are no dispensaries allowed (one of the 50% you mentioned perhaps) but a drive over the hill and there are plenty.
I’m not puritanical about it. I think there may be medical benefits to it and wouldn’t judge people who found relief from it for pain, nausea, glaucoma etc. And sure decades ago I tried it recreationally. But it wasn’t for me. Didn’t enjoy it. I also tried it medicinally but again I couldn’t get over the side effects. These days everyone I know who uses it regularly (for sport not for medicine) is an absent minded doofus and very annoying to be around, personally. My cousin who was a genius, however, recently passed from ALS, and he did use it medicinally and he was a pleasure to be around.
I smoked it when I was younger. It was fun and I absolutely agree it should be researched for any health benefits.
But today’s cannabis is insanely powerful, compared to that.
Yes, as I understand it they have crossbred or engineered it to boost the THC content. But in so doing they breed out the CBD and CBN which help balance the mind. It probably does induce psychosis these days. The last time I was in one of those shops - maybe 10 or so years ago - they had a “menu” on the wall like it was a coffee shop detailing the strands they had for sale and how much CBD content it had. Again I’m not expert but as I understand it the stuff grown naturally back in the day was maybe 5% THC, but that place was selling stuff that was as strong as 60% THC. I’m no expert but my understanding is that a balance is required. Like those strawberries you see in the market that look picture perfect but have zero flavor. You breed attributes into them but it comes at a price of breeding other, perhaps more important, attributes out of it.
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