BY ED MURRIETA
Like the sign says, City of Trees, a medical marijuana dispensary in Carmichael, shut down. Farther down Fair Oaks Boulevard, California Holistic Care is empty, with a for-rent sign in the window. One Solution on Madison shut too.
In addition to closures (and rumors, oh, of course, rumors) of closures, I hear reports of dispensaries that are being fined for code violations, with the county intent on shuttering the 50-plus dispensaries that are operating in a Catch-22: permitted to exist by state law but denied local business permits because the county doesn’t recognize medical marijuana dispensaries and therefore doesn’t issue business licenses for dispensaries.
I visited The Farmers Market, off Bradshaw Road in Sacramento County, on Thursday for a scheduled appointment, which was delayed by a visit from county code enforcement inspectors, who left without any apparent action.
Meanwhile, the federal government seized the bank accounts of 1 Love Wellness in Sacramento and Mary Jane’s Wellness in Gold River, alleging the dispensaries made improper bank deposits to elude federal banking regulations. Following the asset seizure, the owner of Mary Jane’s sold the dispensary, now run with just the sign “Wellness” noting its existence.
