POT SHOPS WILL TRIGGER CRIME

Out from underground and out of the shadows, the dope dealer is now a
"bud tender" and wears a suit as he sells his wares in a mahogany
paneled waiting room with mood music wafting through the air
conditioned, nicely appointed office protected by two security guards
in case the environment turns rowdy.

Stockton has reached her milestone of attaining her first "cannabis
canteen" or "medical pot dispensary" and with more franchises on the
way. This "wellness facility" ain't no candy store, man. It's a dope
score sure as shootin'.

Speaking of shooting, on Sept. 27 in Ione, five gang members robbed a
medical pot farm and murdered the operator. The gangsters were
arrested upon leaving the shooting. Also, police discovered an east
Stockton warehouse in the 1800 block of Vicki Lane full of marijuana
plants at various stages of growth and with 15 employees.

Is this growing operation legal, and is it part of a local
dispensary?

Stockton's new, upscale dope stores might soon want to expand to
accommodate the "cottage industry" of all the usual suspects:
"massage" therapy, liquor and hard drugs, gambling and money
laundering, pornography and topless bud tenders.

The federal government has found a new weapon in its war on marijuana:
the tax man. Certainly, Stockton's new dope outlets will be open to
the scrutiny of, and watched closely by, the city auditors and the
IRS.

William Van Amber Fields

Morada