South Lake Tahoe pot shop raided
By Kathryn Reed
Various law enforcement agencies descended upon Tahoe Wellness Cooperative on Monday afternoon.
Search warrants were executed June 1 at the marijuana collective and at owner Cody Bass’ home in South Lake Tahoe.
“A lot of evidence was taken that needs to be reviewed and audited before a decision is made (about any arrests),” Jim Clinchard, El Dorado County assistant district attorney, told Lake Tahoe News. “The investigation relates to tax evasion and possession of marijuana for sale.”
What exactly was confiscated was not released.
No one was answering the phone at the collective so it is not known if the shop will stay open. Authorities did not shut it down.
TWC is the only remaining pot dispensary in South Lake Tahoe. There was a time when there were three. The city has created an ordinance where no new ones may open without City Council approval.
Collectives have long been in a tax void because of the federal government not recognizing medicinal marijuana as a legal substance. That is also why most collectives are not able to open a business bank account and do transactions via cash.
Assisting with what was described as a long and ongoing investigation were South Lake El Dorado Narcotics Task Force, South Lake Tahoe Police Department, El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department, state Board of Equalization and the Employment Development Department.
If anything needs investigation its south Lake Tahoe drug task force there the one selling/using meth in our town. Plus not to mention our tax dollars getting pissed away for something the people voted for. Quick question why vote in our country if the man is going to say no?
NAZIS THINK THEY WON!!! THEY’VE BEEN DYING TO DO THIS FOR A LONG TIME. SOON, THEY WILL BE OUT OF THE MARIJUANA BUSINESS ALTOGETHER. THAT’S EVERYTHING THIS IS ABOUT!!!!! THESE IDIOTS HATE CITIZENS AND THE CITIZENS SEE THEIR GESTAPO, JACKBOOTED CRAP AND ARE SIMPLY GOING TO LEGISLATE THEIR OVERTIME AWAY.
THIS IS HOW THEY EARN MASSIVE DISRESPECT
Legal, yet not quite legal. They won’t let you use a bank to legitimize your income, so they can walk in any old time and accuse you of tax evasion or any number of other charges.
Sure, you can trust your government. They’re here for you.
It is astounding to see the amount of law enforcement and agencies involved in going after a business that is helping people. This could hurt a lot of innocent patients who are only guilty of choosing a plant as medicine instead of trusting Big Pharma. Where have our societal mores (unwritten rules of how we behave) gone? Couldn’t the “audit” have happened in a way that didn’t affect their services for patients and the community? It’s as though TWC is guilty until they prove themselves innocent and that is un-American. How can they or be compensated for this disruption to their services?
Isee: 99% of the pot that goes out of these dispensaries is not being used for a real medical purpose.
Absolutely true. 99% of it is NOT medical. So what? Shouldn’t adults be able to choose whether or not to smoke pot, or have a cocktail, or whatever, as long as they don’t hurt anybody else?
And if they DO hurt somebody through stoned carelessness, there are already laws to deal with that.
The whole situation is incredibly hypocritical.
Just legalize it.
And no, I am not a pot smoker.
Dog: Be proactive, not reactive. You want the person to have to hurt someone through stoned carelessness before something is done about it?
Face it: We KNOW, as a fact, that pot causes mental problems. One New Zealand study that lasted 20 years showed that smoking pot just a few times can lower your IQ by as much as 20 points, and, it doesn’t bounce back with time.
It is absurd to think that such a substance should be legal, and even more absurd that there are people dumb enough to use it.
greengrass
What sad news. Even if some or a majority of people use it recreationally, so what?! I agree to just legalize it already. But there are also a lot of people who use it truly for medicinal purposes.
The EDD?
Are they thinking about a job retraining program – Dispensary 101?
You gotta stay legit, or you will get bit,,,
SLT EXPAT 2015
99% of the people who are on antidepressants don’t have real clinical depression. Sounds ridiculous for me to say that – just like it’s ridiculous that someone would say that people who use cannibis don’t have real medical problems.
Boooooo
Greengrass, should I lock someone up because I think they are a bad driver, and MIGHT hurt someone some day?
Not your call to start preventing people from living their own lives because of what you are afraid they might do.
Face it: we know, as a fact, that LIFE causes mental problems.
The implications ought to scare even the least thoughtful among us.
gg I think the study you are referring to might be the one that a lot of people do not consider valid. Check your sources.
To the people commenting without the knowledge. There hasn’t been a single backed study to the downside of marijuana. It is proven that your body is already made of cannabinoids. And many people are lacking these which doesn’t allow their body to function correctly. Epilepsy being one. Even in pregnancy it is known to create a protective wrap around the beginging stages of the fetus to protect it from any unknown bodies getting to it. Do your damn research before hour speak of a plant from the ground. Made to cure.
That one seems to be the most thorough to me, and I haven’t seen anything really disproving it. If you don’t like that one, however, you could just look up one of many others, or just look at the world. It seems perfectly clear that there are major mental implications to smoking pot. Do we really want to subject the rest of society to the harmful actions of a few?
EDD BOE? Sounds like they are going the Al Capone route of tax evasion to close them down.
Whether marijuana is good for you, or bad, whether it should be legal, or illegal, is irrelevant for this story! If TWC broke the law, they should pay the appropriate punishment.
In a functioning society each individ-ual does not get to decide what laws they feel like following, or not.
I say if TWC broke the law! Innocent until proven guilty. And did whatever crime they allegedly commit warrant such a law enforcement show of force?
But my guess is what reloman (whom I often disagree with) stated. TWC is getting the Al Capone treatment. Using tax evasion as the means to the end of shutting them down.
Disgusting hypocrites. I think we’re ALL sick of the government micromanaging every detail of our lives. Go away. These people’s time will come.
gg I am not surprised that you don’t find anything wrong with it because you didn’t link to the study and likely didn’t read it. What were the sample sizes?
Did the police get to use their new military assault vehicle and a helicopter??
Score another victory for our local HEROES!! I sure hope all he government employees working on this project reported all their hard earned overtime wages.
Thousands of drunks speed down residential streets and this is how they spend their time?
If TWC did not pay their taxes they derserve to be punished but that does not mean closed down They should have the right like any other business to pay the taxes in arears and get current. If they can’t pay then they need to be shut down. Doesn’t matter what they sell or do.
Walking down almost any street in town you can find used needles just lying there, but they’d rather focus on harmless smokers and ignore the fact that there is a serious heroin problem here. Way to go, you guys are really doing a lot to restore our faith in law enforcement. Guess it’s ok for one of your boys to sell meth, but you can’t smoke pot!
This is a story about possible tax evasion and other crimes through the selling of a drug that is still federally illegal. Tax evasion is usually always involved in drug sales wherever it is found. Until the law changes, these sellers know they can be raided at any time and many cities have long since banned these pot shops and entire counties have also banned the cultivation of this drug to avoid the trouble it brings.
“Walking down almost any street in town you can find used needles just lying there”
Walking Mom, I think you are exaggerating just a bit. I walk many of our streets on a regular basis and I’ve never found a needle.
mom: Guess it’s ok for one of your boys to sell meth, but you can’t smoke pot!
Did you not see where they arrested that cop. SOOOO, apparently it is NOT OK. But we all get your point.
Kit: Had he been busted by his own department I would hold a little more faith in that. The warning signs of meth use should have been beyond obvious to our drug task force. So they are either completely incompetent, or were covering for him. Either way, it makes SLEDNET look incredibly bad. If you also consider that the dispensary is holding a call to action at the board of supervisors meeting this morning to discuss this very issue, the timing seems incredibly suspect.
If you raid a meth or opioid users house, what will you find? Nothing of value, nothing worth taking! That is why the raids on cannabis patients and their providers will continue well on into the sunset of prohibition! They want your stuff and have no concern about the trama they cause, the nightmares your kids will have, or the PTSD you will most certainly have! The sheep will all say this is still federally illegal, the citizen will say this law is unjust and archaic, and stand up against persecution of any kind! It’s also against the very fabric of our constitution!!! “Only the intelligent will get that one”. And why call it a Pot Shop? That’s just poor journalism! History will remember you as ignorant!
Bigger: My scope is probably limited. The Y area, and especially Keys Blvd. and behind the liquor stores in that area. Take a walk through there and tell me you don’t find a few needles lying around.
Justice. Your second sentence is the definition of a ‘vague generalization’.
First of all the Federal government still says it is not legal. Second of all who they tying to kid that is medicinal? Everyone knows this is just a way to get around the laws. I applaud all of the men and women doing their jobs and upholding the laws. Cops are like lawyers everyone hates them until they need them.
The word ‘vendetta’ does indeed come to mind – how many agencies (?). . . with 100+ places to buy alcohol, the occasional ‘underage’ buyer scam, & lots of DUI destruction, are we in the ’30’s (prohibition) or the 21st century. . .
And just one prominent dispensary ?
A raid ? what happened to merely subpoenaing the transaction records ? – as Cody has been on the up & up for years now…does law enforcement want this all to go underground again, so their arrest records can improve ?. . .
If so, why ?
My comment is in response to greengrass and his BS claims about marijuana dropping IQ. I’m entering into my last year at one of the hardest universities in California, I have a 3.5 GPA and I smoke weed every day. In fact, it really helps with anxiety and stress that I face because I I have such a hard major. I’m a functioning member of society. I’ve been going to school my whole life and I’ve had a job since I was 15. I would like to see the peer reviewed scientific article where you got your claims. Popular science websites don’t count. Who was the study done by? You don’t even cite an author or an institution….
OMG the humanity!!!- http://www.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=reefer+madness&ei=utf-8&hsimp=yhs-00
take your pick of the trailers to see how stupid the haters look
Bigger, I found a needle in my neighborhood. I was pissed. I know exactly what house it belongs to.
I’ve been calling SLEDNET on a house that was trafficking heroin, and every time I called in a detail, the junkies reacted. Well low and behold the house finally gets raided, and they find some stuff but not enough to put him away. Now he’s right back at it.
I live in a nice neighborhood full of families. I have a kid… This is BULL. Why aren’t the police/EDD focusing on taking METH AND HEROIN off the streets. I could give a #$%^ about pot heads and grow operations. Really…
Sam: Next time you find a needle there stick it in the door of the dirt bag house, like a dart…but wear protective gloves. Then keep calling SLEDNET….keep calling them or the PD. They are obligated (I’m sure I read that some where in the oath they take) to take some action. The squeaky wheel my friend. Make it as uncomfortable for the addicts to be there as you can.
Really the only thing that takes hard drugs down is hard time for dealers from stiff sentencing laws instead of diversions and wrist-slap releases and stemming the flow through closed borders. The problem with drugs is demand and open borders and addicts. All are increasing combined with the laws being weak and the welfare system and SSI supporting drug lifestyles where honest work is optional and not even sought. The drug use coincides with the welfare increases combined with the near one hundred million out of the work force to produce a real problem being seen all over the country.
I don’t know what is worst in this town,the criminals or the cops.
Too many rumors, too many people making assuming they have the whole story, and they don’t.
Gee Kits…better hope the resident doesn’t exercise his 2nd Amendment Rights when Sam takes your advice.
Nothing life threatening about sticking a needle in a door. UNLESS the idiot felon inside has a gun and is so stupid as to use it under those circumstances. But then again, Libs think all is under control with banning guns….because FELONS obey laws.?! LOL
A stranger walks onto my property with a deadly weapon(that needle might have HFCS, or Hep C, or Roundup(tm) on it….not sure what a God-Fearing red blooded American might do….he MIGHT be a felon.
UHhh wait…… Marijuana addictive and a gateway drug? I doubt it, I?ve been smoking it for 45 years now and I am not hooked yet. Nor have I slid the slippery slope down to drinking alcohol.
Rest assured I wouldn’t do that. I’m sensible enough not to mess with them. Lest I draw attention to my self and my family. Right now they pretty much leave me alone, I’d like it to stay that way.
It’s crazy. Every house around this scum bag has ADT. He’s got an arrest record a MILE long stemming from Trafficking Narcotics, theft, and possession. It’s all public record. How can these people be out on the streets?
@Sam….I figured you wouldn’t. Good luck to you.
why is everyone so jaded towards pot, we should be more concerned about alcohol which is the worst drug of all and maybe the only one you can die from withdrawals if we ban anything it should be alcohol,look how many lives it’s ruined and how may lives it’s taken it alos causes mental illness,pot is not going away and it is only a gateway drug if you let it be.
This whole thing couldn’t have been that serious. They’re back open today.
Sam: If you are not willing to man up and do something, then enjoy your scum neighborhood, and stop complaining. “Right now they pretty much leave you alone”. Yet your inactiveness allows them to go on. You’re afraid of Heroin addicts??? Seriously?! It appears they have won with you. Pathetic. These are nothing but bottom feeding insects that have over taken your neighborhood. Yeah, look the other way and expect someone with Huevos to deal with them. You are the poster child for a passive, roll over and let it happen human. Your family would do better if you gave up and moved. These pukes are still out on the streets because of people who fear them, don’t want to get involved, OR “They are pretty much leaving me alone right now” attitude. Grow a couple and get rid of them. Otherwise stop whining.
Hmmm: You totally missed the point. Get a law book out and start reading.
I’m not a lawyer. Are you? God help us if you are.
Hmmm: I guess you’re too simple to get it. Never mind.
Yep, that’s me.
So you are now calling for vigilantism?
Greengrass, hate all you want but some people need this as medicine. I can’t get out of bed without it. It helps me live a somewhat functional life. I only do it medicinally and only because my doctor, not a pot doc, told me I should try. Don’t knock it till you have one of the most painful, life treatening illnesses and all that helps is…
a. I don’t hate
b. I’m opposed to recreational usage, not limited medical usage. I was only saying that most of the people that are using for “medical purposes” are using it for pure recreation. Obviously, there are exceptions such as yourself
I agree with Walkingmom,
Too many needles laying around the Y and Keys commercial area. Hard to walk my dog without her going after one. Disgusting the police waste time on pot.
Kits Carson you sound like you really need to smoke a bowl. Neurotic much?
To much of anything messes your head up. An Alcoholics brain gets fried as well. This is probably the study and counter study that everyone is talking about. Youth drinking and smoking is bad for development. Even my dunce butt knows that… Adults…. Fry away if that’s your choice….
http://m.jneurosci.org/content/34/16/5529.full.pdf
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/16/even-casually-smoking-marijuana-can-change-your-brain-study-says/
http://m.jneurosci.org/content/35/4/1505.abstract
In a related article the Chamber Mixer at Roundhill had members downing their signature drink the “Painkiller”. Really???? Bad cannabis- Awesome Alcohol. I’m sure there are zero people getting on the highway after having multiple “Painkillers”?? Right. Our society is so screwed-up.
All this will do is push it back underground. People can always get there marihuana.
In any city large or small it is Always available.
Now there is guaranteed too be NO taxes collected from anyone just lots more money wasted on this issue!
Chuck/Kit who ever you are,
My goodness. No I do not take the law into my own hands. I know better than that. If they aren’t on my property, I don’t do anything. One of my most favorite skill sets is avoiding prison by not being an idiot. You must be crazy…..because what you suggested is insane.
It’s really scary to know people like you exist in this world/Tahoe.
I hear vigilante justice is accepted in Somalia. Please move there.
Kits- I am LMAO. I didn’t know Huevos (eggs) & cajones (balls) were synomynes. Sort of the same shape…