| Photo: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration |
Plants that could help an estimated 2,400 local medical marijuana patients are in danger of dying with the power cut at CannaHelp dispensary after Thursday’s lockdown of the California pot collective’s building, owner Stacy Hochanadel said Friday.
“The just pulled out all the power so the plants are going to die,” Hochanadel said, reports Marcel Honore of The Desert Sun. “The heat, the lack of light, the lack of watering” puts the 400 plants “in danger of being unusable.”
Palm Springs police, fire and building officials raided and closed down the facility after building inspectors claimed they found “significant building violations” that could lead to fire and safety hazards, according to City Attorney Doug Holland.
“This has nothing to do with marijuana,” Holland somewhat unbelievably claimed Thursday.
Holland claimed the “hazards” included “intense large lamps” used to grow marijuana plants and “improper electrical work and extension cords.”
Thursday was the first time building inspectors had ever visited CannaHelp, according to owner Hochanadel, though police and city planners had toured the facility “numerous” times before.
CannaHelp was working with building officials to try to resolve the situation Friday, Hochanadel said.
The dispensary owner said he had been growing the plants for at least six months in anticipation of getting a license to operate from the city of Palm Springs.
CannaHelp was just days away from opening, Hochanadel said, but city officials now say it could take “up to six months” — without electricity — to resolve the “problems” at the building.
An armed security firm has been hired to guard the building after the lockdown, since CannaHelp’s alarm and camera system won’t work with the power cut, Hochanadel said.