On Saturday, March 19th, a dispensary robbery led to the fatal shooting of a World of Weed employee in Tacoma, Washington. This marks the third deadly dispensary robbery in Western Washington in just this past week and one of way too many in recent years.
This has become an unfortunate trend in the region, with multiple robberies happening every week; dispensaries are a target for robberies due to the cash-based business model as well as the valuable products inside. In Washington, there has been over 180 robberies at cannabis dispensaries across the state since 2017. There has also been over 50 since the start of 2022 already, with multiple fatalities as well as a fairly sizable list of unsolved cases without suspects apprehended.
The incident occurred on Portland Ave. at World of Weed sometime after 10 PM this past Saturday. It is too early in the investigation to know the full details, however, multiple shots were heard and one employee is confirmed deceased.
The dispensary is currently closed until further notice. A statement on World of Weed’s website reads:
“As many of you know, our shop had a robbery on Saturday. This resulted in World of Weed losing a valued and respected employee. Jordan Brown will be missed. We will temporarily be closed until further notice. Thank you for understanding. Our thoughts, prayers, and condolences go out to the family.”
A Call-To-Action For a Safer Cannabis Industry
“These recent robberies this year have been tragic but they’re also preventable. I believe there is a legislative path and the recent incidents that have happened just further reinforce the need for this to pass,” State Treasurer Mike Pelliccioti stated.
Pelliccioti is currently lobbying to get the Safe Banking Act passed. This will allow dispensaries to take credit and debit cards, which will help make them be less of a target for robberies.
There has been a rally within the industry for the Federal Government to intervene and allow cashless transactions at cannabis stores. Weed is now recreationally legal in 18 states and counting, paying one of the highest percentages in taxes for any consumer or agricultural good. Additionally, over 60% of the US is in favor of national legalization.
A simple declassification of cannabis to bring it down from being a schedule 1 narcotic would allow banks and credit card processors to “touch” money associated with cannabis sales. Many professionals believe that this simple de-scheduling will significantly impact how much cash is on hand at dispensaries, thus, turning the page on cannabis stores being such a hot target for robberies where thieves can quickly grab a ton of cash.
Furthermore, Ian Eisenberg has gone as far as hosting a public spreadsheet that lists the dates and details of these pot shop robbery incidents.
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