Illegal marijuana dispensary next to El Camino raided by police
A worker from the Torrance Green Room stands handcuffed as police raid the illegal dispensary on Thursday, June 8. The dispensary has been running its illegal operations outside of El Camino College since early this year. (Ethan Cohen | The Union)
Update: The Union followed up with the Torrance Green Room after the police left. Sign spinner Alex, who declined to give his last name, said after the police confiscated the stock, the business reopened its doors to sell to the public.
Alex said the workers were given tickets and released from police custody. They proceeded to restock the store and keep selling after the police left.
An illegal marijuana dispensary near El Camino College was raided and multiple people were detained by local law enforcement agencies on Thursday, June 8.
The Torrance Green Room dispensary, located at the intersection of Redondo Beach and Crenshaw Boulevard, first opened earlier this year directly across the street from the El Camino Police Department.
Heavily advertised with a large green banner and sign spinner, the shop has been frequented by multiple students from the college since its opening. The dispensary was raided by the Torrance Police Department and California Cannabis Control after obtaining a search warrant.
The Torrance Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment before publishing.
A Torrance Police officer, who declined to give their name due to policy, said the police and California Cannabis Control executed a search warrant because the business was unlicensed. For those who were detained, the officer said that those arrested will most likely face misdemeanor charges.
According to Section 413.1.020 of the Torrance Municipal Code, the city explicitly prohibits all commercial activities regarding marijuana.
The Union visited the shop two months ago to inquire about the business but reporters were not allowed to interview workers or take photos of the inside. The shop donned rows of jars filled with cannabis, colorful walls of electronic vapes and edible varieties of marijuana.
“Having people smoke outside was a nuisance to us,” Jason Park said, a salesperson at Eye Connect Optical adjacent to the dispensary.
The salesperson saw the police raid the dispensary and said the workers must have “known this was going to happen.”
As police taped off access to the entrance of the dispensary blocking local stores, numerous people were lined up against a fence handcuffed while officers collected IDs to run through their database.
Freelance makeup artist Zachary Vang, 26, said they went inside the shop to get something to help with their ailing back, however, Torrance Police blared on a megaphone to come outside with their hands up. Vang came out, hands in the air, and was handcuffed.
“They asked me if I worked there and I said no,” Vang said. “They said that I’d be let go after they ran my ID.”
Vang and multiple others were let go after having their IDs run by the police, but few remained and were given tickets.
Cherry Gomez, who happened to walk by stopped to talk with the officers. She told The Union that she’s been working in marijuana dispensaries, “since like forever.” She got her first job at 15; she’s 27 now.
Gomez works at a nearby competing dispensary and while she wouldn’t give the name of the shop, she said it was about three blocks away. Gomez said after seeing the raid she called her boss.
The shop where she works recently had its power cut — Gomez said when that happens it is a good sign police could be involved.
Guy Wilson, 60, was walking by the raid on his way from a different dispensary he said is located near the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue. Wilson said he smokes marijuana, adding he makes sure to limit himself.
“It helps me stay off other drugs,” Wilson said. “Weed is my one, that and coffee.”
Wilson said there is a reason unlicensed dispensaries are so prevalent and mentioned that unlicensed shops tend to have better products than their licensed counterparts.
He said in his experience, licensed shops sell their product in sealed bags and the marijuana tends to crumble after a few days compared to illegal dispensaries that have the bud out in jars.
However, Wilson did relent that the legal dispensaries benefit from having their product tested to make sure there are no chemicals and mentioned he heard about a fungus infecting crops “up north.”
“Illegal ones give you a better deal,” Wilson said. “If you’re poor like me every little bit counts.”
Editor Delfino Camacho and reporter Eddy Cermeno contributed to this report.
