Orange County NORML and California Cannabis Coalition members stand with patients for Yes on CC
Weedmaps.com Tries to Split Vote on Measure CC in Santa Ana
By Craig Beresch, California Cannabis Coalition
Tomorrow, the voters of Santa Ana, CA will be faced with two choices: Vote for Measure CC, a citizen promoted initiative, or vote for Measure BB, a City Council initiative promoted and paid for by a murky organization named Ghost Management Group LLC.
Ghost Management Group LLC’s financial support and backing of the City Council’s measure can be seen in the Form 460 filed with election officials and shown here as a pdf file. You can see that Ghost Management Group LLC is listed as operating at 41 Discovery in Irvine, CA. Now, put the following URL in your browser http://justinhartfield.me/. At that link you can see Mr. Justin Ross Hartfield, the Chief Executive Officer of Weedmaps.com and General Partner at “Ghost Group, a holding company of various marijuana assets”. Note that he and his companies are located in Irvine, CA.
Long story short, Weedmaps.com is in cahoots with the Santa Ana City Council funding and supporting a vote-splitting effort to the citizen-sponsored Measure CC. A lot of people think this is a knife in the back to the Marijuana Movement by Weedmaps.com.
It is a knife in the back. A knife that Weedmaps.com buried because they are following their financial interest. First, the citizen-sponsored Measure CC provides for a number of locations in easily accessible locations with a fair tax regimen imposed. In contrast, the Weedmaps.com Measure BB is far more onerous. It forces dispensaries to locate in industrial zones not easily accessed by consumers, and it imposes a draconian tax schedule on dispensaries. The upshot of this is that if the Weedmaps.com Measure BB passes there will be far more incentive for people to establish black market dispensaries.
Attached is the campaign finance form. The funding partner for measure BB (the city’s messed up opposition initiative meant to do nothing but shut everyone down) is Ghost Management Group LLC at 41 Discovery in Irvine, Ca. A quick Google search turns this up:
https://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/18005816; http://justinhartfield.me/
Weedmaps.com’s bread and butter is black market dispensaries. When proper regulations are in force, and dispensaries are able to locate in convenient locations and stay open for years, their need to advertise on Weedmaps.com drops. Indeed, as they become known as local fixtures their need to advertise at all drops precipitously. However, in markets with no regulation or onerous regulations black market dispensaries are the only option. As we all know from experience, black market dispensaries are forced to open, close, move and reopen on a regular basis. The only advertising forum they have and the only way they can attract the patients they need to continue operating is via Weedmaps.com. That is why Ghost Management Group, LLC, the owner of Weedmaps.com, is trying to split the vote in Santa Ana and keep black market dispensaries in Santa Ana.
Don’t be fooled into lining Weedmaps.com’s pockets and being a stooge for Santa Ana’s City Council, join us at the California Cannabis Coalition in Voting YES on Measure CC and Voting NO on Measure BB.
vote no on each, BB and CC.
Won’t happen Cook. I will say this though. You have been a purist from day one, and have always stuck to your guns. Please don’t think for one second that your opinions and concerns don’t matter to us, because they do. It’s communications with people like yourself that get us to think about our current situation and draft solutions that the voters will be pleased with. I would love to break bread with you some day soon and hear the rest of your side of the story, and share mine, because this is how the community genuinely comes together. My number is 559-309-8924. It is always good to talk to a strong thinker. Thank you for participating in the process <3
Debbie, I just happened upon this string of comments recently so I don’t know who is who, and now that the election is over I am probably “talking” to myself. However, in case you or any CC proponent is listening, maybe you can clarify something. Why couldn’t CC have been structured in a way that’s more palatable to the average voter? It read great for dispensaries – or those that could be grandfathered. , And I do not mean to insinuate that owners and patrons of dispensaries don’t vote, but really….? Many of the patrons are either not eligible because they do not live in or are not registered to vote in Santa Ana – or they just don’t vote period. And, even if all of the dispensary owners in Santa Ana were eligible voters and registered, that would be mere hundreds of votes. So common sense would dictate that you need the “layman” voter (history calls them the MAJORITY) and thus you would need to structure your proposition accordingly. I would like to see the authors of CC and future like propositions take off the blinders and read CC through the eyes of the typical scared parent, resident, etc. = registered voter. You need a pretty rosy pair of glasses to think that CC is even remotely palatable to the average registered voter. For instance, is it really necessary to mandate a minimum # of dispensaries? A minimum of anything reads “unlimited”, “excessive”, “too many”, “demiasido”, etc. How about all of the other concessions that could have been made? Distance from schools – would 1000 feet have been a deal breaker? There are many other conditions that would read so much better as well, and allow the average voter to get past the fear of drugs “taking over the neighborhood.” Security requirements, hours of operation, allowed signage, ventilation, etc. These are relatively small concessions. Chose your battles – lest you be accused of the very sabotage of which you accuse WeedMaps. It could easily be construed that by crafting CC in such a liberal way, the authors have forced the people to choose the ridiculous BB.
An Interested Bystander
Wow. Is it any surprise councilwomen Martinez held up her cell phone and ranted about weedmaps recently?
Then why did she take a $4,750 donation from them? (actually, straight from Measure BB, which was funded by Weedmaps) Maybe she finally figured out what they were really after. Everyone can make mistakes in judgement.The only things that matters is what we do with the information when we learn the truth.
Weedmaps is pushing for a return to the good ol’ days of the black market, where everyone lurks in the shadows and depends on them for their support. Last year, they made $25,000,000 promoting these black market collectives, along with a few good ones that didn’t know better.
Even if the city were to garner a 10% tax off of a couple of Walmart style collectives that blight the community and treat their members like crap, they know damn well that everyone else would just go right back to the black market and they would make money hand over fist. The council would then be faced with the difficult choice of enforcing a broken law, or simply giving up and just conducting the occasional free for all raid.
Business as usual for them.
I urge the members of the city council, now that you know what Weedmaps is really about, to vote for Measure CC. It’s never too late to rectify a mistake. <3
So.. BB passes limiting shops to be selected by random lottery … BUT, the 420 Fire Department (aka Nuggetry/Chubbs) threw a celebration party. It’s known he and WeedMaps are friends. If Chubbs has a location, I guarentee you it’s a set up and someone was paid off. How are you going to party when technically you’ve been shut down until the lottery is done?
Somebody has got their shop pre-lottery http://scontent-a.cdninstagram.com/hphotos-xaf1/t51.2885-15/10735215_778425848881772_2024125308_n.jpg
“.. the voters of Santa Ana, CA will be faced with two choices: Vote for Measure CC .. or vote for Measure BB ..”
Actually there will be 4 choices for voters – vote for both CC & BB – or vote against both.
I plan to vote against both – and against making Santa Ana the weed capitol of OC.
Don’t worry Sean, it won’t be the weed capitol for long. We plan to lift the ban on the other cities as well. The current situation is a result of the fact that other cities had such strictly enforced bans that Santa was the only place left to go to for the patients. Once we fix that problem, members of the respective communities will be able to find their medicine closer to home.
I promise, we won’t leave you hanging 🙂
Seamus MacDuff is not “Sean.”
Don’t worry Debbie – SA voters will turn both measures down and set that an example for other cities in OC.
Your universe, not mine. Looks like we part ways here. And perhaps that will work out for you over there. Me, I’m done with the bans, selective enforcement and no knock raids over a plant that grows as a weed and should be next to the tomatoes in my garden. Time for a little common sense and happiness. Peace.
So.. BB passes limiting shops to be selected by random lottery … BUT, the 420 Fire Department (aka Nuggetry/Chubbs) threw a celebration party. It’s known he and WeedMaps are friends. If Chubbs has a location, I guarentee you it’s a set up and someone was paid off. How are you going to party when technically you’ve been shut down until the lottery is done?
Wish I knew more about this. Just bought domains. I think that if marijuana, which I tried but unfortunately am a person who gets paranoid when smoking. That was in the 70s. The strains today I hear would have me in the corner sucking my thumb.
I suffer from chronic pain. I will say this much. If the medical and private community believe that marijuana is NOT a good alternative to what I am on. They are out of their collective minds.
I never went through withdrawal symptoms from marijuana as I suffer from now when I am late taking my (meds) a term to soften the reality. It is a hard narcotic. I would much rather try marijuana in place of this garbage. Oh it kills the pain all right. But I am an addict for sure. Merck and the others love getting people hooked on their products.
We must stand together and legalize marijuana for both medicinal and recreational usage. I would rather be traveling with my grandkids with a stoned person on the road than a drunk. I have not heard of any accidents from someone being high on marijuana though I could be wrong. The worst I have had to deal with is the stoner is driving 40 in a 55.
Thanks. just wanted to add my uninformed opinion.