Commentary: Why my visit to an illegal weed shop called 'Dank Dairy' Stank

Dank Dairy on Nov 3, 2019. A LMNews photo

It's no longer a surprise anytime I learn that an illegal weed shop has popped up in the unincorporated areas of Whittier near La Mirada while at the same time remaining amazed at how they open and operate just under the radar.

I was a bit surprised to learn that one has been operating for a month or two no more than 100 feet beyond the city line at a place I drive past regularly.  I had no idea that an even bigger surprise would greet me once I arrived to check out the location.

After moving out of the former Electra Burger site at Leffingwell  Rd. and Corley Dr., Organic Solutions has opened up shop in the old closed-up drive-thru dairy at Imperial Hwy. and Meyer Rd. and is now calling itself the Dank Dairy.

I arrived at this place just before 11 a.m. today and despite it being a perfect location for such an operation I found myself wondering if the information I had verified on Weedmaps had been bogus because there were no cars around and not a soul in sight.

Not to worry, it was very clear just seconds later that Weedmaps is still the leading resource for cannabis users. 

In the time it took to grab my camera a man in a car blasting thumping 'Banda' music parked right behind me in front of a row of well-maintained homes and church on Loma Dr. No more than a minute a shiny newer model BMW stopped on the opposite of the street near the old dairy a few feet from the curb.

Without a hint of shame, the fan of Banda music got out of his car and walked up to the BMW getting into the rear seat and with the car door still open began conducting what was clearly a drug transaction right in front of me as I stood just 40-feet away with a camera clearly in my hands. No more than a minute later both men drove off in their own cars.

No longer focused on the likely drug transaction that just went down I have now focused again on the old dairy and discover several cars are now parked and more are arriving and even more, people are coming to buy a quart of milk on foot. No less than a dozen people were seen coming and going in less than ten minutes. Business was so good it difficult finding a lull in activity so I could snap a few photos that did not show an image of any customers coming or going.

It's not hard to imagine why operators run the risk of a fine and the loss of their inventory once or twice a year in a raid with all this demand. This place is a gold mine. 

Just as I was about to depart I got a better idea of how attached the operators of the Dank Dairy must be to all the tax-free cash when a man emerged from the fenced-off area where the entry door is located and began to intimidate and ultimately make threats regarding my presence.

As I calmly walked off, I got a bit of a kick by the man declaring that I was violating the law and he would call the police if I took his picture without permission.  

Isn't that ironic?  

And to think that this was just intended to be a photo and a paragraph or two about five raids Sheriff's detectives have done in the past month on weed stores in the area last month and that two shops that were already on the Sheriff's Departments radar had relocated.

Now it's quite clear why cannabis stores need to be zoned, permitted, and held accountable for the ill effects they have in the neighborhoods they operate in.

Based on my experience over just ten minutes, Dank Dairy needs to be the first to go.