The Washington County Sheriff's Office today raided a medical-marijuana club in Aloha—the first such action since U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton warned earlier this month that establishments selling cannabis "will not be tolerated" in Oregon.
A law-enforcement official confirmed that Wake n Bake, a dispensary-style outlet that opened last fall, has been shut down by deputies. A spokesman for the sheriff's office has not yet returned phone calls seeking comment. Nor has Kat Cambron, co-owner of Wake n Bake.
Jenni Trump, a medical-marijuana patient, says she arrived around 1 pm at the club's location at 18918 SW Shaw St.—a former reptile rescue facility just off the Tualatin Valley Highway. Trump says a marked Washington County Sheriff's SUV blocked the entrance. A plain-clothes cop told her the shop was closed and the owners were not returning, Trump says.
Trump says she later returned and saw more plain-clothes police searching the club. Wake n Bake's owners told WW in a cover story last January that the club operated on a consignment model—licensed medical-marijuana growers supplied their excess cannabis to the club, which sold it to patients at cost. The club stayed in business by charging members a monthly fee, the owners said.
Dozens of such facilities have opened around the state, and owners have told WW they believe such operations are allowed under Oregon's medical-marijuana laws. Cambron told WW in a story earlier this month that sheriff's deputies had pulled over about a dozen of the club's members as they were leaving the premises. Cambron said they were given roadside sobriety tests and questioned about the club, but none was arrested.
Sgt. Dave Thompson, spokesman for the sheriff's office, denied in that story that deputies were targeting Wake n Bake.
WWeek 2015