NOTE: AMAZING! On the GIFT shop origin page “https://foresthillsconnection.com“ — I’m being REBUFFED multiple times from referring to this write up on the NW DC MJ GIFT shops that’s informative to locals in the area — EVEN when I reply to someone else’s comment on the article… WTF is going on with that DAMN site…?? Cannot refer to my site or plug in URL to it…
This is very rich indeed, so be prepared folks for these to pop up in more kind of quiet (for now) communities… Fuggitabout a Marijuana “MJ” license, give ‘GIFTS’ instead. “Oh wait sir, ma’am, thank you for buying that very expensive T-Shirt but do not forget about your MJ ‘GIFT’ we have for you on the counter.”
Unclear as to what is going on but there is a N.W. DC website called ‘Forest Hills Connection‘ that for some reason did not post my comment on their site, regarding their story about the GIFT shops. My comment was a very, VERY small portion of this page – nothing derogatory and no use of profanity. I wrote this piece to expand on what I was talking about. I ended up boiling down my comments on that restrictive site to the following (and hope fellow residents in the area read this piece here):
- Hmmm, interesting story about GIFT shops and marijuana… Holistic Wellness and Gifting in D.C. On the Connecticut Ave N.W. corridor. Wonder how residents feel about these venues expanding…?
The theme for ‘Gift’ shops is — Buy some non-marijuana merchandise and we will ‘gift’ you, ohhhh, some certain amount of MJ. Ahhhh, basically, it depends how much the merchandise cost, get me… Let’s go light up a doobie, ummm, after you buy some merchandise that is.
Nothing wrong with folks buying MJ, especially for health reasons and even for some folks who enjoy smoking (or chewing) MJ. But, starting an aggregation of MJ shops IN a small area is not good. There are now at least three (3) MJ shops on Connecticut Ave NW:
- ‘gopuff’ shop, 4221 Connecticut Ave NW, adjacent to Pills Plus
- ‘Mr. Green’ (GIFT shop) 4302 Conn. Ave NW, adjacent to Pot Belly
- ‘Canna Art’ (GIFT shop) 5008 Conn. Ave NW, across the street from Politics and Prose bookshop
Are we going to have any more springing up that ‘will’ attract even more unsavory characters. I am not talking about the everyday folks in our communities but the kind that will jack your car and your wallet (AND your phone AND that expensive looking watch, ring, necklace) so they can grab some kind of cash — in order to go and buy some MJ, I mean merchandise and ‘hope’ that the GIFT shop owner will be kind enough to portion out a ‘nice’ amount of MJ as well…
You will have to remember, while marijuana is now legal (in D.C., the district — not the federal system), you have to consider the places where folks intake it via smoking. There are many apartment buildings and condos and coops in D.C. — smoke travels. And while the smoker is enjoying the hell out of the MJ, the neighbors — up and down the hall, the neighbors on the multiple floors above (‘what’, you thought the MJ smoker was going to leave the windows and balcony doors closed at that time or all the time…!!!???) and sometimes on a floor or two below the smoker — depending on wind conditions.
This becomes a nightmare for folks who do not relish the smell/odor of MJ — MJ smoke/odor slinks into many adjacent spaces via openings and cracks that you may not be aware of. And as many folks know, there are a WIDE variety of mild to VERY harsh MJ odors to contend with. The MJ smoke WILL affect the sleep AND health of many. And if the non-smoker nearby has a sensitive job and holds security clearances (or even sensitive jobs without a clearance) — there MIGHT be random drug screens. How do you go about getting by that. It will take a LOT of fighting to prove that you were not the smoker but a neighbor (or neighbors) in your building smoke MJ… In the meantime, YOU might be out of a job and will have to sue the smoker for MJ smoke harassment AND (if your were fired) the company/entity that fired you for Wrongful termination and Defamation of Character.
After talking to lawyers/city council members on this in D.C. – you/we would have to file multiple police reports for HARASSING MJ SMOKING invading your space and affecting you and your family. And ‘then’ get a lawyer to get a court to put out an order to force the smoker to switch… Because MJ is legal, that is likely the only path to getting the smokers to cease and desist smoking it and instead, switch to non-smoke related MJ products. Sure, you can go have a conversation with the smoker to ask him/her to consider switching from smoking MJ to eating MJ (gummies, cookies, powder, etc.) — but in the meantime, it is that smokers choice to light up. And for you to inhale it as a helpless bystander…
Again, nothing wrong with MJ for medical reasons or for those to relax and enjoy but, I am thinking of the criminal minded individuals who could care less about the community – the community that you/we live in. What was a better community becomes a problematic community as time goes on. Oh, it will not go downhill right off the bat, but give it time whilst not reining in the “number” and ‘density’ of MJ shops (of any kind).
As most of us well know, when drug usage grows and gets out of hand (no strict law enforcement & stern judicial system) – what happens, an area gets out of hand. Check out the “Fulton Center” in Lower Manhattan, N.Y. where crime seems to have run amok and most of the businesses have abandoned that very expensively built metro center hub… As far as business goes, it now seems to mirror what is happening in multiple spots throughout China – ghost businesses with ghost customers – that is what the Fulton Center is looking like now, due to crime… Westfield, yes, the nationwide mall owner is trying its damnedest to pull out of the N.Y. MTA lease for that location…
So, sure, allow MJ stores and GIFT shops to open up – but, PLEASE, crack down on the crimes as they happen and punish the individuals as sternly as possible to stop becoming recidivist (repeat offenders) criminals and putting a dark mark on our neighborhoods…
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