In addition to all the challenges of just being an operator in the cannabis industry with its regulatory hurdles and heavy tax burden, dispensaries, grows and distributors are getting their doors kicked in weekly.
This week saw robberies in Brooklyn, Sacramento, Oklahoma City, and just outside of Boston. Those are just the ones that got some coverage. Plenty of people keep it low-key when they are victims to not alert the next would-be assailants to their security issues. It’s very fair to presume that even more people had problems this week than just those that popped up in a quick Google search.
The worst part about their security issues? Much of the time the law enforcement response times have been too long to thwart the robbers. They often get off with tons of products. Look no further than the robbery of Preferred Gardens’ indoor grow in Sacramento where police took an hour to respond once the robbers had triggered the alarm in the early hours of Dec. 26. Founder David Polley would awake to the news a couple of hours later.
“I was asleep. I woke up at five that morning and noticed that stuff and looked at my answering machine,” Polley told L.A. Weekly. “It said that there was an alarm, so I pulled up my camera. Right away, I saw that there were doors open. I knew I got robbed.”
On top of the whole batch they scooped out of Polley’s drying room, they did major damage to the facility in general, as Polley awaits quotes on the remaining things he needs to replace or upgrade after what happened on Boxing Day.
A run-in with the Sacramento Fire Department last week is only adding salt to the wounds. Eight days before the robbery, he was ordered to take down the overnight barricades he was using to reinforce the facility. The fire department said it had to be a one-touch exit for egress issues. 
“And I told him, I’m like, you know everyone’s getting robbed. I’m gonna get robbed and remove this they’re gonna be able to get in and they basically just didn’t give a fuck so I had to comply and remove those and of course, I get robbed right after,” Polley said.
Polley went on to note that even with the order to take the bars down, he still checked every other box he could in hopes of protecting his work. Both he and the business behind him that was used to enter his facility had armed guards. He is still trying to figure out what happened, since the robber’s four vehicles were parked in a no-access area while they committed the crime.
“I’m trying to get to the bottom of it,” Polley said. “I think the guard was either sleeping or not there. The armed guard in the back definitely was not there because they pulled four vehicles into the back parking lot, which is like a no-access zone, and cut through my gate. And then there were like seven guys that came with pistols, crowbars, lock cutters and the whole nine.”
We asked Polley how long he expected repairs to take to get the facility back up to its pristine standard-setting conditions it’s known for.
“I mean, we’re back in business, but they broke six doors,” Polley replied. ”I’m beefing the place up, of course. I had to fix the back fence. But yeah, it’s already back. I got it rockin’.”
We closed out the chat on whether he was surprised he didn’t get more support that night.
The thieves in the garden.
“The guys spent close to 30 minutes in my facility,” Polley said, “so you know, it could have been stopped for sure. No, I’m not surprised. They’ve never cared. They’re always you know, harassing us and up our ass and then you know, they won’t protect us at all. And then insurance won’t cover us. You know, I pay a ton of insurance, no coverage.”
The insurance company argues the cannabis had to be stored in a vault level room but it was still in the drying rooms on the lines. Essentially suggesting none of the product was covered until it was packaged and locked down. This is likely the shortest phase of the product’s life in the grow before it heads to distribution.
“So insurance isn’t covering nothing,” Polley said. “This is how people go out of business quick. You know what I mean? One little miss. But it was, it was my fault. So honestly, I should have been more on top of it. It’s just, it’s part of the game.”
We sadly expect to hear more Stories like Polley’s in 2024 as the industry awaits action against the multiple groups that have been targeting it across the state and country. It’s not impossible – Colorado just arrested 23 people who took part in the robbery of 40 dispensaries.
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