Police are searching for multiple suspects who shot and critically wounded an employee at an unlicensed medical marijuana collective in Tempe, Arizona on Thursday night.
Around 7PM on Thursday, three to six men entered Top Shelf Meds in Tempe (Formerly called AzGoGreen Co-op). They confronted the employee before hitting him and then shooting him.
The victim’s name has not been released, but he is a man in his 30s. He remains in the hospital to receive treatment for his serious injuries.
According to the Tempe police department, Top Shelf Meds had previously been under investigation by the DEA. The collective is operating without a license and is being investigated by the Tempe Police Department.
Arizona’s medical marijuana law allows for collectives, but the process of issuing licenses has been incredibly slow. This has led many medical marijuana dispensaries to open without licenses from the state.
This shooting is the first in Tempe that can be directly tied to medical marijuana businesses. Police are now concerned that collectives will cause an increase in crime in their town.
Lieutenant Jeffrey Glover explained, “You have that potential of people being a target. There is definitely cause for concern for any community where [dispensaries] are placed. The hope is as these dispensaries actually open that they have good security measures in place to help them not be targets and not have their customers being victimized.”
[Source]
Elvers said on Oct 26, 2012
you don't hear of L.A, Colorado, or any of the other ones that have trouble with being held up and being shot at. so far AZ is the only one so far the guy must have made some enemy's along the line.
lucy said on Oct 27, 2012
It wasn't clear if the medical marijuana was the motivating factor or if it was a personal vendetta against someone who just happened to work in a collective.
WeaponZero said on Oct 27, 2012
Sorry to burst your bubble cause i really want to agree with you, but you are wrong, now I will say up front that sacramento has had no shootings, but they have had many holdups and MANY break ins before the crack down on collectives in the area. Now I would put most of it down to the neighborhoods they were located in more than anything, but whenever you are dealing with such a highvolume cash business you are going to attract a certain amount of attention which is a fact….a sad sad fact.
DailyDabin said on Oct 26, 2012
@Elvers that's not necessarily true, there have been plenty of robberies in CA at dispensaries that I can think of.
VacuousCL said on Oct 26, 2012
@Elvers
How painfully wrong you are…
Chronicle said on Oct 26, 2012
Elvers… you should watch American Weed. On that show a local dispensary worker(Colorado Springs, CO) gets clubbed over the head and robbed. This happens all the time, everywhere. It's the nature of the beast. Sucks this place is open without paperwork though…
redlaser said on Oct 26, 2012
I believe Elvers is pointing out the shooting part of the article, cause of course there are other robberies. You should be able to defend yourself with a gun if you run a business and have some training with a gun, just like you would protect your family or home. Its not like we made weed illegal, it's a prohibition problem we have to deal with, and taking away gun rights of patients is another Federal "fuck you" to patients. At the end of the day, you just want to make it home, and a gun can help with that.
Elvers said on Oct 27, 2012
thank you for that your the only one saw through what I was saying. and like one person wrote on this column there was nothing taken from the dispensary. duh
DerpPurp420 said on Oct 27, 2012
I just think its stupid how they think "oh 1 person got shot after all these years at a dispensary so now there a big potential danger". How many fuckin people have been shot and died in a liquor store while it was being robbed? Probably at least 10 people a day.
Guardian said on Oct 27, 2012
Prohibition at its best
terryh said on Oct 27, 2012
this wasn't about the dispensary, nothing was taken. he must have pissed somebody off.
LordTHC said on Oct 27, 2012
great this is gonna really slow shit down for the legalization movement =( …
dayzaway99 said on Oct 27, 2012
well in AZ everyone carries a gun, whether it be a 7 year old kid, or a 70 year old grand mother, everyone is allowed to carry a concealed weapon, whether they go hunting or to the store. So of course you are gonna have nothing but armed robberies at these places with weapons being so readily available and easy to attain in the state. I have no clue why they would even try to push for medical in arizona it just has bad idea written all over it, with the kind of anti marijuana, racist republicans heading the state, they will try to make a mockery and example out of it so no other states will want to push foward with legalizing, fuck arizona.
KST420 said on Oct 28, 2012
arizona has patients too, and not many people carry guns. You can have a concealed weapon if you have a license for one. There is a law where you can carry a weapon, but it must be visible.
terryh said on Nov 6, 2012
dayzaway is right about the carry law , unless you have a MMJ card, then you cann't carry at all. Thats a bunch of shit.
Twilights said on Oct 27, 2012
This stuf happens I remember a string of deadly robberies in Hollywood a few years back. There were two I believe and they were both being opperated by one or two people at the time of the murder/robbery. As far as slowing down legalization I believe it has zero effect either way. Most cash businesses have their problems especially mom and pop stores that don't have propper security.
macsheep said on Oct 29, 2012
FUCK Doooood! I live like 4min from Az go green! Thats my go to collective! Fuck i knew all the employees well. We chill, talk an share a smoke on not busy days. FUCK! fuck, fuck,fuck,fuck,fuck. I hope hes gonna be ok. Im sure i know who theyre talking about. FUCK! Fuck! Fuuuuuuuu!
loaded1 said on Oct 29, 2012
OK IT'S TIME FOR ME TO CHIME IN…………I HAVE BEEN GOING TO AZGOGREEN SINCE THEY OPENED….(OVER 2 YEARS)….AND YES THEY CHANGED THEIR NAME TO TOPSHELFMEDS RECENTLY AND EVEN KICKED PPL OUT FOR CALLING IT AZGOGREEN……….THESE PPL ARE THE RUDEST MOST SHISTY PPL I HAVE EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH GUYS AND I HAVE BEEN DOING THIS A LONG TIME JIM GREENLY THE OWNER IS THE RUDEST JERK YOU WILL EVER HAVE THE DISPLEASURE OF MEETING. ALSO THEY OVER CHARGE!!!!!!!!!!! RIDICULOUS PRICES!!!!!!!!! $100 A GRAM FOR GREEN WAX NOT PROPERLY PURGED AND EVEN $60 FOR A HALF GRAM OF MID-LEVEL QUALITY WAX………IN THIS WORLD IT PAYS TO BE NICE TO PEOPLE BECAUSE I HONESTLY BELIEVE WE GET BACK OUT OF THIS WORLD WHAT WE PUT INTO IT……………………….NOW BY NO MEANS AND I SAYING THAT ANYONE DESERVES TO BE BEATEN AND SHOT I PRAY THE SCUM-BAGS WHO DID THIS UNTHINKABLE ACT ARE PUT TO JUSTICE……………BUT I ALSO HAVE TO SAY THAT IN ARIZONA JUSTICE IS SOMETHING THAT IS GETTING INCREASINGLY HARD TO FIND. HOWEVER WHEN I REFLECT BACK ON THE EXPERIENCE I HAD AT AZGOGREEN/TOPSHELFMEDS CONSISTENLY ON AN EVERY SINGLE TIME I WENT IN THERE BASIS…… HOW THEY TREATED ME AND EVERYONE WITH THIS ATTITUDE OF HURRY UP AND WAIT HURRY UP AND PAY US WITH THIS LITTLE SMIRK/GRIN KNOWING THAT THEY JUST WAXED YOU AND THEN SMILING ABOUT IT LIKE THEY ARE SHOCKED THAT YOU ACTUALLY PAID THAT PRICE BECAUSE THEY KNOW WHAT THEY PAID AND CONSIDER YOU JUST ANOTHER IDIOT WHO GOT F@#$ed!!!!!!!! ITS TRUE TRUE TRUE READ THEIR REVIEWS ITS NOT JUST ME EVERYONE SAYS THIS LITERALLY EVERYONE………SO AGAIN TAKING THIS INTO CONSIDERATION I HAVE TO SAY I FEEL BASED ON THE WAY THEY SCREWED THEIR CUSTOMERS THIS MAY HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE ATTACK ON THIS EMPLOYEE………………THAT IF I HAVE TO BE COMPLETELY HONEST IF IT IS THE 30 SOMETHING LATINO GUY WHO WAS THE GUY SERVING UP EVERYONE HE WAS A TOTAL DOUCHE BAG ALWAYS RUDE EVERYTIME AND ALWAYS ADVERTISING WITH ALL HIS DIAMONDS AND LOUIS VUITTON BAGS OF MONEY……………………I KNOW WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT Y'ALL THESE GUYS ARE NOT THE KINDA OF PLACE WE NEED IN AZ THEY GIVE MEDICAL MARIJUANA A BAD NAME AS CARD HOLDERS WE NEED TO COME TOGETHER TO REMOVE THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT FROM OUR MEDS OR WE MAY ALL LOOSE OUR RIGHT TO MEDICATE……..WE NEED TO NOT ONLY REMOVE THE CRIMINAL ELEMENT FROM THE STREET SUCH AS THE PERPS WHO COMMITTED THIS CRIME BUT ALSO IN THE MINDS OF THE PEOPLE. AS FOR AZGOGREEN I CAN TELL YOU THAT IT GETS ALOT WORSE ITS PUBLIC RECORD THAT ONE OF THEIR OWNERS I WONT SAY WHO IS FACING METH CHARGES IN MICHIGAN LOOK IT UP Y'ALL BEING INFORMED IS OFTEN THE ONLY DEFENSE WE HAVE. THANKS FOR READING. MY PRAYERS GO OUT TO THE VICTIM AND HIS FAMILY.
macsheep said on Oct 29, 2012
^ THE COLLECTIVE IS CLOSED! Just went down the street an the clubs gone. Sad to say but everything @LOADED1 mentioned was the entire truth. Even the meth charges part. Jim(owner) actually just got charged with meth charges in Az as of today. They employees are considerate to like literally a handful of patients. like 5 total. I was one of the few they were considerate to cuz i knew the employees an i was introduced to them on a personal level not business. Ya, AZ GO GREEN or whatever they changed their name to is CLOSED.