Pot Shop Opens Near Seattle Church; Congregation Stages Daily Protests
Members of a Seattle congregation are holding daily public prayers to protest against a new marijuana shop that has opened a few blocks away from their church.
Over 100 people, including many from Mount Calvary Christian Center in Seattle, Washington, rallied on the sidewalk in front of Uncle Ike's Pot Shop, a marijuana dispensary that opened last week.
"We've done everything we can to let them know we're not pleased with the absolute disrespect and disregard toward the institute of church," said Rev. Reggie C. Witherspoon, senior pastor of Mount Calvary Christian Center to King5 News. "You have three youth organizations within a stone's throw and somehow they let these people do this. Shame on Seattle!"
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The church was also joined by Seattle Councilman Bruce Harrell who used a bullhorn to address the angry crowd.
"This was not supposed to happen," he said. "The state has said 1,000 feet from a park. A thousand feet from a licensed daycare center. A thousand feet from an arcade. So we are to believe we hold an arcade in higher esteem than a sanctified church?"
Harrell continued, "We can't have our children walk 3 feet from a dispensary to see that temptation," he said.
Ian Eisenberg, the owner of Uncle Ike's, discussed the store's location in a previous statement.
"I own the property and the zoning fit," he said. "It follows the federal guidelines of where cannabis shops are supposed to be. I think the whole idea of I-502 was to have a legal framework and a regulated market that'll help drive out the black market,"
"A street dealer will sell to anybody. They'll sell to kids. But a store like this you have to be 21 to even walk inside," added Eisenberg.
