Interior of the the Cookies shop on Melrose.
Cookies, a marijuana pot dispensary, is slated to open in Brentwood on Saturday, September 10, at 13030 San Vicente (at 26th and San Vicente). Store hours are listed as from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Paul Revere Middle School, with about 2,000 students is about 1,000 yards away from the shop. Some students walk to the Brentwood Mart, which is adjacent to the store, after the school day.
L.A. City law says a pot shop has to be 800 yards away from a school. So, it appears this shop makes it by 200 yards.
A polo field resident wrote CTN “Cookies opened a location just outside of West Hollywood and neighbors were very unhappy.” The resident also pointed out that this is the first dispensary in the immediate area “with more to come in Santa Monica and even the Palisades.”
Allison Holdorff Polhill, who is the District Director for LAUSD School Board Member Nick Melvoin, was contacted by CTN about the closeness of the location of Cookies to the school and replied “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Several folks have reached out.”
CTN contacted Revere Principal Tom Iannuci. He had not responded by post time.
CTN contacted Captain Jonathon Tom, who replied in a September 8 email, “LAPD WLA Narcotics notified the California Department of Cannabis Control of the proximity to Paul Revere Middle School. Our Narcotics unit along with Senior Lead Officer Matt Kirk are reviewing the permits and licenses for the dispensaries.”
The Pacific Palisades Community Council President Maryam Zar was contacted by CTN and said that the shop came up at the Community-Police Advisory Board meeting on September 7.
“The Senior Lead Officer for Brentwood reported that this dispensary would open on the corner of 26 and San Vicente. It is ‘by right’ because it is a legitimate business which is legal, so it needed no variance.
“We were told by the Brentwood SLO that the business is eager to comply with all regulations and be a good neighbor to both residents and businesses,” Zar said, and noted that “He said he would be monitoring them and visiting them often.”
On the store’s website “Situated next to the iconic Brentwood Country Mart, TRP was able to open the very first dispensary located in the Westside neighborhood, standing beside other high-profile retailers including James Perse, goop, and Christian Louboutin, beloved by the community for decades.”
TRP (Tradition. Responsibility.Progress.), founded in 2019, is a retail, cultivation, and distribution platform, purpose for regulated cannabis.
Cookies was founded in 2010 by Billboard-charting rapper and entrepreneur Berner and Bay Area breeder and cultivator Jai. The company offers a collection of over 70 proprietary cannabis cultivars and more than 2,000 products.
Headquartered in San Francisco, the company opened its first retail store in 2018 on Melrose. The store drew complaints from West Hollywood residents about illegal parking, noise, trash, urination and vomiting in the streets near the store.
Both the LAPD and the Sheriff’s Department and L.A. City Councilman Paul Koretz’s office and West Hollywood City Councilmember Lauren Meister responded to the complaints. Cookies changed its operating hours, which originally were from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The company wrote about its newest location, Brentwood, “Regarded as one of the cannabis capitals of the world where hype and premium genetics reign supreme, it makes sense that TRP is best suited to take on the challenging task of spearheading the newest Los Angeles store opening for Cookies Brentwood.”
CTN emailed TRP and asked why they wanted to open close to a middle school, but did not hear back by post time.
This is AWFUL
MJ use is an ADDICTION
What do we not understand about this???
Why are we causing more harm to ourselves ?
MJ use solves NOTHING
Just like booze
Just like over-eating,
Just like drugs.
Instead of this store, put in a “healthy living” store
A very bad idea. How did they get a licence for this location?
How in the world do they get away with putting a marijuana dispensary within walking distance of a middle school and calling it “Cookies”? Didn’t Juul just get fined millions of dollars for appealing to teenagers?
Laws allowing businesses like this to operate are a good lesson to all of us about unintended consequences, which in the case of legal pot there are many (including encouraging a crop requiring heavy water consumption). The good news is that it also encourages an irreplaceable value in our society — responsible and involved parenting.
Talk to your kids about drugs. Just say no
Someone on ND wrote:
This place has already been broken into on Saturday night. 4 men smashed the window. More crime now in Brentwood! There is a Brentwood council meeting Wednesday to stop this from happening!