Otherside Farms
TypePrivate
FoundedCosta Mesa, California (2010 (2010))
Founder
  • Alysha McKeen
  • Chadd McKeen
Headquarters
Costa Mesa, CA
,
United States
Websiteothersidefarms.com

Otherside Farms is a medical cannabis information center[1] with a separate division[2] serving as a private medical cannabis collective.[3]

History

Otherside Farms Cannabis Information Center was opened around 2010 by a Newport Beach couple, Alysha and Chadd McKeen, hoping their new "medical marijuana information center" would help dissolve stigmas associated with cannabis.[1]

I want to tell people to stop being afraid of it," Chadd McKeen, co-founder of Otherside Farms, told the Daily Pilot. We want to bring it out into the open.[1]

The McKeens had a personal incentive to teach people about the benefits of cannabis, as Alysha had gone through cancer with the help of the plant.[4] City officials approved the location to be legal as long as cannabis was not distributed there.[1]

Raid

In late August 2011, Otherside Farms opened a private collective, maintaining it as a separate entity from Otherside Farms.[2] On January 17, 2012, the private collective was raided by federal officials.[5] Controversy ensued over the raid, as city officials had secretly authorized a letter seeking federal law enforcement assistance in shutting down the collective, which an expert claimed was illegal.[6] The basis for the raid was an accusation by a city inspector claiming that Chadd McKeen hoped to profit from his business.[7] McKeen denied the accusation, stating that his words were misconstrued, and that Otherside Farms had been trying to communicate a plan to help resolve the Cosa Mesa budget deficit[8] that had been present since 2010, only for meeting requests to be turned down by city officials.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bailey, Brianna; Shadia, Mona (19 March 2010). "Pot classes in session". Daily Pilot.
  2. 1 2 "Otherside Farms Information Center". Otherside Farms.
  3. ↑ "Otherside Farms Private Collective". Otherside Farms.
  4. 1 2 Coker, Matt (20 May 2010). "Growing Pains at Otherside Farms". Orange County News.
  5. ↑ Serna, Joseph (18 January 2012). "Authorities raid Costa Mesa marijuana dispensaries". Daily Pilot.
  6. ↑ "City's Secrecy on Pot Shop Letter Was Illegal, Expert Says". Otherside Farms. 10 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Schou, Nick (18 January 2012). "DEA Raids Several Costa Mesa Marijuana Dispensaries". Orange County News.
  8. ↑ "Otherside Farms Clarification to Recent Press Coverage". Otherside Farms. 18 May 2012.
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