On Thursday, the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) and other authorities raided a Ganja Galaxy event known as the Space Cafe which was being held at the Queen Bee’s Art and Cultural Center in North Park on Thursday evening, shuttering the event and detaining a number of vendors and attendees.
To anyone properly acquainted with the San Diego cannabis scene, Ganja Galaxy has been a familiar name for their patient-focused events which have provided thousands with affordable medicine for years.
In addition to the variety of cannabis available at the events, the periodic giveaways from the stage have given attendees a chance to walk away with a little bit extra.
“I think it gives patients access to the products directly, no middle man (licensed storefronts) or price markups,” said an unnamed attendee at Thursday’s event. “The events also allow us to get together with other patients to share our likes, dislikes, and tips for medicating. If friends can get together at the bar, we should be able to do the same.”
But the passage of Prop 64 in 2016 brought with it a crackdown on such patient-oriented cannabis events which had become a deeply-rooted and highly-valued part of the state’s cannabis culture.
Even in the midst of prior interactions with law enforcement who had been called to previous Ganja Galaxy events, organizer Beefe has always had the patients’ well-being in mind and managed to preserve their safety in the past.
“My ass is on the line, I am the event organizer, I’m the one that brings everybody here, I’m the one who provides this place for Y’all,” said Ganja Galaxy founder Beefe as he described a previous encounter with police at a summer event in 2018. “So remember that. I know what I got myself into and I’m not afraid to go away for this s***.”
Portions of Ohio Street and University Avenue were blocked off as police conducted the raid Thursday and it is being reported that the SDPD has issued misdemeanor citations as well as forced attendees and vendors to surrender electronics and submit their vehicles to additional searches with the threat of impound upon the discovery of other cannabis products inside.
It is being reported that one arrest has been made in the raid.
