As Berkeley Patients Group prepared to shut its doors on May 1, it advertised a delivery service behind the front desk. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel Berkeley Patients Group took in $15 million and paid its top executives $911,000 in 2009, while only donating $18,083 to charities, according to a story released Wednesday by California Watch. Etienne […]
Rebecca DeKeuster
Posted inBusiness
Sadness surrounds closing of Berkeley Patients Group
Security guards check the credentials of a patient on the last day of operations of Berkeley Patients Group. Photo: Frances Dinkelspiel The mood was somber Monday at Berkeley Patients Group as the 12-and-a-half-year old cannabis dispensary got ready to shut its doors. Like every day, patients streamed in at a steady rate, handing over a […]
Posted inCity, Community
Federal letter may make Berkeley Patients Group relocate
Berkeley Patients Group on San Pablo Avenue: may be forced to move. Photos: Frances Dinkelspiel The owner of the building that houses the Berkeley Patients Group has put it up for sale, further fueling whispers that the federal government sent a letter ordering the cannabis dispensary to shut down. Gordon Commerical Real Estate is listing […]
Posted inCity
Does new cannabis body provide more accountability?
A marijuana grow room After months of delay, Berkeley’s new Medical Cannabis Commission will meet for the first time on Thursday, ushering in, city officials hope, a new era of oversight and accountability. For the past 15 years the medical marijuana business has operated in a gray zone, legal in the city and the state […]
Posted inBusiness
Berkeley cannabis lawsuit reveals bitter infighting
Rebecca DeKeuster. Photo courtesy of Portland Press-Herald Rebecca DeKeuster’s first job at the Berkeley Patients Group in 2004 was selling medical marijuana to patients for $14 an hour. Within six years, DeKeuster was one of Berkeley Patients Group’s most powerful executives and visible representatives. She served on the city’s medical cannabis commission, appeared regularly at […]
