Tell me what you think…Please vote on the right hand side —————->
There’s a “new” business in town and they’re in the old Rexall pharmacy building. It’s called “Mr. Nice Guy’z Smoke Shop“. I put “new” in quotation marks because they’re not all that new. They’ve actually been operating a “medical marijuana delivery service” out of a duplex on Dry Creek road for quite a while now.
Check it out here. And here. And here.
Now, I’m not disputing the need or existence of medical marijuana dispensaries. I think cannabis has legitimate uses as medicine.
But this place is a little different. They have a website here, and among their products:
- Instant Virgin Spray is the perfect way to enable you to do away with dangerous and expensive cosmetic surgery to rejuvenate your vagina, because now you can easily enhance your vagina, with Instant Virgin.
- The Cock Torch is also very versatile in that it can be used not only for self pleasuring but could also be introduced into couples sex play very easily.
- Rasta Weed is a fine blend of herbs that when smoked, gives a euphoric high  that feels somewhat similar to high potency marijuana.
So now there’s a dispensary / smoke shop / adult store on the corner of Main Street USA. That’s just swell.
Really, where my concerns fall are two-fold; The location, and the sign.
Location: They’ve set up a storefront in the old Rexall building at the corner of Rio Linda Blvd and M Street. Right under the arch. The historical “entrance” to Rio Linda and Elverta. There’s a liquor store (Rio Linda Liquor… for god’s sake, paint your building) 50 yards to the east, and a bar (Lew’s) directly to the south. Across M street to the north is the abandoned Archway Hardware lot. Is this an image that we want to present to the people who are visiting Rio Linda? In an already blighted community, and on a particularly blighted M street, is this the impression we want to present when people travel under the historic and iconic Archway?
I think the business is fine. I think the location is completely wrong. Less than a half-mile away there’s already a head shop at the Food Source strip mall for all your bong, pipe, baggie and scale needs.
Sign: Are you kidding me? There’s a dude on the sign smoking a blunt!
In 2010, Sacramento County’s Department of Neighborhood Services developed the “Rio Linda Visions Plan” to to guide the revitalization of the Downtown Rio Linda / M Street corridor toward the goal of creating an attractive and vibrant downtown main street environment that attracts people, activities, and commerce while maintaining the community’s historic small town charm.
Some of the priorities developed within the community are:
- Maintain Rio Linda’s rural, small town character
- Address nuisances (e.g. code enforcement)
- Refine historic themes
- Focus on gateways to community
- Sidewalks on M Street, lighting, and signage improvements are top priorities
- Refine the historic themes in the downtown
I think locating the medical marijuana dispensary, or head shop, or smoke shop, right at the Archway intersection flies in the face of every single one of these priorities.
Unfortunately, I think the County’s business licensing and code enforcement departments have dropped the ball on this one, and no matter what I believe we’re going to be stuck with this business for a long, long time.
So now, tell me what you think… Should we be thankful a business opened there at all, or is it the wrong business in the wrong neighborhood?
Please vote on the right hand side —————->
