Protestors carry signs outside Uncle Ike’s Pot Shop in Seattle. Photo by Patrick Wagner.
By Patrick Wagner
SEATTLE — Daily protests haven’t deterred customers from one of Seattle’s newest marijuana retail stores.
Initially, a daily group of protestors supporting Mount Calvary Christian Center held rallies twice a day, at noon and 5 p.m., to voice their concern with the proximity of Uncle Ike’s Pot Shop to the church.
“There’s an elementary school right up the hill, a church next door and a teen outreach program up across the street,” said Pastor Joe Phillips, from Holly Park Community Church in South Seattle. Phillips waves at honking cars that pass. “We want it relocated.”
About six inches and a chain link fence marks the dividing line between church property and the retail shop.
“It’s just wrong. It’s all just wrong,” Phillips said.
Uncle Ike’s owner Ian Eisenberg has taken the protestors in stride.
“Business is always better when the protesters are around,” he said. “People normally would miss us and drive right by, and from what I’ve heard the minister next door has been getting a lot more donations since this whole thing started.”
The pastor, along with several members of Mount Calvary and other community churches have been gathering outside of the retailer to protest since the shop opened. But despite signs that read, “Try God, NOT POT,” and other messages, many in the protest were more concerned about the location of the cannabis retailer, rather than
“Were not against legalization or pot retailers at all,” one protester said. “We just don’t want them here.”
“We don’t care that it’s pot,” Phillips added. “It just sends the wrong message.”
It’s also a battle over the parking lot, some said. Church members could previously use the parking lot before the business went in, protestors said. Now, the parking lot is reserved for customers of Uncle Ike’s.
“I’ve let them use the property for five years and now no more,” Eisenberg said.