One of the first unlicensed cannabis shops to be raided this year by the D.C. police department and other agencies was officially shut down days before it was set to open as a legal medical dispensary this November.
Kaliiva, in Adams Morgan, was one of almost 100 unlicensed cannabis gifting stores that applied to transition to a legal medical dispensary. The transition was part of D.C.’s unique effort to fold illegal cannabis shops functioning under the guise of Initiative 71 into a legal market. The March raid on the store, which resulted in the arrest of six employees who still face federal charges, was unprecedented.
Stores that were transitioning to legal medical dispensaries were supposed to be protected under D.C. law from enforcement for gifting cannabis while they worked to get open. No other store that applied during the unlicensed operator application period was raided or faced other enforcement actions. However, sores were not protected from facing enforcement for gifting illegal cannabis after they received their official legal medical license.
Kaliiva did not seem to learn its lesson as it was caught selling illegal product after receiving its legal medical dispensary license from ABCA in October. According to ABCA documents released to The Outlaw Report, the agency received a tip that the store was still selling unlicensed cannabis product.
After Jason Peru, the supervisory investigator confirmed that the store had not initiated any legal orders through the city’s tracking database, Peru then entered the establishment. He found a full store of unlicensed cannabis products.
Peru than was told that the licensee was waiting to order product from an ABCA licensed cultivator or manufacturer and asked him to give them a chance to “get rid of their unlicensed product before placing an order,” according to the summary of action released by ABCA.
The report details that the owner of Kaliiva (also spelled Kaliva), Dieu Tran, pleaded on the phone with Peru to “give her ‘another chance’,” despite Peru recounting numerous conversations warning the business that it violated ABCA rules to continue selling unlicensed product.
MPD officers than obtained and executed a warrant at the property where they confiscated 220 mylar bags, l08 resin packages, 96 jars of cannabis, 859 pre-rolls, 133 THC vapes/cartridges, 14 THC gummy chews, 4 THC tablets, 245 vapes and $3,819.
The ABC Board revoked Kaliiva’s license on Nov. 1, 2024 for selling unlicensed cannabis after receiving its medical cannabis license.
