At least three Bay Area marijuana dispensaries have announced they will no longer carry TreatWellHealth products after TreatWell founder Alison Ettel appeared in a viral video threatening to call the police on an 8-year-old black girl selling water in San Francisco, earning Ettel the nickname “Permit Patty” on social media.
Magnolia Wellness, Berkeley Patients Group and SPARC all made announcements on Saturday, hours after the video began circulating.
“We are proud supporters of justice, respect and dignity,” Magnolia posted on Facebook, explaining it will stop selling the tinctures immediately. “Always have been. Always will be. Treatwell didn’t treat this child well. Shame on them.”
BPG will donate profits from its remaining inventory of TreatWell products will donated be to a charity that supports young women entrepreneurs, according to its Facebook page. Calling it “the right thing to do,” SPARC also tweeted it ended its business relationship with TreatWell.
BPG will no longer carry #TreatWell products.
All profits from our remaining inventory will be donated to CinnamonGirls, Inc, an #Oakland based mentoring organization for #ambitious girls of color.
Consider donating on their website: https://t.co/hwDTS16OVn. ????????#PermitPatty
— Berkeley Patients Group (@BPGtweet) June 25, 2018
Effective immediately, we have ceased our relationship with Treatwell and will no longer sell their products.
— SPARC (@SPARCcannabis) June 24, 2018
The incident happened Saturday, on a warm afternoon in San Francisco. The girl, Jordan Rodgers, was selling water in front of her home near AT&T Park to crowds gathering for a Giants game. She was planning to use the money to help buy tickets to Disneyland for her and her family.
The video begins midway through the dispute between Ettle and Rodgers’ mother, Erin Austin.
“This woman don’t want a little girl to sell some water. She’s calling police on an 8-year-old little girl,” Austin narrates as she films Ettel ducking behind a wall. “You can hide all you want — the whole world is going to see you, boo.”
So my little cousin was selling water and didn't have a permit so this lady decided to call the cops on an 8 year old. #PermitPatty pic.twitter.com/SiL61pnAgl
— kakashi (@_ethiopiangold) June 23, 2018
In an interview with NBC News early Monday, Ettel said that “I tried to be polite but I was stern, and I said, ‘Please. I’m trying to work … you’re screaming, you’re yelling, and people have open windows. It’s a hot day. Can you please keep it down?’ ”
Austin, however, told NBC that “She never asked us to be quiet. She just came out and directly demanded to see a permit to sell water from an 8-year-old.”
Ettel said that she is “not proud” of how she acted. She said she would be willing to apologize to Austin and Rogers, but Austin indicated that she would not accept an apology. An online donor has bought four tickets for Rogers and her family to go to Disneyland.
boycott #PermitPatty n her company ???????????????? https://t.co/KdbyDnXVny
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) June 26, 2018
In a tweet early Monday evening, rapper and marijuana entrepreneur Snoop Dogg retweeted a post from his Merry Jane lifestyle/media site, and urged consumers to boycott Ettel and TreatWell Health.
TreatWell Health has not yet issued an official statement on the matter through its website or Twitter page.