in Renton, hired private security after they were robbed in December and January.”There’s been a huge uptick in armed robberies in the cannabis world,” Owner Myles Kahn said.His business, which is about to celebrate its 6th anniversary next month, is popular among customers.
But the recent incidents have alarmed Kahn and his staff to the point where they’ve taken action to increase security.”We have our own internal security, unarmed previously, and it seemed to have been enough.
We have cash, and we have drugs, right? So that’s very attractive for the wrong type,” Kahn said.Kahn said security is now part of his ongoing budget and is a significant expense.”We can’t even deduct it from our taxes, because as a federally illegal business, we cannot deduct our normal business expenses,” Kahn said.He is now looking toward the government for a long-term fix.”The state could help us, maybe at least giving us a credit against the cannabis tax for the increased costs of security,” Kahn said.