DERYCK TSANG operates Herbal Choice Caregivers, the last remaining collective in the city. Tsang kept his access point open in defiance of a Oct. 2012 moratorium. Here he is in his clone room.
against his own city.” Though the loss was expected it still meant that all access was shut down in the city, forcing several thousand patients to find access outside of the city. Tsang said the loss meant he had to close his doors to sick and needy patients. “It has been really tough, not only emotionally but physically.” Tsang said. “We were closed for two months while the case was pending appeals — two long months. It was hard not being able to help patients.” This wasn’t the first time Tsang has been targeted by the city: he has stood up for his rights
and those of his patients every single time. “We’ve been closed by the city three times, they raided us once, they filed misdemeanor charges, then they pressed charges on my wife after she testified in court,” he said. Calamba Tsang, his wife, was charged with marijuana possession her self. “Possession, conspiracy, intent to deliver, they tied us up in court for over a year,” Deryck said. “Now after a year and a half, they’re about to give us our stuff back. Its been a waste of time and resources.” In a city that once had four access points,
Tsang’s Herbal Choice is the last one standing. Were it not for the efforts of the CAC and Tsang, the ban would still be in effect. “I want to take a stand here, I’ve lived here with my family for 12 years, I picked this because it was an industrial zone, there’s not a school for four miles,” Tsang said, standing in his access point’s clone room. “None of our neighbors have ever complained – we’ve never had any issues, except with the city.
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