[420 Girl]

The plants cultivated by CannaHelp, the medical marijuana collective locked down Thursday by Palm Springs authorities due to code violations, have been moved to a facility in Lake Elsinore so they don't die, CannaHelp's owner said Friday.

Meant to serve an estimated 2,400 local medical marijuana patients, the plants were growing inside the business, which had yet to open, at the time of Thursday's action.

“The heat, the lack of light, the lack of watering” put CannaHelp's 400 plants “in danger of being unusable,” owner Stacy Hochanadel said.

Palm Springs City Attorney Doug Holland said authorities had earlier discussed with CannaHelp staff how they might be able to enter the locked-down building to retrieve the plants, so they likely had permission to enter Friday.

Palm Springs police, fire and building officials closed and “red-tagged” the facility at 505 Industrial Place, after city inspectors found “significant building violations” that could lead to fire and safety hazards, according to Holland.

“This has nothing to do with marijuana,” he said Thursday.

The hazards included “intense large lamps” typically used to cultivate marijuana plants and improper electrical work and extension cords, Holland said.

On Thursday, several Palm Springs police entered the building with inspectors while another officer stood guard outside and prevented unauthorized people from entering.

City Manager David Ready said police accompany code enforcement to shut down a building when there's a security concern.

“What you had was a building full of marijuana,” Ready said. “They needed to make sure the building was secure it's not a criminal matter; it's a building code matter.”

Hochanadel said the lockdown followed the building inspectors' first visit to CannaHelp, though police and city planners had toured the facility “numerous” times prior.

CannaHelp was working with building officials to try to resolve the situation Friday, he said.

Hochanadel added that he had been growing the plants for at least the past six months in anticipation of securing a license from the city of Palm Springs to operate.

CannaHelp was days away from opening, he said, but city officials estimate it now could take up to six weeks to resolve the problems at the building.

Hochanadel said he hired an armed, private security firm to guard the building after the lockdown, since CannaHelp's alarm and camera system won't work with the power out.

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