The Cannabis Cafe on Northeast Dekum Street opened on Friday, Nov. 13 amid a flurry of anticipation and controversy.

As this paper went to press,  just over a week into the cafe’s operation, it appears the worst fears of neighbors have not come to pass. One business owner on Dekum, who originally worried his store might be burglarized, commented that his business has not been affected by the presence of the cafe. “Everything seems to be cool, as far as I can tell,”
he said.

On opening day, another neighbor complained that the cafe’s location was inappropriate given its proximity to an elementary school. She also worried about the noise, an issue that had come up frequently in the past with events hosted upstairs in the Village Ballroom. A week later, her spirits were noticeably higher. In an interview she was relieved to say that there was “no activity to report,” and that “[the cafe] has been really quiet over there.”

If you call the Community Youth Hotline these days to ask about the presence of Hmong gangs in North and Northeast Portland, you’ll get an unflinching, cool-headed response. Not what you might expect from the person who’s only been answering 503-823-GANG since Sept. 15.

In the short time that Imani Muhammad has held the hotline responsibility at the Northeast Coalition of Neighborhoods, she has revolutionized the position. Muhammad prefers to call herself the youth coordinator to shift the focus from gang prevention to life enrichment of young people. With every caller to the hotline, her goal has been to enroll each into an after-school program, whether in sports, a study hall or a chess club. She thinks that our city has too long targeted certain groups, such as foster homes, for special treatment.