The Reporter's Notebook, Ep. 8: The Speak Easy Affair
Jason Estrada attends a Las Cruces City Council hearing to determine the fate of Speak Easy’s business license at City Hall on Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022. (Nathan J. Fish / Las Cruces Sun-News)
In this episode, we’re joined by Michael McDevitt, who covers city and county government for the Sun-News, to look at the city’s recent revocation of the business license for Speak Easy — the cannabis-themed merch shop which first became embroiled in controversy last summer.
Speak Easy's license was pulled by the city after Jason Estrada was charged with a cannabis-related felony. He allegedly sold cannabis to undercover narcotics agents at the store, though the case has since been dismissed without prejudice and Estrada has asserted he did nothing wrong. While Estrada appealed the license revocation, the Las Cruces City Council denied it, allowing the revocation to go forward Feb. 8.
Estrada also was planning to run for Las Cruces mayor in 2023, but dropped those ambitions following the license revocation.
The now-closed shop, located at El Paseo and Idaho, will become a new cannabis business after Speak Easy's business registration license was yanked by the City of Las Cruces last week.
At the heart of the arrest and closure is a practice known as “gifting.” There’s a lot going on here, and I’m glad we’ve got Michael to help sort it all out.
This podcast was originally published by the Las Cruces Sun-News.
