(NewsNation) — As leaders grapple with growing violence in Portland, some business owners say they have been forced to shut down due to crime.
Meanwhile, a store is drawing crowds of customers and long lines due to its sales of psychedelic mushrooms, KPTV reported. It’s happening even though it’s illegal in Oregon to operate and sell the hallucinogenic component in mushrooms.
While some community members were concerned that the shop would add to the crime rate, one local business owner said this store and others like it aren’t actually the problem when it comes to the area’s crime issues.
Marcy Landolfo, a business owner impacted by the uptick in crime, closed her winter apparel store after experiencing 15 break-ins over the last 1 1/2 years. She said the shop isn’t to blame for the increase in crime.
“They’re not a problem. They’re not causing the crime in the city that is causing these retail thefts, and all the other stuff that is causing businesses to want to close up and leave,” she said.
Landolfo said the increase in crime has had a snowball effect since the 2020 riots.
“Things have snowballed out of control coming out of that, and one of which is the drug use and the crime associated with it,” Landolfo said. “There are meth labs, illegally operating all over the city, in RVs and homeless camps.”