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Woman resigns as CEO of company after backlash from calling police on girl selling water

Young black girl selling water confronted
Woman allegedly calls police on 8-year-old black girl selling water 03:02

STUDIO CITY, Calif. — The woman dubbed "Permit Patty" for threatening to call police on an 8-year-old black girl selling water on the street has stepped down as CEO of her cannabis company. CBS Los Angeles reports the move follows a massive online backlash that resulted in her products getting dropped by other marijuana sellers.

Several Bay Area dispensaries are now refusing to sell products made by Alison Ettel's company TreatWell Health, The San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

"It is Ms. Ettel's belief that TreatWell, its employees and patients should not have to suffer because of a situation that occurred in an escalated moment," company spokeswoman Cynthia Gonzalez is quoted as saying in the paper.

At least three marijuana dispensaries stated publicly they would stop selling TreatWell products.

"I forgot to mention that we had pulled [TreatWell's] product line as soon as we saw the video," said the manager of one San Francisco store. "We do not support that type of behavior!"

TreatWell sells pain-easing "cannabis-based tinctures in different ratios for humans and pets," The Los Angeles Times reported last year.

The producer of "Lady Buds," an upcoming documentary on women in the legal cannabis industry, said Ettel would no longer be part of the project.

Some have pointed out the irony of Ettel selling marijuana products for dogs despite the fact that cannabis is not regulated or approved for use on animals.

She told the Chronicle in 2015 that the company's practice was "kind of like 'don't ask, don't tell.'"

The online debacle began when video of Ettel appearing to call the police to report 8-year-old Jordan Rodgers for selling $2 bottles of water near AT&T Park Saturday went viral.

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