Pubdate: Sat, 2 Apr 2011
Source: Daily News, The (Longview, WA)
Copyright: 2011 The Daily News
Contact:  http://www.tdn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2621
Author: Cheryll A. Borgaard, The Daily News
Bookmark: http://www.drugsense.org/cms/geoview/n-us-or (Oregon)

RAINIER FAMILY OPENS POT DISPENSARY

RAINIER - Lawanda Kissell suffers from fibromyalgia and rheumatoid 
arthritis. Not wanting to take strong painkillers, the Rainier 
resident said she turned to medical marijuana a year ago for relief.

Until Friday, the nearest medical marijuana dispensary for Kissell 
and Columbia County's 650 Oregon Medical Marijuana Program card 
carriers was in Portland. Now, they have to travel no farther than 
downtown Rainier.

"It's much nicer not having to go all the way to Portland," said Kissell, 31.

Staypuff Organics, a medical marijuana dispensary, opened Friday at 
113 E. First St. - somewhat to the chagrin of city leaders who could 
find no way to block it.

The family owned business offers various strains of marijuana in 
dried form, live plants and edibles (such as cookies and chocolates), 
lotions and oils. It also carries potting soil and other products for 
grow operations. It's the first medical marijuana dispensary in 
Columbia County and the only one in the lower Columbia region.

The owners - Ron Neveau, 45, Lori Neveau, 49 and their son, Ryan 
Neveau, 23, all of Rainier - say their primary goal is client safety.

"Buying on the street is not OK," said Ron Neveau, who has used 
medical marijuana for about six years. "I never had good friends that 
grew the stuff, so I always had to deal with somebody who knew somebody."

All three of the Neveaus are card-carrying

OMMP members and users: Ron for a congenital back disorder and 
injuries from a 1992 logging truck accident; Lori for a debilitating 
1995 injury to her legs; Ryan for osteoarthritis in his knees from 
football injuries.

To obtain their medical marijuana, they were going to Aloha and Salem 
dispensaries owned by Jenifer Valley and Michael Mullins of Stoney 
Girl Gardens, though Ron also was a grower. While at the 
dispensaries, they saw several people they recognized from Rainier.

"We talked to a lot of people, so we already knew there was a big 
need here," Lori Neveau said.

For $5,000, they enlisted the consulting services of Valley and 
Mullins, owners of several other OMMP-related businesses and 
dispensaries. The Southeast Portland pair made a presentation at the 
March 21 Rainier City Council meeting seeking to reassure authorities 
that Staypuff will be a legitimate business.

"This is not a young crowd looking for a party, " Mullins said 
Friday. "It's baby boomers, the blue collar community who need access 
without being thrown out there in the illegal world."

City Councilman David Langford expressed concern at the March 21 meeting.

"There is an inherent danger having anything to do with drugs that 
can be a menace to our community," he said then. "I will take a look 
at it with an open mind, but being a drug-free community is more 
important than anything else."

Friday, Langford said he still doesn't agree with medical marijuana, 
but he acknowledged that "they did put forth a good argument, so I'm 
going to be optimistic."

Mayor Jerry Cole said Thursday that he, too, was being "cautiously 
optimistic" about Staypuff Organics' opening.

"I'm not against medical marijuana, but just as anyone else, you 
don't like to see that stuff open in your town," he said. "I have 
hopes that it will be fine, and you won't even know it's there."

Staypuff opened at noon with about 25 clients waiting at the door, 
Lori Neveau said. People trickled in for the next six hours.

Customers must carry OMMP cards, which are available only from 
doctors or osteopaths. The lowest-cost marijuana available Friday was 
$8 a gram, and the Neveaus say they are selling the product at a 
price just to cover costs. They'll turn profits off $20-a-month 
memberships, which will be revoked if they suspect clients are 
reselling to non-card carriers.

Friday, Lori Neveau carefully checked each client's OMMP card, photo 
ID and made copies of them. Clients had to fill out registration and 
consent forms including the names of their growers and caregivers.

One by one, they were led through a coded, locked door to the back 
room to make purchases. There are four security cameras. No marijuana 
can be smoked, ingested or otherwise used at Staypuff, nor are there 
any growing gardens there. The marijuana plants, products and client 
records are removed from the premises every day to an undisclosed 
location, Ron Neveau said.

Neighboring business owners, like Derek Cowan of More Power 
Computers, seem to be unbothered by Staypuff's opening.

"Some of these people have to go someplace; at least it's some place 
secure," he said. "I'd rather see them get it safely than having to 
go out on the streets and maybe getting bad stuff."  
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake