Pubdate: Tue, 18 Jun 2013
Source: Arizona Daily Sun (AZ)
Copyright: 2013 Arizona Daily Sun
Contact: http://news.azdailysun.com/opinion/letter_submit.cfm
Website: http://www.azdailysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1906
Author: Cyndy Cole

MEDICAL MARIJUANA LEGAL AT LAST

Flagstaff's first establishment selling marijuana for medical purposes
opened on June 10, and the shop had lines out the door for most of the
day.

"I was pretty blown away how busy we were," said Kat Spillman,
business manager at High Mountain Health, a not-for-profit operating
out of a storefront on South Plaza Way next to a temp agency and a
plasma donation business.

Maybe it was unmet demand.

There are 946 people in Flagstaff and a total of 1,550 people in this
area who have cards to buy medical marijuana, from Page to Ash Fork,
Williams, Sedona and a few more rural points to the east and north.

But besides High Mountain Health, there will be only one other
marijuana dispensary open by this summer in the area: the Greenhouse
of Flagstaff, on North Switzer Canyon Drive.

High Mountain Health sells smokeable marijuana and ointments for
application on the skin.

"It provides incredible pain relief without that effect of feeling
high," dispensary manager Laura Rivero said of the ointment.

The dispensary also has hot sauce, brownies, and other
cannabis-containing foods, all provided by the only kitchen in the
state licensed to produce them, in Tucson.

MULTIPLE LOCKED DOORS

The staff comes from a range of previous jobs, including a former
employee at the Grassroots Wellness Center, a medical marijuana club
on Switzer Canyon Drive that has closed.

They're passionate about the idea of helping patients with chronic or
painful illnesses -- people undergoing chemotherapy, for example.

"Everybody knows somebody now who's benefiting from medical
marijuana," Rivero said.

Rows of labeled glass bottles holding different strains of marijuana
are locked in a case for dispensing.

The dispensary has multiple locked doors, fairly strong security
requirements, and customers have to show a card to make it into a room
where they can purchase marijuana.

The offerings are organized like a wine list, with top-shelf items at
one end, an array of mid-priced marijuana, and also "shake," or
low-quality, low-priced marijuana.

For security reasons, High Mountain Health directors are tight-lipped
about where their supplies come from and about some of the other logistics.

Allen House, a property owner in Flagstaff, is the nonprofit's owner
and operations manager.

The not-for-profit proposes to donate proceeds to the community; he
isn't sure how much will come in yet.

MEDICAL DIRECTOR ON STAFF

Flagstaff's second dispensary is scheduled to open on
Monday.

Greenhouse owner Brandon Hermansky has been a chef and has lived in
Flagstaff and the Valley, and he has spent hundreds of thousands of
dollars on the business to date, he said earlier this spring.

"We've been working on it for 2 1/2 years now. My entire family's in
the medical field and I hate needles, so it's a way to get involved in
it," Hermansky said.

Hermansky located his shop next door to David Grandon's medical
marijuana club, the Grassroots Wellness Center, which offered advice
on nutrition, end-of-life planning and support groups.

Grassroots has since closed, but Grandon proposes reopening elsewhere
at a later point.

Like High Mountain Health, Hermansky's Greenhouse will have a medical
director on staff to make recommendations for patients and scrutinize
records.

"Overall, I think more than half of our clientele is going to be
elderly and older," he said.

Men more than women, mostly reporting chronic pain, are the top
recipients for medical marijuana cards statewide.

The largest group of cardholders are aged 18-30.

Greenhouse is registered in Scottsdale as a non-profit named RCH
Wellness Center and is opening just yards away from Catholic Charities
Community Services.

MANY DIFFERENT STRAINS

Like High Mountain, Greenhouse of Flagstaff proposes to sell many
different strains of marijuana.

Generally they break down into two categories: One that produces a
light high that leaves the consumer feeling energetic, and another
that is heavier and more sedating.

"There are truly different effects from different strains," Hermansky
said.

In addition to medical marijuana, Hermansky proposes to bring in
people who can help patients write wills, arrange their finances, and
do estate planning.

And Greenhouse proposes to do something happening nowhere else (legally) 
in northern Arizona: Bake marijuana into food.
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MAP posted-by: Matt