Medical Marijuana Legal At Last

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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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News Hawk- Truth Seeker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: azdailysun.com
Author: Cyndy Cole
Contact: Flagstaff Publishing - Arizona Daily Sun - Contacts
Website: Medical marijuana legal at Last
 
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