The General
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Arizona - Three grams of Yavapai College student Nick Vanderhorst's medication cost him $56 at Cottonwood's first medical marijuana dispensary, Yavapai Herbal Services. Vanderhorst has been using marijuana for medical conditions since he was 13. After moving to Arizona from California, he decided to pursue a medical marijuana card partly for a foot fracture that didn't heal fully.
He said he went through a year of counseling before receiving his medical marijuana card. "With medical marijuana ... I can sit down and write a paper," he said. "Antidepressants are a very dangerous thing. The FDA believes they're a safe alternative to meditation and counseling, but we need to stop just handing out pills."
Yavapai Herbal Services bud tender Daniel "Boone" Gilliam said the dispensary is owned by a couple from Missouri with two young children. Their application was randomly chosen by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Cottonwood is their second location, with their first facility in Prescott, and has registered about 1,000 patients since opening in mid-August. It is located at 675 Ariz. 89A.
Gilliam started out as a caregiver, growing and providing medication for five patients. He became involved with Yavapai Herbal when the owner of MJ Consulting in Prescott Valley introduced him to the owners. Proposition 203 made medical marijuana legal in Arizona. Boone said he initially voted against the ballot measure, but started to see the benefits of it when his sister-in-law went through cancer treatment and died.
"Before I was a patient, I became a caregiver," he said. "I got my five patients, took care of them, grew medication for them, gave the medication to the patients, and found just a wonderful group of individuals benefiting from this product." He is now also a cardholder and uses marijuana to help with his seizures.
Without a dispensary in the area, residents have been able to grow their own medicine themselves or through a caregiver. "Caregivers are losing their right to grow because of the dispensary openings," Gilliam said. "They need to find a place to get rid of their medication, so they bring it here." Patients with the right to cultivate their own medicine will lose that designation when they make a change or renew their card. "At that time, we need to have a growth site established so we can continue our medication," Gilliam said. "One of the biggest bumps is supply."
Yavapai Herbal employees spent 10 to 15 minutes with first-time patients to find out what their needs are and which strain would work best for them. "People using it for medicine is not new," Gilliam said. "Doing it in the light, in front of a counter and being able to talk out loud about 15 different strains, that's new." Education is a big part of the services offered at the dispensary. Veterans often come in looking for relief and information about the medicine and how to use it without penalty from the Veterans Administration.
"The patients so appreciate being able to come to a facility and do their business in a place where they don't think they're' doing something wrong," Gilliam said. All dispensaries in the state operate as not-for-profit organizations. Yavapai Herbal is fully supplied through donations, and donate whatever money they have left at the end of the year to charities.
In 2011, Jerome residents and councilwoman Anne Bassett said they would support a dispensary in their hilltop town, citing the convenience to residents who already grow their own product without having to travel down the mountain to get their medicine, and the more potent strains that could be grown at that altitude.
When multiple applications are received for one area, the Arizona Department of Health Services conducts a lottery to determine which qualifying dispensary will be allowed to open its doors. There are specific criteria each application must meet before even being considered, like proving the prospective site is not near schools and is up to certain security standards. Gilliam said Yavapai Herbal owners were lucky to get picked twice. The business offers medicine and methods for patients to take it, like pipes and edibles from Scottsdale and Tucson. "It's fantastic to see somebody who hasn't really used the product, understand the product," he said.
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Verdenews.com
Author: Yvonne Gonzalez
Contact: Questions? Comments? Tell us what you think - The Verde Independent - Cottonwood, Arizona
Website: Medical marijuana dispensary off and running in Cottonwood (with video) - The Verde Independent - Cottonwood, Arizona
He said he went through a year of counseling before receiving his medical marijuana card. "With medical marijuana ... I can sit down and write a paper," he said. "Antidepressants are a very dangerous thing. The FDA believes they're a safe alternative to meditation and counseling, but we need to stop just handing out pills."
Yavapai Herbal Services bud tender Daniel "Boone" Gilliam said the dispensary is owned by a couple from Missouri with two young children. Their application was randomly chosen by the Arizona Department of Health Services. Cottonwood is their second location, with their first facility in Prescott, and has registered about 1,000 patients since opening in mid-August. It is located at 675 Ariz. 89A.
Gilliam started out as a caregiver, growing and providing medication for five patients. He became involved with Yavapai Herbal when the owner of MJ Consulting in Prescott Valley introduced him to the owners. Proposition 203 made medical marijuana legal in Arizona. Boone said he initially voted against the ballot measure, but started to see the benefits of it when his sister-in-law went through cancer treatment and died.
"Before I was a patient, I became a caregiver," he said. "I got my five patients, took care of them, grew medication for them, gave the medication to the patients, and found just a wonderful group of individuals benefiting from this product." He is now also a cardholder and uses marijuana to help with his seizures.
Without a dispensary in the area, residents have been able to grow their own medicine themselves or through a caregiver. "Caregivers are losing their right to grow because of the dispensary openings," Gilliam said. "They need to find a place to get rid of their medication, so they bring it here." Patients with the right to cultivate their own medicine will lose that designation when they make a change or renew their card. "At that time, we need to have a growth site established so we can continue our medication," Gilliam said. "One of the biggest bumps is supply."
Yavapai Herbal employees spent 10 to 15 minutes with first-time patients to find out what their needs are and which strain would work best for them. "People using it for medicine is not new," Gilliam said. "Doing it in the light, in front of a counter and being able to talk out loud about 15 different strains, that's new." Education is a big part of the services offered at the dispensary. Veterans often come in looking for relief and information about the medicine and how to use it without penalty from the Veterans Administration.
"The patients so appreciate being able to come to a facility and do their business in a place where they don't think they're' doing something wrong," Gilliam said. All dispensaries in the state operate as not-for-profit organizations. Yavapai Herbal is fully supplied through donations, and donate whatever money they have left at the end of the year to charities.
In 2011, Jerome residents and councilwoman Anne Bassett said they would support a dispensary in their hilltop town, citing the convenience to residents who already grow their own product without having to travel down the mountain to get their medicine, and the more potent strains that could be grown at that altitude.
When multiple applications are received for one area, the Arizona Department of Health Services conducts a lottery to determine which qualifying dispensary will be allowed to open its doors. There are specific criteria each application must meet before even being considered, like proving the prospective site is not near schools and is up to certain security standards. Gilliam said Yavapai Herbal owners were lucky to get picked twice. The business offers medicine and methods for patients to take it, like pipes and edibles from Scottsdale and Tucson. "It's fantastic to see somebody who hasn't really used the product, understand the product," he said.
News Hawk - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Verdenews.com
Author: Yvonne Gonzalez
Contact: Questions? Comments? Tell us what you think - The Verde Independent - Cottonwood, Arizona
Website: Medical marijuana dispensary off and running in Cottonwood (with video) - The Verde Independent - Cottonwood, Arizona
