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Shoppers at Maranda's medical marijuana dispensary on West Side Highway are greeted first with the fresh, pungent smell of cannabis and a framed "Reefer Madness" poster homage to the 1936 propaganda movie warning youth that they will go insane if they smoke pot. Hollie Hillman, 30, who founded the dispensary with her romantic partner Kathleen Nelson, 53, waits at a window. She asks patients to show their medical marijuana certifications and IDs, then buzzes them into a room where they can shop for marijuana products.
Inside are the fruits of a burgeoning legal marijuana industry. Although recreational marijuana stores are expected to open next year in Washington, Maranda's serves only medical patients. Still, the place is a veritable pot emporium – and a hint of what recreational marijuana stores may look like when they open in the spring. A glass-doored refrigerator is packed with edible THC products manufactured by a company called Cap'n Cosmics. There is coconut oil, Oreo bars, fruit loop-like cereals, brownies, chocolates and lollipops. Each package is labeled with a logo resembling the Quaker Oats cereal company's Cap'n Crunch character, a warning "Keep out of reach of children" and the slogan "Should I eat the whole thing?"
On another shelf are bags of THC-infused caramel corn, "which is way cool," said Hillman. A glass case contains BHO extract oil – pure, concentrated THC, which can be smoked. And then there are Cheeba Chews. "They're like Tootsie Rolls," explained Hillman, who, like Nelson, is a Kelso High School graduate. In large glass jars on a row of high shelves, are varieties of marijuana buds, all grown locally and each labeled with its name: Raspberry, Double Agent, White Berry, Super Blue Haze, Hawaiian Big Bud, Blue Cheeze, Blue Dream, L.A. Confidential. There are nearly two dozen in all, provided by medical marijuana growers whose plants have yielded more than their owners need, Hillman said. Most of the varieties cost $10-$12 per gram. The cost is considered a donation under the state's medical marijuana collective garden laws.
Hillman, who owns The Flip Side antique store on Commerce Avenue in Longview, said any money the dispensary makes is reinvested in the marijuana business. Hillman and Nelson said they aren't yet drawing a personal paycheck from the enterprise. The store, at 820-A Westside Highway, Kelso, has been open since November and serves 244 patients. It is one of two Maranda's dispensaries operated by the couple. The other, in Mount Solo Plaza at 4503 Ocean Beach Highway, has been open since June and serves more than 900 patients, Hillman said. The dispensaries are among about a half-dozen in Cowlitz County, not counting several delivery services.
"It's a growing industry. We're kind of getting on the ground floor," Hillman said. The stores, which employ a total of 10 people, are named for a friend of the couple who died in 2011. Hillman said that neither she nor Nelson uses marijuana. Nelson, a home health care provider, said she wanted to start providing medical marijuana because she could see how the drug was benefiting her patients. "I was sort of against it," said Hillman. "(Kathleen) did it anyway," Hillman said, gesturing at her partner of seven years. And then, Hillman said, "I saw the patients coming in." She said she started to see how those with cancer, epilepsy and chronic pain benefitted from having easy access to cannabis. "I thought, 'Hmmm, maybe I was wrong. It's not just a bunch of kids sitting around smoking pot.'"
The couple said they were especially concerned that police would arrest them for marijuana distribution despite the state's medical marijuana policies. That's what happened to five people involved with the Grass Rootz dispensary, just up West Side Highway in Lexington and at Naturally Yours, a dispensary on Ocean Beach Highway. Local police busted those operations late last year and this spring, and their proprietors were charged with felonies that could have resulted in lengthy prison sentences. Cowlitz County Prosecutor Sue Baur dropped the charges in October, saying marijuana cases are no longer a priority for her office. Hillman and Nelson said they watched those local cases closely and were relieved when the charges were dropped. "We feel a little better," Hillman said. The couple said patients who can't grow their own cannabis prefer the clean, well-organized store to buying on the street. "Every day people come in here and thank us for taking the risk provide the service," Nelson said.
The Washington Legislature is expected to consider in its next session revising the state's medical cannabis laws, which have become a confusing morass since voters legalized recreational marijuana sales. In fact, Hillman said, people without medical cards are starting to wander in to Maranda's, wanting to buy recreational marijuana under terms outlined in Initiative 502, approved by voters in 2012. Hillman said that, for now, she is turning them away. Nelson and Hillman plan to apply for a retail license to sell recreational marijuana. Hillman said they would prefer to stay primarily in the medical marijuana business, but she fears the Legislature's rule changes could put Maranda's out of business if the stores don't expand into the recreational market.
In addition to all of the pre-packaged products in Maranda's inventory, Hillman is growing a few dozen small marijuana plants in the store, including a variety containing a chemical compound known as CBD, which doesn't produce much of a "high," but has shown to be helpful in reducing seizures. Behind the store, an employee opened metal door opened with a clang, revealing larger marijuana plants growing inside the hulking metal shipping container.
"These are my plants!" Hillman said proudly. She said she knew nothing about growing marijuana – or any other plant – when she started, but has since found she has a knack for it and enjoys the work. "She's got a pretty good green thumb," Nelson said. "I do a lot of research," said Hillman. Nelson pointed at a small and slightly sad-looking Christmas tree (purchased by Hillman earlier in the day) and declared, "That's the worst looking plant in the store!"
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Tdn.com
Author: Tdn
Contact: Contact
Website: Medical marijuana shops serving hundreds of local patients
Inside are the fruits of a burgeoning legal marijuana industry. Although recreational marijuana stores are expected to open next year in Washington, Maranda's serves only medical patients. Still, the place is a veritable pot emporium – and a hint of what recreational marijuana stores may look like when they open in the spring. A glass-doored refrigerator is packed with edible THC products manufactured by a company called Cap'n Cosmics. There is coconut oil, Oreo bars, fruit loop-like cereals, brownies, chocolates and lollipops. Each package is labeled with a logo resembling the Quaker Oats cereal company's Cap'n Crunch character, a warning "Keep out of reach of children" and the slogan "Should I eat the whole thing?"
On another shelf are bags of THC-infused caramel corn, "which is way cool," said Hillman. A glass case contains BHO extract oil – pure, concentrated THC, which can be smoked. And then there are Cheeba Chews. "They're like Tootsie Rolls," explained Hillman, who, like Nelson, is a Kelso High School graduate. In large glass jars on a row of high shelves, are varieties of marijuana buds, all grown locally and each labeled with its name: Raspberry, Double Agent, White Berry, Super Blue Haze, Hawaiian Big Bud, Blue Cheeze, Blue Dream, L.A. Confidential. There are nearly two dozen in all, provided by medical marijuana growers whose plants have yielded more than their owners need, Hillman said. Most of the varieties cost $10-$12 per gram. The cost is considered a donation under the state's medical marijuana collective garden laws.
Hillman, who owns The Flip Side antique store on Commerce Avenue in Longview, said any money the dispensary makes is reinvested in the marijuana business. Hillman and Nelson said they aren't yet drawing a personal paycheck from the enterprise. The store, at 820-A Westside Highway, Kelso, has been open since November and serves 244 patients. It is one of two Maranda's dispensaries operated by the couple. The other, in Mount Solo Plaza at 4503 Ocean Beach Highway, has been open since June and serves more than 900 patients, Hillman said. The dispensaries are among about a half-dozen in Cowlitz County, not counting several delivery services.
"It's a growing industry. We're kind of getting on the ground floor," Hillman said. The stores, which employ a total of 10 people, are named for a friend of the couple who died in 2011. Hillman said that neither she nor Nelson uses marijuana. Nelson, a home health care provider, said she wanted to start providing medical marijuana because she could see how the drug was benefiting her patients. "I was sort of against it," said Hillman. "(Kathleen) did it anyway," Hillman said, gesturing at her partner of seven years. And then, Hillman said, "I saw the patients coming in." She said she started to see how those with cancer, epilepsy and chronic pain benefitted from having easy access to cannabis. "I thought, 'Hmmm, maybe I was wrong. It's not just a bunch of kids sitting around smoking pot.'"
The couple said they were especially concerned that police would arrest them for marijuana distribution despite the state's medical marijuana policies. That's what happened to five people involved with the Grass Rootz dispensary, just up West Side Highway in Lexington and at Naturally Yours, a dispensary on Ocean Beach Highway. Local police busted those operations late last year and this spring, and their proprietors were charged with felonies that could have resulted in lengthy prison sentences. Cowlitz County Prosecutor Sue Baur dropped the charges in October, saying marijuana cases are no longer a priority for her office. Hillman and Nelson said they watched those local cases closely and were relieved when the charges were dropped. "We feel a little better," Hillman said. The couple said patients who can't grow their own cannabis prefer the clean, well-organized store to buying on the street. "Every day people come in here and thank us for taking the risk provide the service," Nelson said.
The Washington Legislature is expected to consider in its next session revising the state's medical cannabis laws, which have become a confusing morass since voters legalized recreational marijuana sales. In fact, Hillman said, people without medical cards are starting to wander in to Maranda's, wanting to buy recreational marijuana under terms outlined in Initiative 502, approved by voters in 2012. Hillman said that, for now, she is turning them away. Nelson and Hillman plan to apply for a retail license to sell recreational marijuana. Hillman said they would prefer to stay primarily in the medical marijuana business, but she fears the Legislature's rule changes could put Maranda's out of business if the stores don't expand into the recreational market.
In addition to all of the pre-packaged products in Maranda's inventory, Hillman is growing a few dozen small marijuana plants in the store, including a variety containing a chemical compound known as CBD, which doesn't produce much of a "high," but has shown to be helpful in reducing seizures. Behind the store, an employee opened metal door opened with a clang, revealing larger marijuana plants growing inside the hulking metal shipping container.
"These are my plants!" Hillman said proudly. She said she knew nothing about growing marijuana – or any other plant – when she started, but has since found she has a knack for it and enjoys the work. "She's got a pretty good green thumb," Nelson said. "I do a lot of research," said Hillman. Nelson pointed at a small and slightly sad-looking Christmas tree (purchased by Hillman earlier in the day) and declared, "That's the worst looking plant in the store!"
News Moderator - The General @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: Tdn.com
Author: Tdn
Contact: Contact
Website: Medical marijuana shops serving hundreds of local patients
