GROWTH OF MEDICAL-MARIJUANA DEMAND FUELS COLORADO LAND RUSH

Real estate brokers say that Colorado's medical-marijuana law has
sparked a land rush, as entrepreneurs lured by a growing number of
licensed users search for properties for growing or selling pot.

In a down real estate market, landlords who might otherwise wait for
more conventional tenants are snapping at the opportunity presented by
medical-marijuana dispensaries, said Darrin Revious, a broker with
Shames Makovsky Realty.

"I am working a couple of these deals right now," he said. "It is
absolutely crazy how many of these deals are in the market. I can't
believe it."

Since voters approved Amendment 20 in 2000 allowing the use of medical
marijuana to treat eight specific conditions, the number of people
legally allowed to buy the herb has steadily climbed. In 2007, 1,955
people held medical marijuana cards; the following year, there were
4,720 people on the Colorado Department of Public Health and
Environment's Medical Marijuana Registry. The number has grown to
about 13,000, health department spokesman Mark Salley said.

On an average day, the department receives 400 requests for
medical-marijuana cards, and some days applications are as high as
600, Salley said.

Revious said he receives at least one request per day from brokers
representing people seeking property suitable for grow operations or
dispensaries, where medical pot is sold to card-carrying patients.
Over the past three or four months, he said, demand for the properties
has soared.

"I need (5,000 square feet in) LoDo, or there about . . . retail,"
says one e-mail he received from a broker. "Wellness center -- yes,
medical marijuana. A group expanding out of California -- a real one."

Warren Edson, an attorney who handles medical-marijuana cases and
advises people trying to set up cannabis collectives and cooperatives,
said he believes the rise in demand is related to the increasing
number of patients approved to buy the drug.

"My share of stoners"

Many people became more aware that pot was legal for those with
medical conditions this summer, when the state Board of Health
rejected a move to cap at five the number of people a
medical-marijuana caregiver can supply, he added.

"It was publicity," Edson said. "It meant the average Joe was seeing
it discussed on the news, and saying maybe I should go to my doctor
about this; it isn't just for crazy people."

Six months ago, Edson said, many of those seeking the cards were
terribly sick, or were "hippies" looking to get high. "Now we are
seeing a greater cross section of individuals."

Laurel Alterman opened AlterMeds at the Colony Square Shopping Center
in Louisville earlier this month, just before the City Council
approved a moratorium on new dispensaries.

Alterman abandoned her real estate business, which has done poorly
recently, to open the dispensary. "When the Board of Health expanded
the roll of caregivers this summer, the opportunity to open became
very attractive, and my son was working in a dispensary in Denver and
knew the business," she said. "I just jumped off a building without a
parachute."

Paul Tamburello, a broker's associate with Distinctive Properties,
said he gets three calls a week from business people who want to lease
a building he owns at West 32nd Avenue and Zuni Street to use as a
dispensary.

"Some are really legitimate businesspeople, but I certainly run into
my share of stoners," he said.

There are four dispensaries within a mile of the building, he said.
"There certainly seems to be a plethora of dispensaries trying to
open. I call it the new gold rush. A lot of these guys are seeing
dollar signs. I don't know how lucrative it will be if the velocity of
growth continues on the path it is on."

Alterman said she expects to earn twice as much as she made annually
in real estate by selling medical marijuana.

One businessman said he has been approached a number of times by
people who wanted to rent space for a dispensary in his Colfax Avenue
business. He refused. "We don't rent space," said the man, who asked
that his name and business not be published because marijuana has
negative connotations for many.

Some Californians who wanted to open a dispensary in the area asked
him what he thought his building is worth. When he said it was
appraised at $850,000 they offered $750,000 in cash at closing.

Tighter regulations loom

Concern over the mushrooming number of dispensaries is growing, and
some cities and towns are studying regulations to limit them, while
others have passed outright bans.

State Sen. Chris Romer, D-Denver, plans to introduce a bill next year
that would clarify regulations involving pot-using patients.

Alterman said she wouldn't object to some regulation in the industry
that could make the shops operate more like licensed pharmacies. And
she sees a need for properly zoning the establishments.

Tight security measures are necessary to operate the shops and grow
operations, which are natural targets for thieves, she said. "Zoning
laws are important," she said. "This is a business that is
inappropriate for a residential area because, yes, it is dangerous."