POT DISPENSARIES THRIVING AS STIFFER REGULATION LOOMS

By all appearances, the people lined up at the handsome oak counter
with frosted-glass dividers could be in a quiet suburban post office.

Clerks with scales are answering customers' questions; credit cards
are being swiped.

But look closer at the merchandise and the brand names emblazoned on
the glass display jars: AK-47, Flying Monkey, Purple Haze, Jack Flash,
Kali Mist.

The shop is Patients Choice at 2251 S. Broadway. It is one of dozens
of medical-marijuana dispensaries that have sprouted in metro Denver
since Colorado legalized the use of pot by patients who hold
doctor-approved state permits.

Cannabis clinics are providing relief for clients and serious profits
for caregivers, the people authorized by the state to distribute
marijuana to patients. Green isn't just the color of the high-end pot
that can sell for $350 an ounce. The scent of money in the air is as
strong as the herb.

"We're here for the long haul, not to fill our pockets and run," said
Jim Bent, co-owner of Patients Choice. "We want to make this a
sustainable business."

State and city governments likely will have something to say about
that. Colorado legislators have announced plans to more tightly
regulate the budding businesses. Court rulings are already tightening
the rules for selling legal weed.

While dispensers anticipate stiffer laws - even in the wake of the
federal government banning the prosecution of medical-marijuana users
- - the shops are thriving. And despite the media swirl and pot's
longtime status as cultural and legal whipping boy, business at the
dispensaries is mellow.