MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUSINESS BOOMING IN FORT COLLINS

Medicinal Gardens of Colorado is not your average Fort Collins retail shop.

It's tucked away in a stone cottage on the east edge of the parking
lot of the Carriage House Complex, 420 S. Howes St., with a modest
sign showing its location.

To get in, customers have to be "buzzed" through a locked door after
being checked out via a video camera.

Once inside, a client - or patient, as the business prefers to refer
to its customers - must check in at a reception desk and prove his
or her legal right to be in the store and to move on to the "medication room."

There lies the attraction and the controversy surrounding the
business and what it has to sell: medical marijuana.

Glass cases reminiscent of a deli display a variety of marijuana
products: edibles such as brownies, holiday cookies, Rice Krispies
bars; small pot plants; tinctures in capped bottles; and several
types of marijuana for smoking.

The price per gram for each product is clearly marked. Pipes and
other paraphernalia also are available.

In some settings and many states, what is on display would be
illegal. But it's legal in Colorado, where voters approved an
amendment to the state Constitution allowing the possession and use
of marijuana for medicinal purposes in 2000.

That, combined with recent decisions on the state and federal levels
concerning medical marijuana dispensaries, or MMDs, have led to a
sudden blossoming of marijuana retailers across Fort Collins and the state.

"It's an interesting industry," said Travis Cutbirth, one of the
owners of Medicinal Gardens of Colorado. Cutbirth is recognized by
the state as a medical marijuana patient and caregiver.

"It's not quite like a liquor store; it's not quite like a pharmacy;
it's not quite like a bakery; and it's not quite like a farmers
market," he said. "But there's a little bit of all those things in this."

Looking for rules

Operators of MMDs must check the ages and identifications of their
clients and make sure they have the paperwork required by the state
to be considered patients. They also must be familiar with how to
treat patients using the wide range of products available.

Like many MMDs, Medicinal Gardens grows its own product, as is
allowed by state law. The location of the indoor "grow" is a
carefully guarded secret.

It also limits the amount of marijuana a patient may purchase at one
time to 14 grams, which could cost between $150 and $200 depending
on the strain. The limit is intended to keep patients from buying
marijuana for resale.

Specific strains of marijuana may be used to treat specific
ailments, Cutbirth said, such as chronic pain, nausea, diarrhea,
anxiety and depression.

If marijuana had been discovered in recent years on a tropical
island, it would be considered a miracle medicinal plant, he said.

But because of the long history of prohibition against its use as an
intoxicant, marijuana is misunderstood by the public and the
politicians who would control its use for medical purposes, he said.

State and local officials are indeed struggling with how to regulate
the growing MMD industry. The Colorado General Assembly is expected
to consider legislation that would establish a licensing program for
dispensaries based on the number of patients they serve.

Legislation also may establish restrictions on doctors who write
prescriptions for marijuana, including a prohibition on receiving
payments from marijuana dispensaries.

Fort Collins area officials are looking into their options for
regulating the location of MMDs through land-use and zoning laws.
Some Front Range cities, including Greeley and Evans, have banned
dispensaries.

Fort Collins imposed a three-month moratorium on issuing sales-tax
licenses for MMDs that went into effect Friday. Larimer County last
week imposed a seven-month moratorium, and Loveland has a 10-month
ban on new licenses.

Talk of local moratoriums sparked a rush on sales-tax-license
applications in Fort Collins. As of Nov. 15, the city had 26
licensed dispensaries. As of Friday, it had 108, according to city records.

Offering advice

Operators of local MMDs say they want to work with the city and
county in coming up with their regulations.

At Abundant Healing, 351 Linden St., co-owner Drew Brown said clear
rules are needed on the number of plants a dispensary may grow to
serve its clients.

Rules for wholesale growers also are needed, he said, as well as
building codes for indoor growing locations.

The dispensary is still under construction and is expected to open
in January. Brown and business partner Joey Simental plan to make
their shop, which is located next door to a health club and gym,
part of an integrated wellness center.

Customers will be able to get marijuana, but they'll also have
access to herbal teas, massages and exercise classes.

"We want to make this a model for what these places can be," Brown said.

Jan Kramer of 3Rxing Phoenix Medicinals, 1325 E. Prospect Road, said
she expects to see restrictions on how close dispensaries may be to
one another and to residential areas.

But many dispensaries, including the office she's using in
conjunction with a physical therapy business, are close to
residential neighborhoods.

City officials should be careful not to infringe on the rights of
marijuana patients and caregivers, she said.

"If you place restrictions that are impractical by definition,
that's an unconstitutional restriction on someone's right to be a
caregiver," she said.

City officials are "naive" to think they can develop regulations on
MMDs without considering the Legislature's actions, she said. "This
is a very big statewide issue," she said. "It's much bigger than
what a home-rule city can deal with."

Kramer is a lawyer and former Larimer County magistrate. In her
practice, Kramer said she plans to work closely with primary-care
physicians and other health providers in treating patients.

The medical community should have a say in regulations developed to
address medical marijuana, she said.

Regulation of dispensaries and where they may operate makes sense,
Cutbirth said. But rather than use zoning codes to push MMDs into
undesirable parts of town, officials should focus on patient safety, he said.

Officials should set up a way to help patients who end up getting
ripped off by drug dealers presenting themselves as caregivers, he said.

"There are people who are abusing this situation, for sure," he
said. "But most of these people have legitimate needs, and they are
vulnerable because of their conditions or their financial situations
and they are being taken advantage of."

Cutbirth's partner at Medicinal Gardens, Tim Gordon, said ethics and
character should play a role in licensing MMDs in order to protect
patient safety.

"The people who are running medical marijuana dispensaries have to
put patients first and marijuana second," he said. "This is about
medicine and taking care of people."