A SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN GROWTH INDUSTRY: MEDICAL-MARIJUANA ECONOMY IS THRIVING

KALAMAZOO -- A shop specializing in hydroponic-growing equipment
opened this month in Three Rivers.

In January, classes on soil nutrition and proper lighting will begin
in Kalamazoo.

By March, a cooperative in Benton Harbor may be doling out ounces of
pot to patients.

The medical-marijuana economy, booming on the east side of the state,
is sprouting in Southwest Michigan.

There's no limitation in terms of the level of growth in this
industry," said Charlie Smith, secretary of the Kalamazoo Area
Compassion Club, a group of 62 registered marijuana patients and
caregivers and their supporters.

Applications to become a medical-marijuana patient or caregiver --
someone who may grow and supply marijuana to the patients -- have
surged since the program started in April after voters approved the
use of pot for medicinal purposes.

So far this year, an average 69 applications have been filed each day
by prospective patients and caregivers seeking certification from the
Michigan Department of Community Health, records show. The state has
denied less than one of every five applications. Overall, the health
department has:

- - Received 11,517 applications (some pending); - Issued 6,439 patient
registrations; - Issued 2,686 caregiver registrations; - Denied 1,981
applications.

Inundated with requests, the health department often cannot issue a
card to patients and caregivers within 20 days of approval as
stipulated by the law, said James McCurtis Jr., a spokesman for the
department.

But that demand is what prompted Sean Muntian to open his Triple
Ripple Hydroponics store at 416 W. Michigan Ave., near the Three
Rivers police station. The store sells hydroponic-growing systems,
which can be used to grow marijuana indoors.

Muntian, 36, who last year lost his job building manufactured homes,
said the store opened earlier this month and did about $1,000 in sales
in the first week.

A lot of people in this part of the state haven't had a store to go
to," Muntian said. "Anyone who is not trying to put their foot in
some part of this business is a fool."

As of June, 1,974 people, including 190 in Southwest Michigan, had
received state identification cards to use medical marijuana. About
700 caregivers, including 78 locally, also were approved. Year-end
numbers for the area are not available because the state health
department no longer tracks medical-marijuana applications by county,
McCurtis Jr. said.

Particulars Of Pot

The business of providing and growing medicinal marijuana will be the
focus of Michigan Cannabis Classes Inc.

The school, incorporated through the state as a for-profit business,
will offer weekend workshops to teach growers soil, light and nutrient
management and cloning techniques. The workshops also will offer tips
to caregivers and steps to follow to meet the requirements of the law.

Kalamazoo Area Compassion Club members will teach the two-day
workshops, which should begin early next year, Smith said. The
workshops likely will be held in the club's meeting room at 10745
Stadium Drive in Texas Township.

Smith expects tuition to run a couple hundred dollars for each
eight-hour workshop. The demand for information -- and the chance to
cash in on the growing legal marijuana trade -- is high, he said.

It's becoming very open now. Before people couldn't even talk about
marijuana because it has been taboo their whole life," said Smith, 59.
"We did a lot of one-on-one to help people."

Schools that teach the basics of cannabis cultivation are opening in
the state. Lansing's HydroCollege, started in January, has trained
hundreds of growers, according to its Web site.

Med Grow Cannabis College, in Southfield, has graduated 60 students,
officials said.

Many local patients say access to quality marijuana is a problem.
Some say they drive to the east side of the state to get their pot;
others still buy it from illegal dealers, as they did in the past.

The Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team has worked few cases involving
medical marijuana, said Capt. Joseph Taylor, the drug unit's
commander. But Taylor suspects that as the number of caregivers and
patients increase, so will the number of abuses.

Under the law, marijuana can be used legally by patients in Michigan
with certain medical conditions, such as HIV/AIDS, multiple sclerosis
and glaucoma. Patients must have a state identification card and a
recommendation from a doctor.

Caregivers, who must be licensed to grow and provide the drug, can
cultivate up to 12 plants a year for as many as five clients.
Caregivers cannot charge for the marijuana itself, but can be
compensated for costs associated with growing it, such as labor and
electricity.

Changing Careers

Aaron Hatfield, 27, director of the Kalamazoo Area Compassion Club,
quit his job to grow marijuana plants.

His family of three relies on his wife's income and the small profit
Hatfield says he makes as a grower in Kalamazoo.

Despite the marginal profit, growing marijuana is a full-time job,
Hatfield said. Several times a day, he waters his plants and measures
light levels and the pH balance of the soil. He says he must
continuously seed new plants and harvest mature plants.

Jeremy, 30, is a grower and caregiver, who relies on the
medical-marijuana business to help pay the bills. His wife works, bur
he recently was laid off from his job as an electronics repairman.

Jeremy declined to give his full name for fear of theft of his plants
and equipment, which can be worth thousands of dollars.

You're never going to get rich if you're staying within the law," he
said. "But you can make enough to get by."

Paw Paw resident Greg Francisco, president of the Michigan Medical
Marijuana Association, said growing plants is not the way to make
money in the cannabis economy.

The profits are in the support industry, he said, such as supply
shops, designing ventilation systems and installing growing lights.
This fall the industry saw a demand for trimmers to harvest the buds
as plants matured. A trimmer, Francisco said, makes $20 an hour.

Kalamazoo currently has one indoor gardening supply store, Kalamazoo
Indoor Gardening Center, at 450 W. Maple Street. The store stocks
supplies that can be used to grow marijuana but does not cater to
patients or caregivers. Owner Paul Price said he has seen about a 10
percent bump in business since the medical-marijuana law passed.

Pot Wars

More competition is coming.

Owner Mark Coleman said about two-thirds of the customers at his H20
Grow Supply store in Coloma are medical-marijuana caregivers. The
shop, at 3364 Arent Court, opened this summer and sales have increased
throughout the year, he said.

Supply stores to serve the industry also are set to open in Kalamazoo,
Otsego and Paw Paw, according to government officials and state records.

And Benton Harbor could soon be home to one of the first
medical-marijuana cooperatives in the state, where caregivers could
pool their plants and provide marijuana to patients, said Francisco,
who is involved in the venture.

Other cities in Michigan have moved in the opposite
direction.

Grand Rapids has a moratorium on establishing cooperatives in the city
to provide marijuana. Saginaw is moving toward a similar ban while
officials in Royal Oak are debating whether to create a zone for
cooperatives or to prohibit them.