BUTTE ENTREPRENEUR BRANCHES OUT IN MEDICAL POT; HOPES LAW IMPROVES

BUTTE - Butte entrepreneur Glenn Erickson is just trying to stay
afloat as the medical marijuana industry evolves into legitimate commerce.

Thus far, said Erickson, 55, it has been an adventure.

"From a business standpoint, there are a lot of unknowns," he said.
"Let's be honest, there is a lot that still needs to be cleared up."

Over the past 12 years, Erickson grew Gilligan's Tobacco Shop into
one of the state's largest single-location retailers of cigarettes,
smokeless tobacco and liquor.

Last month, on the second floor of his store, in a room that was
previously a restaurant and bar, Erickson opened MarMed of Montana.
Before doing so, he met with Butte-Silver Bow law enforcement and the
county attorney's office. He said he wanted to make sure he was doing
nothing illegal.

MarMed Butte is a place where those with medical marijuana cards can
pick up their medicine, seek advice and smoke. Customers with a valid
card, and with MarMed as their designated caregiver, can order
anything from a single-use joint to a month's supply of the drug. A
doctor is on site every two weeks to speak with patients and possibly
recommend medical marijuana.

The space resembles an Amsterdam coffeeshop, replete with dozens of
varieties of marijuana kept in jars behind the bar. It is clean and
quiet and the mood is relaxed. On a warm afternoon earlier this
month, more than a dozen people gathered inside MarMed, talking and
joking. Some stepped outside onto a deck to smoke.

"We wanted to provide a safe, secure atmosphere," said Erickson. He
said the same tenets that make his tobacco business successful -
product availability, freshness and low prices - are what can make
him successful in the world of medical marijuana.

"When it comes down to it, it's a business like any other," said Erickson.

But he admits there are issues with medical marijuana that he would
not face if he were selling, say, televisions or teakettles.

"I'm having a hard time buying insurance," said Erickson. "No one
wants to insure this, which leaves me in a difficult position."

Security is paramount in his business plan. He wants to make sure his
plants - he has more than 600 scattered across the state - are safely
hidden. In the store, he wants his employees and patients to feel secure.

Erickson hired Mark Gibbons to manage the dispensary. Gibbons, 44,
has a background in landscaping and previously worked as an emergency
medical technician. He has grown and supplied medical marijuana as a
licensed caregiver for more than a year.

"We want to be responsible, legitimate," Gibbons said.

Gibbons talks to his patients regularly, and makes suggestions on
certain varieties that can help with certain ailments. He said that
in his experience, individuals react differently to different strains
and users should try a number of them to determine what works best
for their symptoms.

"My ultimate goal is to have the best strains of marijuana from all
over the world," said Gibbons.

As for Erickson, his goal is just as ambitious. He would like MarMed
to have a statewide presence.

"I don't see why not, to have a well-known, well-respected chain of
places people can come in and know what to expect," he said.

But he sees problems in the 2004 law, and is expecting changes when
the Legislature meets next year. Though the initiative was passed by a

62 percent majority six years ago, it is vague at best and Erickson
wonders how it even got on the ballot without basic problems being addressed.

He said there are opportunities to improve the system. He said
marijuana caregivers should only be able to operate in commercially
zoned establishments, no different than a pharmacy. He would
recommend more regulation of dispensaries and doing away with the
"patient-caregiver" system, which he called "silly."

"I think if you have your card, you should be able to buy from any
licensed provider," he said. "That's just good open-market business."

Though he has moved conservatively forward with his business plan, he
thinks medical marijuana is here to stay in Montana. And he thinks
that is a good thing.

"I've seen a cloud of darkness shift away from people that were stuck
underground," said Erickson. "These people had social issues,
physical issues, but the stigma of being a marijuana user is going away."