DISPENSARY IN LIMBO AS MARIJUANA RULES UNFOLD

LONGMONT -- The future of the Feiler family's business is in the hands
of the city and the state.

Loree Feiler -- an attorney, mediator and former Florida criminal court
judge -- owns the Longmont and Boulder Nature's Medicine shops. Her
daughter, Allyson, who has a master's degree in business
entrepreneurship, takes care of much of the day-to-day operations.

Medical marijuana has been legal since 2000, but the constitutional
amendment did not account for dispensaries. A law passed this year
mandated licensing and regulation of the hundreds of dispensaries
already open statewide.

Nature's Medicine in Longmont met the Aug. 1 deadline to apply for
state licensing and must meet a September deadline to ensure the
business is producing 70 percent of the medical marijuana it dispenses.

That requirement meant the family had to find a location to cultivate
the marijuana. They opted for a place in the county after looking at
properties in and out of the city and working through zoning
requirements.

Further, state regulators have to complete full investigations of each
of the businesses -- a reported 800 of them -- that applied for licenses
in the state, which Feiler said could take months.

For instance, the state is expected to complete criminal backgrounds
on the owners and employees. Inspectors are also expected to audit the
personal and business finances for each dispensary.

Even the state license application required extensive financial
information.

But while the family has plenty of legal resources, Feiler said she
doesn't believe the volume of paperwork would deter anyone intent on
preserving their business.

"The (Colorado) Department of Revenue have made themselves very
available," she said.

Given the family's legal background, Feiler said she supports the
state regulation both to legitimize the business and to protect
patients. For instance, she said some dispensaries were using personal
kitchens to make edible medical marijuana goods. The requirement for a
commercial kitchen is a plus, she said.

The state also now tracks marijuana sales. So Nature's Medicine is
launching a point-of-sale and accounting system to help track the
product and accurately report sales to the state.

Feiler also appreciates that the state law seems aimed at making sure
the businesses aren't funded with money from any criminal enterprise.
No one with a previous drug felony or a felony conviction in the past
five years may own a dispensary.

The family bought the business last fall from Craig Clerkin, who ran
it as Ancient Alternatives.

The Longmont shop, at 1260 S. Hover St., is near a dentist's office
and used to house a chiropractor's office. It has the feel of a small
health-care operation, with a waiting room and rooms to meet with patients.

Feiler thinks the new regulations will benefit Nature's Medicine, one
of Longmont's seven medical marijuana centers. That is, if it clears
all of the state's hurdles and the Longmont City Council doesn't ban
the dispensaries, which state law allows.

"I think it would be a shame to have all the people we see here in
Longmont have to go to Boulder or Denver to get their medi-cine,"
Loree Feiler said.

While Feiler talked about the business, her daughter worked
constantly, helping patients or dealing with the office business.

Feiler said her daughter wanted to run her own business, and her
husband, who also is an attorney, researched medical marijuana for
years. She said the family works hard to keep the business open.

"It is not the cash cow people think it is," she said.