CENTER HELPS MEDICAL MARIJUANA PATIENTS

ADRIAN, Mich. - Nicole Williams was sold on the benefits of medical
marijuana when she saw that a family member was helped by it. And
when she realized that medical marijuana patients in Lenawee County
needed to drive well outside the area to obtain the drug, she decided
to give them a local alternative: Medicinal Solutions Wellness Center.

The center, a private, members-only establishment at 227 N. Winter
St., Suite 305 in Adrian, provides its clients with medical marijuana
and plans to offer other services in the future, including classes
for patients on how to grow their own plants, massage therapy and
yoga instruction. Members, who must be registered medical marijuana
patients, pay a $20 membership fee plus the cost of the drug. A
medical history is required.

Opening the center was a risk, Williams admitted. "I kind of put
myself out there," she said. "I felt that what I was doing was right."

She created a business plan, talked with city officials and opened
the center's doors on Oct. 13. So far, she said, business has been
strong, with around 100 members joining to date, and the response
from the people she's discussed the business with has been positive
as well: "I've been getting very, very good feedback."

In Williams' mind, medical marijuana is an alternative to
prescription pharmaceuticals that she believes "mask more than heal.
. We're replacing one pharmaceutical drug with a natural alternative."

She is quick to dispel what she sees as a stereotype of medical
marijuana users: that they're "lazy stoners." Rather, she said, her
clients are mostly disabled, many of them with conditions like
arthritis or glaucoma, and benefit from being able to legally obtain
the drug closer to home rather than having to travel or requiring
their caregivers to travel.

Members may not consume the marijuana they purchase on or around the
premises, and Williams said the clients are told to use the product
at home and to observe the same precautions as they would need to
with a prescription drug carrying the typical warning about "not
driving or operating heavy machinery."

The center also provides weekly meetings to bring the members
together for support, to share information and to be educated on
exactly what Michigan's medical marijuana act allows and what their
rights are. In time, Williams and the center's co-owner - her
husband, Emilio Hernandez - plan to add grow classes as well as
massage therapy and yoga classes. Williams is working on getting some
massage therapy students and a yoga instructor.

Williams said she believes she is providing a service to people who
need it and "doing it in a helping, compassionate way."

"I believe we're doing good," she said.

The center is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and
10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

People interested in more information can go online at
www.medicinalsolutions.com