Pubdate: Mon, 31 May 2010
Source: Missoulian (MT)
Copyright: 2010 Missoulian
Contact:  http://www.missoulian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/720
Note: Only prints letters from within its print circulation area
Author: Tim Trainor

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."
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart