Pubdate: Sat, 2 Apr 2011 Source: Daily News, The (Longview, WA) Copyright: 2011 The Daily News Contact: http://www.tdn.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2621 Author: Cheryll A. Borgaard, The Daily News Bookmark: http://www.drugsense.org/cms/geoview/n-us-or (Oregon) RAINIER FAMILY OPENS POT DISPENSARY RAINIER - Lawanda Kissell suffers from fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis. Not wanting to take strong painkillers, the Rainier resident said she turned to medical marijuana a year ago for relief. Until Friday, the nearest medical marijuana dispensary for Kissell and Columbia County's 650 Oregon Medical Marijuana Program card carriers was in Portland. Now, they have to travel no farther than downtown Rainier. "It's much nicer not having to go all the way to Portland," said Kissell, 31. Staypuff Organics, a medical marijuana dispensary, opened Friday at 113 E. First St. - somewhat to the chagrin of city leaders who could find no way to block it. The family owned business offers various strains of marijuana in dried form, live plants and edibles (such as cookies and chocolates), lotions and oils. It also carries potting soil and other products for grow operations. It's the first medical marijuana dispensary in Columbia County and the only one in the lower Columbia region. The owners - Ron Neveau, 45, Lori Neveau, 49 and their son, Ryan Neveau, 23, all of Rainier - say their primary goal is client safety. "Buying on the street is not OK," said Ron Neveau, who has used medical marijuana for about six years. "I never had good friends that grew the stuff, so I always had to deal with somebody who knew somebody." All three of the Neveaus are card-carrying OMMP members and users: Ron for a congenital back disorder and injuries from a 1992 logging truck accident; Lori for a debilitating 1995 injury to her legs; Ryan for osteoarthritis in his knees from football injuries. To obtain their medical marijuana, they were going to Aloha and Salem dispensaries owned by Jenifer Valley and Michael Mullins of Stoney Girl Gardens, though Ron also was a grower. While at the dispensaries, they saw several people they recognized from Rainier. "We talked to a lot of people, so we already knew there was a big need here," Lori Neveau said. For $5,000, they enlisted the consulting services of Valley and Mullins, owners of several other OMMP-related businesses and dispensaries. The Southeast Portland pair made a presentation at the March 21 Rainier City Council meeting seeking to reassure authorities that Staypuff will be a legitimate business. "This is not a young crowd looking for a party, " Mullins said Friday. "It's baby boomers, the blue collar community who need access without being thrown out there in the illegal world." City Councilman David Langford expressed concern at the March 21 meeting. "There is an inherent danger having anything to do with drugs that can be a menace to our community," he said then. "I will take a look at it with an open mind, but being a drug-free community is more important than anything else." Friday, Langford said he still doesn't agree with medical marijuana, but he acknowledged that "they did put forth a good argument, so I'm going to be optimistic." Mayor Jerry Cole said Thursday that he, too, was being "cautiously optimistic" about Staypuff Organics' opening. "I'm not against medical marijuana, but just as anyone else, you don't like to see that stuff open in your town," he said. "I have hopes that it will be fine, and you won't even know it's there." Staypuff opened at noon with about 25 clients waiting at the door, Lori Neveau said. People trickled in for the next six hours. Customers must carry OMMP cards, which are available only from doctors or osteopaths. The lowest-cost marijuana available Friday was $8 a gram, and the Neveaus say they are selling the product at a price just to cover costs. They'll turn profits off $20-a-month memberships, which will be revoked if they suspect clients are reselling to non-card carriers. Friday, Lori Neveau carefully checked each client's OMMP card, photo ID and made copies of them. Clients had to fill out registration and consent forms including the names of their growers and caregivers. One by one, they were led through a coded, locked door to the back room to make purchases. There are four security cameras. No marijuana can be smoked, ingested or otherwise used at Staypuff, nor are there any growing gardens there. The marijuana plants, products and client records are removed from the premises every day to an undisclosed location, Ron Neveau said. Neighboring business owners, like Derek Cowan of More Power Computers, seem to be unbothered by Staypuff's opening. "Some of these people have to go someplace; at least it's some place secure," he said. "I'd rather see them get it safely than having to go out on the streets and maybe getting bad stuff." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake