Pubdate: Sun, 15 Jun 2014
Source: Tribune, The (Greeley, CO)
Copyright: 2014 The Greeley Publishing Co.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/2T4s2YlD
Website: http://www.greeleytribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3165
Note: Note: typically publishes LTEs from circulation area only
Author: Trenton Sperry

FOURTH AND FINAL MEDICAL MARIJUANA DISPENSARY IN GARDEN CITY LAUNCHES 
RECREATIONAL SALES

Tucker Eldridge, master grower for Nature's Herbs and Wellness Center 
in Garden City, examines one of the plants Thursday that will be used 
for its recreational crop while at the store. Today will mark the 
grand opening of the recreational shop at Nature's Herbs.

Eldridge is the master grower at Nature's Herbs and Wellness, 522 
27th St. in Garden City. Today the store becomes the fourth and final 
medical marijuana dispensary in Garden City to officially launch 
recreational sales.

The pot shop has been preparing for recreational pot sales for about 
a year and a half, and its new growing operation reflects the 
company's anticipation of a surge in sales.

The company currently serves about 3,000 medical marijuana patients 
monthly, and Eldridge said they're hoping to match that number on the 
recreational side.

"We just got to the point where we're able to produce more than we 
sell, so we figured now was the right time to launch recreational," 
Eldridge said. "Basically, we can't grow enough pot as it is right now."

The store prepared for recreational sales by building a 
3,000-square-foot growing facility (with an extra 2,500 square feet 
in the basement) and a 5,000-square-foot vegetation area to house 125 
different strains of pot plants. The store began eating up properties 
around it, and now it's a virtual sprawl of greenhouses and grow rooms.

Eldridge watches over the whole operation, guiding the plants from 
seed to sale. Each step in his process is meticulous, from keeping 
the right amount of humidity for baby plants to monitoring the 
temperature in the greenhouses.

"I'll never go back to growing geraniums for little old rich ladies," 
he said and laughed. "I love what I do."

Nature's Herbs joins three other pot stores in Garden City in selling 
recreational marijuana. Figures released by the state Department of 
Revenue show the pot industry generated nearly $74,000 in sales taxes 
for the 1-square-mile town in April, nearly $60,000 of which was from 
recreational pot sales.

Eldridge and Nature's Herbs' owner are hopeful that number will 
continue to grow. In fact, they're banking on it.

"It's different because of the recreational; we're not really making 
a whole lot more money than medical because the taxes are higher," 
Eldridge said. "But we're hoping to see a couple hundred people per 
day, which is what we're seeing with medical."

Nature's Herbs is also hard at work perfecting its own edible 
products for its customers, from gummies to brownies to hard candies.

Among countertop heaters full of sticks of butter, Eldridge strolls 
to a freezer and pulls out a thin square of a hard, brown substance. 
This, he explains, is about 90 percent THC, the psychoactive 
ingredient in marijuana. The company refines the product down with 
industrial heaters until they obtain something that can be added into food.

The most difficult part, Eldridge said, has been working out the 
right consistency for the gummies.

"You try to find that point where it breaks when you bite into it 
instead of just chewing and chewing," he said. "It's harder than you'd think."

Once all the kinks are worked out and the facility's construction is 
completed, Eldridge said they should be running more raw voltage than 
the JBS beef plant. Asked if he thinks the upgrades and wait times 
have been worth it, Eldridge's answer is simple.

"Hell, yeah."

[sidebar]

Recreational grand opening

Nature's Herbs and Wellness is launching a grand opening for 
recreational marijuana sales today at its store, 522 27th St. in 
Garden City. The store will be open from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. The event will 
feature a barbecue for attendees, and the store is attempting to 
organize live music and other festivities.

For more information about the event, call the store at (970) 
353-1170 or go to www.naturesherbsandwellness.com.

Recreational pot in Garden City

Four stores in Garden City are now open for recreational marijuana sales.

XG Platinum: 2506 6th Ave. Open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-6 
p.m. Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday.

LivWell: 2647 8th Ave. Open 8 a.m.-7 p.m. every day.

Cannabis Care Wellness Center: 2515 7th Ave. Open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. 
Monday-Friday and 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Nature's Herbs and Wellness Center: 522 27th St. Open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. every day.

Recreational pot sales taxes in April

In April, Weld County generated the sixth-highest sales taxes from 
recreational pot sales in the state of Colorado. Garden City is the 
only place in Weld where recreational pot sales are allowed. The list is:

Denver County: $1,464,035

Boulder County: $209,618

Jefferson County: $156,149

Pueblo County: $129,740

Summit County: $128,693

Weld County: $59,332

Source: Colorado Department of Revenue
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom