This article was originally published on the Marijuana Patients Organization site on July 17, 2011.
As an active investor and counselor in various medical marijuana operations and also a citizen of Michigan, I share concerns about the medical marijuana industry with opponents. Every day I hear citizens voicing discomfort about the prospect of a dispensary in their town and am often forced to agree with them. A lot of this fear is moral panic brought on by the status quo. A truer concern for communities should be less-than-professional operators of dispensaries.
As a resident of Michigan I am concerned with some of the individuals that are co-piloting the business of medical marijuana. It is a personal challenge to become the benchmark for dispensaries and provide comfort to neighbors that we can serve patients without tarnishing our communities.
Lansing is an example of what a town can expect when it refuses to address the issue of zoning dispensaries head on. I own one of the 40+ dispensaries in Lansing, Relief Choices, one of the first in the city and have seen the growth of dispensaries in a short period.
I am in favor of a free and open market and declare this not for my own business interest, just a message that local control with regulations is very much needed.
As a business we are committed to the medical use of marijuana and is reflected by our advertising initiatives and branding. When such competition for medical marijuana exists in a community, as witnessed in Lansing, dispensaries in a need to compete will often sacrifice their messaging. This behavior often tends to blur the lines and the marketing appeals more to a recreational consumer as opposed to a medical patient.
Neon-green-marijuana-leaf signs, the absolute fear of all communities, will come to those communities where competition is the greatest and/or local government has done little to address zoning issues. The ”clean up” that Lansing is now undertaking will prove to be a challenge and serve as a lesson to all communities ignoring the zoning of dispensaries.
Ryan Richmond
Richmond is the director of the Medical Marijuana Dispensary Association (dispensaryassociation.org) an organization that protects the public health by promoting the highest standards of practice and assists with regulations that help to govern the distribution of medical marijuana. Their promise to the public is what drives all decisions, standards and training efforts.