32 Replies to "35th/Roxbury medical-marijuana business now open"

• OhItsAlreadyBeenBrung June 29, 2011 (7:55 am)

  Fantastic that it’s open. The place looks great. The signs are nice. It’s all spruced up on that corner. Finally we have people with a solid business sense who will keep their part of the neighborhood safe and tidy. As said before, it’s wonderful to have owners who can both help people in need as well as properly run a viable business plan. I don’t have any experience in this kind of thing but I must say the prices are very very reasonable. Much MUCH less expensive than any of the ‘other (Rite Aid, Walgreens, etc. pharmacy)’ ‘prescription’ medication that I am aware of. Much MUCH less than I had guessed someone would have to pay.
  **********
  If any of the other
  Roxbury & 35th Business Owners
  are reading this:
  PLEASE CLAN UP YOUR STORES!
  Your businesses look like a slum. You make my neighborhood look like crap and I am not happy about that. Sweep; Wash; Change your light bulbs when they are dim or broken; Paint; Take own any tattered/faded posters in the windows — put new ones up if you got ’em, or maybe just wash the glass if you don’t. Just clean up please. I know you have the time because with your businesses looking the way they do you can’t possibly be busy with customers. This goes for all of you but especially the NW corner of the intersection.

• WSSpartan June 29, 2011 (12:59 pm)

  Good luck to NPRC! Glad to have you in the neighborhood.

• Cbo June 29, 2011 (1:44 pm)

  Just another pot pawn shop
  Can get way better deals elsewhere

• not in my hood June 29, 2011 (3:00 pm)

  Oh yes I am sure it will remain safe and tidy! I can’t wait to see how many time they get robbed. I think it’s funny you are razzing the other business owners to clean up when really what could you crave more then a beer and a pizza after you get high.

  Really people really!

• hmmm June 29, 2011 (3:39 pm)

  i’m not sure we want the neighborhood to ‘clan up’, do we?
  good luck selling dope. at least its not a starbucks.

• John June 29, 2011 (3:40 pm)

  They Have Pizza!?

• Droog June 29, 2011 (4:14 pm)

  not in my hood – and I am sure a pharmacy has never been robbed for OxyContin, or a liquor store has never been held up right?

• k2 June 29, 2011 (5:59 pm)

  Pharmacies only get robbed by the people working behind the counter.

  and “not in my hood’ what does cleaning up your business have to do with getting the munchies? that’s a logical fallacy.

  Anyway, I never get the munchies, actually the green keeps me lean…and beer is foul. Hops is a depressant, and alcohol in general is a nightmare…the havoc it does to your body, your wallet and your community are unparalleled. It is the #1 killer in America, death by drunk driving is death by alcohol. heart disease, liver trouble and some cancers are all related to booze.

• furor scribendi June 29, 2011 (6:04 pm)

  Hope this illegal “business” will lose money, lose their lease, and leave town soon. What a ‘drug’ on the neighborhood!

• Ting Ting June 29, 2011 (6:36 pm)

  Hey Maybe you could find a spot closer to a school zone. If you could keep your patrons from medicating in there cars, this way all the children walking home don’t have to worry about being run over that would be great.

• Yardvark June 29, 2011 (8:35 pm)

  Best of luck with the new business! Looks like you’ll have to earn respect from some of these posts. Hope you do.

• More WS Family June 29, 2011 (8:41 pm)

  Now, where did the store owner get all the capital cash to open this place? Hmmm….. let’s think hard….. illegal drugs? NO!! Couldn’t be! Ya think?!

  Anyone who supports this ‘business’ isn’t thinking, has little prospects in life, or just doesn’t care. Wait….. that’s what smoking dope does to you.

  And the property owner? Desperate for cash and doesn’t give a %$!? about the community. Greedy. Selfish.

  To the store owner and property owner: I wish you no good tidings and all the worst luck that anyone can have. You don’t care about your community — nor should your community care about you.

  To Seattle Police: I hope you guys do not give this store any priority if any trouble happens there. They’re selling pot, for gosh sake. I think a cat stuck up in a tree gets higher priority.

• Yardvark June 29, 2011 (10:09 pm)

  You sound like a lovely and well informed person, More Family. I’m sure the Seattle Police will be following your advice.

• seattlegirl June 29, 2011 (11:51 pm)

  Oh come on WS open up, as a mother and child with serious illness this may be an option. It is not our first but it may be our last at relieving gastroparysis, thats right look it up because I amsure you have never had a child at Childrens Hospital multiple times that is now 18 or for that matter an adult. Walk a mile in an Indians Moccassins and then tell me how you feel. Good Luck to the new pharmacy, I know I will be using you.

• velo_nut June 30, 2011 (7:43 am)

  “Get off my lawn you damn dope smokers!!!”
  *

• My Eye June 30, 2011 (7:45 am)

  It is a pharmacy in the same way drug dealer is a pharmacist.

  Seriously, these guys care so much about the community they open up less than 1/2 a mile from an elementary school.

• T-Rex June 30, 2011 (8:04 am)

  Why does no one mention what pot does to your lungs??? It is just as bad as smoking cigarettes!

• Jay Bird June 30, 2011 (8:37 am)

  Lighten up people and do some broader research before condemning this option for people in need of help. I wish this business the best.

  @T-Rex: do you have anything to back up your statement?

• RickM June 30, 2011 (9:14 am)

  I’m just happy to have a business that looks clean and tidy in an otherwise run-down, hole of an intersection. Let’s hope this is just the beginning.

• kat June 30, 2011 (9:21 am)

  What a sorry state our neighborhood has become. Who care’s if it’s illegal, right? More fun to be had when the dopers start hanging around their parking lot waiting for their chance to get their hands on all that pot!!!

  And to Jay Bird, this is from website http://www.nida.nih.gov

  Q: What are the long-term effects of marijuana use?
  A: Findings so far show that regular use of marijuana or THC may play a role in some kinds of cancer and in problems with the respiratory and immune systems.

  Cancer
  It’s hard to know for sure whether marijuana use alone causes cancer, because many people who smoke marijuana also smoke cigarettes and use other drugs. But it is known that marijuana smoke contains some of the same, and sometimes even more, of the cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Studies show that someone who smokes five joints per day may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day (15) .

  Lungs and airways
  People who smoke marijuana often develop the same kinds of breathing problems that cigarette smokers have: coughing and wheezing. They tend to have more chest colds than nonusers. They are also at greater risk of getting lung infections like pneumonia.

  Immune system
  Our immune system protects the body from many agents that cause disease. It is not certain whether marijuana damages the immune system of people, but both animal and human studies have shown that marijuana impairs the ability of T-cells in the lungs’ immune systemm to fight off some infections.

• West Seattle Native June 30, 2011 (9:32 am)

  Actually, while marijuana can actually contain more carcinogens than certain tobacco products, study after study (conducted by parties on both sides of the fence) has concluded that marijuana smokers have astronomically lower rates of cancer than tobacco smokers. Certain strains have been proven to prevent cancer, and help with asthmatic symptoms. So that’s why they don’t mention what it does to your lungs.

• West Seattle Native June 30, 2011 (9:40 am)

  @ WS Family: I happen to know exactly where the capital for this operation came from (in a legal capacity), and I can tell you that you’re absolutely incorrect. You’re also ignorant, which was clearly demonstrated by your presentation of assumption as fact. To say that anyone who supports this venture “isn’t thinking, has little prospects in life, or just doesn’t care” is completely rude and idiotic. You actually insulted yourself more than the people you intended to judge by saying something so baseless and inconsiderate. It’s too bad you’re the kind of “WS Family” that would wish “the worst luck anyone can have” on someone for trying to help someone. Maybe you should take your “WS Family” back to where you came from, because your ignorance and negativity is exactly what’s wrong with the West Seattle that I’ve spent my whole life in.

• West Seattle Native June 30, 2011 (10:05 am)

  Now that the “Bill O’Reilly’s” of the West Seattle Blog have spoken, let’s talk about some PERTINENT FACTS:

  I’ve been to several patient co-ops, dispensaries, etc., all with their own level of severity and security with regards to patient verification and authorization. The NWPRC was, without a doubt, the most efficient. Membership with the NWPRC even provides considerations for the public, such as contractual agreements and declarations that no loitering shall take place after transactions, and no medicating can be done within a certain distance of the establishment. This establishment has done more to protect the community from the potential negative aspects of its business than any tavern, liquor store, or pharmacy that I’ve ever seen.

  The environment is quite clean, tidy, and professional. You’re not dealing with people in cut-off jean shorts and tie-dyed shirts. It’s intelligent people who speak well, and provide a feeling of medical professionalism right down to their white lab coats. The waiting area is filled with educational literature, a flat screen HDTV, and comfortable seating.

  The products offered vary. There are dozens of marijuana strains that have been tested and labeled for THC, CBD, and CBN levels. At the counter, there are digital-zoom microscopes connected to flat-screen monitors set up for patients to better analyze their medicine. There is a very educational pie chart detailing the the chemical properties of the different strains, and how they can be applied to alleviate specific symptoms. The edible applications are prepared in conjunction with a certified chef.

  As a responsible, educated, informed, married, tax-paying, child-raising, church-supporting, lifelong resident of West Seattle from Lafayette to West Seattle High School (Indians not Wildcats)……. I couldn’t disagree more with the majority of the assumptions being made in these comments. Please, if you truly care about West Seattle, don’t join the ranks of those who spread ignorance and misinformation. Seek the facts, and formulate your own opinions.

• T-Rex June 30, 2011 (10:13 am)

  Good info Kat. Hard to believe you would actually have to prove this to people. Our lungs were meant for breathing, not to be posioned by SMOKE, regardless of what kind it it.

  If you don’t think it will harm you, then smoke away!

• Jay Bird June 30, 2011 (10:40 am)

  @Kat:

  You’ve obviously seen all the “dopers” that hang around these medical marijuana facilities, yes? They look just like those crazed out kids from Reefer Madness, huh? I bet they even listen to that wild jazz music before plotting to “get their hands on all that pot!!!” C’mon, pull your head out.

  True, smoking anything is not good for your health, but there are other ways to ingest marijuana that don’t involved smoke. Plus, marijuana doesn’t contain nicotine. Did you happen to read what NIDA site has to say about that? Do some research, then go protest every single convenience store that sells cigarettes.

• big b June 30, 2011 (10:45 am)

  Out Of all the pharmacys in the neiborhood this is the nicest . And they have the safest and the best medication in town . I wish them the best of luck.thank you nwprc.

• Nulu June 30, 2011 (11:08 am)

  OK T-Rex and Kat, we all see that you stick to your statistically empty claims, but…can you address marijuana dosed by vaporizers, teas, edibles and even suppositories?

• John Davis June 30, 2011 (3:32 pm)

  To the well-wishers, we really appreciate your support. It has been encouraging to meet the neighbors who have come by to say “hello” or delivered notes of support. Thank you all so much.
  To those out there in the community who are skeptical of our enterprise; you have every right to be. We realize it is up to us to show the community that we are an asset and not a liability. Will our business bring the potential for violence or unsavory characters hanging out and smoking in public? These are completely reasonable questions. We have taken a great deal of precaution to address both of these concerns. We have hi-def, night vision auto-switch cameras surrounding the facility, not just for security, but also to monitor the parking lot and back alley. Anyone that is caught medicating in public will lose their membership immediately and will no longer be welcome at the facility. Our layout is designed to ensure security that is high enough to discourage criminals from targeting our facility. We also are very strict with our security protocol. The best way to deal with gun-toting criminals is to have a facility that mostly makes a gun a moot point. We realize that if we make ourselves targets it decreases everyone’s safety.
  We intend to be good neighbors to everyone no matter how they feel about us. No matter your opinion, come down and check us out. The lobby is open. I think it would do much to educate you and address your concerns.

• T-Rex June 30, 2011 (3:50 pm)

  Nulu,

  I am all for the marijuana, was simply making a statement regarding smoking it!

  Suppositories? I am speechless!

• Yardark June 30, 2011 (5:37 pm)

  Well said, John. Again, welcome to the neighborhood and I hope those who are currently opposed can at least keep an open mind.
  It seems that some of the folks who object, like T-Rex, are simply against smoking. I hope they take you up on your invitation and give you a fair shot to prove yourself.

• Been There July 1, 2011 (8:44 am)

  Armed Robbers Hit Rainier Valley Medical Pot Biz-June 28, 2011-http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattle911/page/2/

• juniebug July 1, 2011 (3:22 pm)

  Given all of the comments back and forth, I decided to go in to the dispensary and take a look around for myself. Which I did today. I am in my 50’s, married, home-owner, with a child, lived in WS for 13 years. My child goes to school near this dispensary. The entrance is unobtrusive, the facility is about 20x nicer than any liquor store I’ve been in and the people working there are friendly and professional. It reminds me of the herb tea store in Burien, but nicer inside and with bullet-proof glass and security cameras. You can’t smell the product inside or outside of the facility. It’s very clean and tidy inside and out. There was no one hanging outside. I saw two kids and a dad go into the pizza place nearby…no one tried to lure them in or corrupt them. I doubt this place will cause any problems for our neighborhood, but if there is a problem, my sense is that the owners will take care of it promptly. To me, if the voters of the state of Washington DO vote to legalize marijuana purchases to adults, a store like this should be the MODEL. Some of the commenters seem poorly informed on the facts and are coming at this from an emotional fear-based place. If you are curious or concerned, go take a look…you do not have to have a prescription to enter the lobby and look around. They also have a number of books in the lobby that can provide answers and education on the medical uses for marijuana and the history of the drug. I took the advice of @WS Native to find out for myself and I agree with their comments that spreading fear and misinformation does a disservice to this business and our WS neighbors who may have a medical reason to patronize this place.

Sorry, comment time is over.