Sean C. Morgan
A medical marijuana dispensary will open in Sweet Home this Saturday, assuming everything falls into place.
Going Green, 925 Main St., awaits final approval from the Oregon Health Authority. Following the final approval, possible this week, it will open.
Dale Dietz, a medical marijuana provider, said local residents have difficulty getting to Albany, where Going Green has another dispensary. He said medical marijuana users also may not have the knowledge or space to raise their own plants.
“There are people I’ve cared for here who have no transportation,” he said.
A local dispensary provides them a way to get their medicine, he said, and it also ensures quality marijuana.
“If you go to a dispensary, such as this, instead of the black market, you know what you’re getting,” Dietz said. Despite a legal ability to use marijuana, many have had to go to the black market for marijuana because there was no other marijuana available.
A dispensary will benefit more than medical marijuana users, Dietz said. It will impact the black market.
“It already has in some areas,” he said. “One of the things that’s going to happen, you’re going to wind up getting rid of, bit by bit, small-time pot dealers.”
The small-time dealer doesn’t have the same quality or prices for marijuana. They’re out there because they’re greedy, while the dispensaries exist to help people, Dietz said..
He predicted that there will be less trading stolen goods for weed, and said at least a couple of the marijuana dealers also deal methamphetamines.
“Your crime levels should go down,” he said.
“This has been one of the things I’ve been behind for several years,” Dietz said. Marijuana helps with numerous ailments.
Among numerous examples, he pointed to a woman suffering from edema whom he helped recently. She was unable to walk. After using medical marijuana topically, she was able to walk in just seven minutes. He said he has seen it help with arthritis, relieving pain, a common reason to use it.
“I believe it’s exciting for the patients and the people; it’s beneficial too,” said City Councilor Scott McKee Jr., who is a medical marijuana user and opposed a proposed one-year moratorium. His only concern is that it’s managed well, and as long as it follows the law, he doesn’t see management as an issue.
He has transportation and better access to medical marijuana than others, McKee said. It will most help those who do not have transportation readily available.
“I just think we should’ve waited until the one year was up,” said Councilor Dave Trask. “And I think we should’ve put them in through the regular pharmacy (rather than increasing a government bureaucracy).”
C.J. Stephenson will manage Going Green in Sweet Home. It is owned by Sean Aman and Sarah Whitely. Going Green began working on opening dispensaries when its location just outside the Lebanon city limits was closed due to the county government’s moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries. There, it had operated as a club prior to the state law permitting dispensaries.
The Main Street location was one of the only places available for a dispensary, which can only be located on commercial property and limited to one within 1,000 feet of another.
The Sweet Home City Council earlier this year chose not to impose a moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries, although it directed the Planning Commission to develop planning regulations about proximity to residential zones. The Planning Commission was divided and discussed seeking public input in May, but it has not moved forward since then.
“At this point, I don’t think there’s really anything we can do about it,” said Chairman Henry Wolthuis.
“The facility is in essence like any other retail establishment downtown,” said City Manager Craig Martin, as long as it meets the state requirements for a dispensary.
“It’s something we have concerns over,” said Police Chief Jeff Lynn. “There’s a lot of unknowns with dispensaries in Oregon. We’re not sure how it’s going to affect the community from a public safety perspective.”
Other states are seeing mixed results, Lynn said, and he’s concerned about the small size of the regulatory staff.
Going Green will likely have a soft opening when it receives its final approval, Stephenson said, with a grand opening to follow.
To purchase medical marijuana products, ranging from topical applications to edible and smokable applications, the customer must become a member of the dispensary, Stephenson said.
“If you’re a patient, you come in here, I would see you at the desk. I have to see your license or ID.”
From there, a patient enters a locked store room where marijuana products are displayed.
Every product is tested for quality, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) content and CBD (cannabidiol) content before delivery to the dispensary, Stephenson said. The dispensary is required to have several levels of security, with video surveillance and products locked in safes after closing time.
Stephenson is unsure how many Sweet Home residents hold medical cards.
“There’s a lot of people going to Albany that are from Sweet Home,” he said, but that’s only people who can drive to Albany to buy it. Having a location in Sweet Home will make it more convenient for Sweet Home patients.
“We’ll actually end up bringing business into town,” he said. People from Lebanon will shop here and Albany.
Stephenson has been a medical marijuana user for two years. Partially paralyzed on his right side, it helps calm spasms and relieve pain. His disability stems from spinal meningitis he suffered at 6 months of age.
Stephenson grew up in Utah and earned his associate of science degree from Southern Utah University. He met his wife, Hollie, who grew up in Las Vegas, during college. They moved to Junction City and then Cascadia with a friend, later striking out on their own and moving into Sweet Home about two years ago.
“I’ve always liked Oregon,” he said. “We took our honeymoon on the Pacific Coast Highway.”
He found out he has Sweet Home ties after moving here, Stephenson said. His mother grew up here, and his grandfather worked in dam construction in the 1960s.
“I guess it’s kind of fate that brought us here, took me back to roots I didn’t know I had,” Stephenson said.