Falcon now has its own medical marijuana dispensary: Falcon Alternative Medical Supply.The store is located on Highway 24 in the building formerly occupied by Richardson’s Western Supply and Trailer Sales. (Richardson’s is now located in another building on the same property.)Adam Ross, manager of Falcon Alternative Medical Supply, said the store opened in August, and is licensed by the Colorado Department of Revenue and by El Paso County to collect sales tax.The building is still being renovated to include a new lobby area at the front of the building that will be monitored by several security cameras.Potential customers will be greeted in the lobby, where their identification and Medical Marijuana card issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will be checked, Ross said.If all is in order, only then will a customer be allowed to enter the separate shopping area, which will offer more than 100 varieties and blends of marijuana.Each is tested for the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol – the active ingredient in marijuana – it contains, and each also is categorized according to its strain: indica (imparting a feeling of serenity) or sativa (imparting a feeling of optimism and energy).Ross said the store obtains all of its marijuana from legal Colorado suppliers, and all of the marijuana is organic.Other than some candies containing marijuana, the store sells nothing but marijuana. No bongs, pipes, grinders, scales or rolling papers. “We don’t want to be a pot shop. We don’t want to carry any of that stuff,” Ross said.The store provides a list of varieties and the medical condition for which the variety is recommended.Many varieties are recommended for nausea and various kinds of pain, such as joint and back pain. Some are recommended for specific diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, HIV, hepatitis C, diabetic neuropathy and cachexia (a form of wasting associated with cancer).The store offers a 15 percent discount on purchases to cancer and HIV patients.Bill Rosenberg owns Falcon Alternative Medical Supply; he also owns a medical marijuana dispensary, Mountain Meds, in Rollinsville, Colo., as well as a facility providing yoga instruction, acupuncture and hospice services, Ross said.Ross moved to Falcon from Denver, where he managed a medical marijuana dispensary.”I like it here. A lot of people have come in to check out the store, and we’ve sold to eight or 10 customers,” he said. “It seems like there is a client base here.”The store is allowed to grow up to 70 percent of its own marijuana, Ross said. He estimated they would need 100 patients to make growing feasible on site.Whether that will happen remains to be seen.Commissioner Amy Lathen said she’s received calls, letters and e-mails from people in her district and throughout the county who are upset about the proliferation of medical marijuana dispensaries.On Aug. 26, the El Paso County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 (commissioner Jim Bensberg the no vote) to place a question on the Nov. 2 ballot that would prohibit “medical marijuana centers, optional premises cultivation operations and medical marijuana-infused products manufacturers’ licenses in unincorporated El Paso County.” Commissioner Bensberg wanted the board to make the decision regarding the ban, as opposed to the voters.
