Seattle?s Best Alternative Care has opened at 2820 Thorndyke Ave West offering medicinal marijuana to clients. Seattle’s Best Alternative Care is a non-profit organization. Their mission states they are determined to provide patients with the highest quality meds and alternative care available.
For the past eight months, ?Maria? (who asked us not to use her last name) has operated a medicinal marijuana delivery service in the Seattle area. She says she picked Magnolia as the location for her first store for the same reasons many residents have moved here ? security and well-being.
?It?s safer and away from the hustle and bustle,? Maria said.
When asked about her clients who live in the area she answered, ?You would be surprised who the patients are,? and then describes a 70-year-old Magnolia grandmother who acquires her ?meds? in the form of cookies.
Seattle?s Best Alternative Care might conjure up certain images but it is very low key.
?No Bob Marley posters,? says Maria. She also says there wont be any garish signs or any graphical depictions of marijuana leaves on any logos or signs. In support, the owner of a nearby salon said of Seattle?s Best, ?Anything that brings people to the area is good for business.?
As for the product, the cannabis comes in many forms, depending on the patient?s inclinations. They could choose marijuana to smoke or in an edible form such as brownies or ice cream.
Patients at Seattle?s Best Alternative Care have plenty of rules to follow too. Medicinal marijuana cards issued by physicians are required for admittance, absolutely no smoking on the exterior patio or in the car is allowed, marijuana is purchased by donation only and is placed inside a paper bag for discrete take out, and medical cards will not be prescribed at Seattle?s Best. They also stress that medication is not kept on the premises overnight.
Since the store is still under construction, we were not allowed to take photographs inside but here is the exterior.
Thanks to contributor Steven Smalley for this story and photographs
Oh boy…? 3, 2, 1…
Well after watching my father-in-law?suffer throught prostate cancer and taking about 20 different meds a day I am for this he was not able to eat? and was in a lot of pain even with all the meds it’s a nice alternative to taking man made drugs options are nice?
?Wonderful! After watching my father suffer through the trauma of chemotherapy because he took marijuana once and hated it because it had to be done completely illegally so he had no guidance and OD’ed (he never smoked pot recreationally) I am in full support of this. MJ is an important medicine for people suffering from many conditions.?
He OD’d on weed? What did he do? Eat all the cookies?
This was 1980 and neither he nor my mom had ever smoked weed (I know it sounds weird, but believe me, it’s true). The Dr. suggested dope but said that getting it for my dad legally would be a morass of paperwork that would take months and they’d be better off doing it on their own. My mom put the word out to her friends and one of them came through with an ounce and a recipe for brownies. My mom (an excellent baker) made a dozen brownies and gave my dad one before his next treatment and one during (again, they had ZERO experience with the stuff). When they got home he was so wasted all he could do was stumble to the living room while my mom and I huddled, whispering, in the kitchen. When he came down, he said he could hear not only every word we said, but every word broken down into syllables.
Turns out that the recipe yield was supposed to be 3 dozen!It’s a funny story but it’s actually a really important one cause my dad never did use the stuff again during his treatment. Had he been?prescribed?pot and able to get it from a reputable source that knew the best way to dose it, he would have had a much more comfortable end of his life instead of suffering the pain, discomfort and loss of appetite associated with chemo.
While the medical necessity does exist,?the impacts (good and/or bad) will remain to be seen.??A quick note to the Magnolia Voice, and to Maria:? It’s really silly (curious?) not to mention Maria Mendoza’s?name, a Mt. Vernon resident, since a non-profit is required to be registered by the Secretary of State.? A quick search pulls up the information.? Not an immediate?positive representation for your business.? It would have been a more positive representation of?this business to list the other meds or alternative care options that they offer, rather than just the mention of medical marijuana.? Unless, of course, that’s all that they provide?
I wonder if the owner has fully thought out the store’s name. Seattle’s Best (coffee) might just be trademarked by Starbucks.?
Right On !!!!!!!!!!!
Nice try,Maria. If an 80 yr. old needs medication, her Doctor will see to it that she get it through the proper medical channel.?Maria opens Pandora’s box for illegal behavior in Magnolia and every other neighborhood where these “dipenseries” are operating. I want healthy, family type businesses in our neighborhood!!!!!! Marijuana is illegal!!!!!!?
I am no expert on this subject but I believe ‘the “proper medical channel” you speak of is a myth.? Government distribution of medical marijuana is such a small and highly restricted program that I have never heard of, or met, a single person who has ever received medication through this “channel.”? MJ has specific effects that provide relief from terrible conditions. As such, the current demand far exceeds the government supply.? As for it being illegal… well, if it good enough for the last three American Presidents… then it is good enough for the rest of us.
Yeah, because “proper” medication has a really good track record? Look at what the FDA has approved in the last 15 years and pulled back a few years later due to fatal side effects.
Whens the last time you heard of anyone overdosing on marijuana?
But its perfectly legal to take 20 Tylenol and it’ll be the last headache you’ll ever have.
I work next to?a clinic in?Georgetown and I watch the?people who?go in…. I’d say 99% are?older, some are in walkers, some are clearly sick.?They all look a little nervous and that’s too bad.?? Yes, it’s illegal but it’s also illegal to possess class 4 prescriptions drugs such as?Vicodin and many people manage to obtain false prescriptions, etc. It’s only illegal because big Pharm hasn’t figured out a way to manufacture it and make profit from it?.??The tide is changing. That’s why? YEARS ago many of the cigarette companies invested in land in Northern California, smack in the middle of the “Pot growing Capital of the Country.”??
This is fine. I believe Jesus would support medical marijuana before Dr. Suess shows at Fatima.?
While I can completely sympathize with those that?truly need MMJ for?recognized and legitmate?medical condtions, it is plainly obvious, that the current system is being completely and totally abused.? Just look at the dozens of ads in every issue of?the Stranger and Seattle?Weekly.? ? There are a number of medical professionals out there willing to give out a prescription to anyone who asks, apparently as some form of “political statement” or?perhaps purely for the almight dollar…I don’t know which.?
?After growing up in a world where alcohol and tobacco ads were rampant, who really cares?
I remember kids going to elementary school with Marlboro backpacks or Bartle and James t-shirts in kids sizes. Just like pollution, its the elderly that let things slip into this state. Whats a few weed ads going to do that major vice peddlers haven’t done already?
Because calling it “medicine” legitmizes it as “good for you”…no one says that of alcohol or cigarettes…as I stated,?let’s get to those in need, but let’s also?make a serious effort to avoid abuse.?
?in totally unrelated news business has triples at the sandwich shop next door.
?tripled — shouldn’t have eaten that second brownie before posting.
?and on a serious note these dispensaries have been drawing their fair share of armed heists (what, after all, has better street value than drugs). ?Hopefully they have lots of preventative measure in place.
I wonder if a lot of the heists has to do with where they are ?located? Just a thought only cause I started to do some research online.
Absolutely, high traffic and high visibility locations will generally equate to a lower risk.? This place, on the other hand, is somewhat out of the way and very quiet at morning and at night.
?Pharmacies contain much more valuable items than dispensaries. We’re talking about weed here, not cocaine or heroin.
Sounds like you’ve been watching too much LAW & ORDER LOS ANGELES.
Nope, you are totally wrong in both your assertion and your assumption. ?Dispensaries, for a variety of reasons, get robbed much more often than pharmacies. ? Even with careful security measures they are at very high risk of robbery. ?I’m not posting as an alarmist fraidy cat; just hoping this dispensary operates in a way that fully minimizes the potential for criminal trouble, which we in Magnolia seem to commonly stand against.
I agree. There is no doubt that their security will be well “assessed” and “evaluated.”? However, let’s not forget that mini-markets and jewelry stores also high risk businesses that are under continual threat.? I hope they really think this one through.
?Why do we need businesses like this. ? If I have a prescription for a drug I can get it filled at Bartells. ?Why not distribute weed through a pharmacy? ?
I have been a resident of Magnolia my whole life and often have dinner at that tasty Pho place and sandwich shop. This is a great for that area and i will continue to go! Too bad I don’t have not renewed my medical card ?or I would stop in! This is great and I feel it will be safe. Right on
MMmmmmm?PHO? :)?
Working with patients with cancer diagnosis, I can attest to the profound nausea and?vomiting associated with chemotherapy.??Naysayers to medical marijuana should have to hold a bucket under the chin of a person with cancer for a few hours, then see how?well it works for chemo?induced vomiting.
do people abuse the medical marijuana law? yes.? I am willing for untold numbers of people who want to get high being able to work the system in order for one person on chemo to be more comfortable.? ?
Well, I have been there and done that (for my mother who died a slow, agonizing death from cancer) and I even offerred to get her MMJ even though at the time it was illegal and I hadn’t the?foggiest where I would obtain it (she declined) but more importantly, I have seen the terrible?toll that addictions and drug abuse cause.? I WANT?it available to?those with a legitimet need, I?also want serious controls to prevent abuse.? I have?lost loved ones to drug abuse..?unlike you, am don’t believe “untold numbers of people working the system to get high is not without consequences
I just dont think that an addiction to Marijuana leads to harder drugs or necessarily leads to the kind of toll that other addictions do.? we sell alcohol legally, and it is part of addiction;? addiction to vicodin is a much more binding addiction than marijuana from a purely chemical standpoint with the way the body reacts to it.?
we cannot and should not ?limit solid evidence based medical practice and care on a concern generically about addiction.
?There is no evidence that marijuana is addictive. In fact, marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol.
Legalize it, tax it, and eliminate the crime problem associated with the profit it generates because of it’s prohibition.?
Marijuana has a legitimate medical purpose. Alcohol does not.
?The Marijuana addiction/gateway drug leads all the way back to DRAGNET days. The same show that said LSD caused chromosome damage…
Most people are unaware that there is a prescription pill form of medical marijuana – it is called Marinol.? More info found here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000403/
It is manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practices that all FDA-approved pharmaceuticals must follow and it is available in your local pharmacy under the prescription of your licensed physician.?
I have a bulging disc at the L5 – S1 area in my lower back which causes
considerable pain down the entire sciatic nerve. My father suggested
using the Tiger Balm (http://tig?erbalm.50w?ebs.com)?pain
patches. They give immense relief to even the most intolerable days. I
have highly recommended this product to my friends. One added extra is
the menthol and camphor helps to relieve my sinus problems at the same
time!
Sciatica is the Latin word for “Pain down the back of the leg”. It is a referred pain usually caused by trapping the sciatic nerve in the lower back. Sciatica is a set of symptoms rather than a diagnosis for what is irritating the root of the nerve, causing the pain. These symptoms are generally caused by the compression of a lumbar spine nerve root L4 or L5 or sacral nerve roots S1, S2 or S3, or far less commonly, by compression of the sciatic nerve itself.
Great article and I am into finding updates? and news that can supplement me feeds about the latest happenings worldwide and optimistically be useful for me.
Visit me at sciatic nerve pain relief. Keep safe.,
That is
one cool place for those who want to be taken care of totally. This place is
such an endevour to those who wants to be here. I do hope that many will be
taken care of, on this service.?
Seattle’s Best Dope!
This is good news for all magnolia patients. They find marijuana dispensaries near their area.