Business booming at Monterey County’s first dispensary

Monterey County’s first medical marijuana dispensary has been open four days and managers said Monday that business is booming. On 4/20, an unofficial holiday, we decided to check in and so far, no problems have been reported at Monterey Bay Alternative Medicine in Del Rey Oaks. Problems aren’t expected any time soon, thanks to a partnership between the dispensary and the Del Rey Oaks Police Department.

“It’s been an amazing four days,” Ryan Burke, general manager of Monterey Bay Alternative Medicine said. “We weren’t sure exactly how many people were going to show up. The response has been absolutely, almost overwhelming — patients coming in from local areas, patients coming in from all over Monterey County. It’s been really exciting.”

The founders of Monterey Bay Alternative Medicine in Del Rey Oaks said about 150 people a day have been stopping by, wanting to fill their marijuana prescriptions. A security guard mans the door, while security cameras keep an eye on what happens in the parking lot. Because of its location on Canyon Del Rey and Fremont, traffic can get congested. To help alleviate some of that, an employee helps direct traffic in and out of the parking lot.

“I talked with our chief, Ron Langford,” Del Rey Oaks Mayor Jerry Edelen said. “We’ve had no issues with parking.”

There’s more security on the way. The dispensary has some unlikely neighbors moving in upstairs. In about two weeks, a Del Rey Oaks police substation is opening its doors just a few feet from the dispensary.

“My understanding is in California, if not the entire country, we are the only medical marijuana dispensary that has a police substation in the same building,” Edelen said.

The founders of the shop, Bob and Lonna Blodgett, don’t mind at all.

“We love having the Del Rey Oaks Police Department upstairs,” Burke said. “First and foremost it’s providing security for our patients. Our patients can come here and know that the Del Rey Oaks police is on hand. And it shows the transparency that we are operating under. There is absolutely nothing that we want to do here that makes other people think, ‘Oh, what is this cannabis dispensary doing?'”

Not only will officers watch what happens downstairs but also what happens across the street at Safeway.

“We are providing a service and we are looking to minimize any negative aspects that may try to come in here,” Edelen said.

As for the patients coming in for their prescriptions, Burke said they run the gamut. The shop is seeing all ages with all types of medical conditions. One woman, who didn’t want to go on camera, was driving up to San Jose to fill her prescriptions. She said she was grateful to have a dispensary closer to her Monterey County home.