GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Medical marijuana has been legal in Michigan since 2008; however, only recently did state officials draft laws to regulate the business and sale of medical cannabis.
There are many municipalities in the state that are already in operation. Grand Rapids isn't one of them. There are roughly 80 applications waiting to be heard by the Grand Rapids Planning Commission. The department held a lottery system to determine the order in which applicants would be heard.
The first two applicants are on the Planning Commission's agenda for the May 23 meeting.
Kevin Currier is waiting for his turn to meet with commissioners.
"It's incredible, but it’s technically just a pipe dream until we’re licensed and up and running and can support the dreams we want to pursue," Currier said.
Currier is pre-qualified by the state and is waiting for Grand Rapids to give him the green light to open his business, Neighborhood Provisions.
He purchased property on Leonard Street in the West Grand neighborhood.
"We purchased this building back in September from the Russ family, they were looking to retire and needed a retirement settlement and we helped each other out," Currier said.
The two buildings used to be an auto body shop. Currier purchased both which sit adjacent to one another. One will be used as the new community center for the West Grand Neighborhood Organization.
Former Russ' Car Center
"We really appreciate what Neighborhood Provisions is doing, they’re here, they bought their property. The larger companies didn’t buy their properties," West Grand Neighborhood Organization Executive Director Annette VandenBerg said.
Neighborhood Provisions is a family owned business.
"It’s always kind of been a part of us that when you have a business in a small town, it’s community run because they’re your customers. So it only makes sense that you give back to the community," Currier said.
Currier has been living in Grand Rapids, but he and his family are originally from Alpena. They aren't new to medical marijuana.
"We were all kind of self-medicating for anxiety, for opioid supplementation to wean us off of that, we had pains. It was something we never talked about with each other; we just kind of self-supplemented," Currier said.
Eventually, he says his family realized they each were using cannabis to help with a variety of ailments and decided it was time for others to see the benefit as well.
"We want to take the model that we have from our family and impose that on the rest of the people around here: what can be done, what can we help with,” Currier said.
While he wants to change the inside of the former Russ property, the outside he wants to keep relatively the same.
"I want to show as much as the exposed brick as possible because it’s gorgeous," Currier said.
He doesn't want Neighborhood Provisions to feel like a doctor's office, but he also doesn't want it to look like a spa either.
"It should feel like a home," Currier said. "It should feel like you’re coming into someone’s home that you know, it should be recognizable."
Alongside VandenBerg, Currier went door-to-door talking to neighbors about their thoughts on bringing medical marijuana to the West Side.
"Their actions speak louder than words. That’s true anywhere and we see the good actors, and we see the bad actors. It’s pretty evident when you do community engagement that those things come out in the process," VandenBerg said.
There is a chance his dreams don't come to fruition.
"All the work we’re doing, all the community outreach we’re doing, all the community support we actually have is reliant on us getting a license," Currier said.
Worse comes to worst, he says the buildings can be used for other purposes.
"We still have a building, we still have properties that we can help West Grand Organization with, we still have property that is on Leonard Street that’s a viable property," Currier said.
For Currier, he's more interested in bettering the community than about big business.
"This can be whatever it needs to be," Currier said. "If we need to pivot to a new location—this is going to be our home, even if we have to go to a new city to open, this is where we want the foundational work to be done."
Currier's location is in direct competition with another applicant located within the city's ordinance of a 2,000-foot buffer zone.
"We purchased this as a family. A lot of us put our money into this thinking we’d be licensed. We have a lot of things riding on this," Currier said. "Family stakes, family relationships, savings accounts put into this and we did it so we can invest in this community. We’re not trying to move around to other areas as quickly as possible, we want to get a foothold in this community that we’re invested in."
Overall, Currier said the response from the West Grand neighborhood has been positive and he has only had one door slammed in his face. Now, it's just about waiting for his chance to be heard in front of the Planning Commission and plead his case.
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