Joining the growing ranks of businesses allied in the medical marijuana movement is CannaHealth, which opened on March 1 at 9477 35th Ave. s.w. The people behind the business are Chuck Haines, his daughter Allie Haines and Anthony Eigner.

Haines operates his own authorizing clinic in Tacoma called CannaPath, now in business for two years and CannaHealth is a "spin off" of sorts which Allie will run but she also runs another location in Olympia. Eigner is the managing staff for the West Seattle location.

The focus of the business is on promoting greater wellness through the use of medical marijuana. Clinics of this type became possible as Haines explained, "As of June, 10, 2010 they made an amendment to the RCW that not only MD's could sign the authorization but also naturopaths, nurse practitioners, and physicians assistants."

"We fit into the administrative role. We bring the health care providers together and orchestrate it but the health care providers are the ones that sign the authorization and does and confirms a diagnosis. If it's a qualified condition then they will sign the authorization," said Haines. Eigner continued, " In the staff roles we come in and help educate the patients about the laws and how to handle it. We answer questions and sometimes it is the simplest thing like, 'Can I put it in my pocket?' and 'Yes you can, it's ok.' "

Part of the responsibility of a clinic like this Haines explained is to be familiar with the co-ops and collective distribution points such as the Northwest Patient Resource Center which is directly across 35th Ave.
"We probably have a strong dozen co-ops that we know the quality of," he said. "We encourage all of our patients to try at least three different co-ops because don't want to suggest just one."

The suspicion around medical marijuana clinics and co-ops has faded said Haines and Eigner, "Particularly in the last two years as people have become more knowledgeable and as more attention has been brought to it. We estimate that in the Puget Sound 300 to 500 people a week are getting authorizations. If you multiply that by 52 weeks a year," the number represents a large group of people carrying forth a message.

They've seen a change too in the kinds of products being sought, shifting from just cannabis to "Medibles" or edible medicine, tinctures and lotions. "It's really taken the focus and I think the co-ops are recognizing this. They have to have different varieties of indicas and sativas (strains of marijuana) but they have to satisfy the other patient needs," said Haines.

The signage and other remodeling will continue until their grand opening, set for April 1.

They are open Monday through Friday 9am to 5 pm. The phone number is 206- 708-1943.

"People calling for an appointment are asked a simple question," said Eigner, "Do they have medical records already or do they need to be seen to have those records established. Without records we do offer a six month authorization. With records we offer a one year authorization. Depending on their records it may be a longer term at that time."