GR Approves its First Medical Marijuana Dispensary

Thursday Morning the first medical Marijuana shop was approved by City officials and is set to open within 120 days. Two dispensaries were proposed, one was planned to be on plainfield but was shot down because the area was too "residential" and homeowners expressed concern about it's impact to the local community. However the one that was approved is over by the woodland mall, a more commercialized area.

The Helping Hands Provisioning Center will go in at 3510 E. Mall Drive SE off the East Beltline near the Shops at CenterPoint. It's also across the street from Woodland Mall.

Not everyone is a fan though, a carwash owner seems to be against it saying "We already have a strip club and a pool hall, this just doesn't fit." Well too bad, it looks like the place is going to be open by the end of September.

Excited to bring new opportunities to the community, Tonja Stapleton is the new owner of Helping Hands Provisioning Center and daughter of a police officer here in GR. She says she is PUMPED to bring safe medication to those in her home town. She also plans to focus on hiring minorities within the community. In an interview with News 8 she says: "I love that's it is a woman-owned, minority-owned business. As a consultant, I've been trying to get more people of color involved in the industry for a very long time,"