First Medical Dispensary Opens in Longmont

The city of Longmont now has a medical marijuana dispensary.

While pot shops have been operating in unincorporated Boulder County years, recreational dispensaries have been operating within Longmont city limits since November — but Twin Peaks is the first to serve medical marijuana patients within the city.

Twin Peaks executive Rita Tsalyuk, who's also part of the ownership group running Coffee Joint pot lounge and 1136 Yuma dispensary in Denver, as well as Cherry Peak in Glendale, says that the dispensary opened for recreational sales in November, but the owners felt it was important to switch the focus to MMJ.

"We feel like the area is underserved for medical patients. There's only Native Roots, really, around for competition, and that requires a trip outside of the city," she explains. "We already had medical customers coming in. We like a healthy approach. It means a lot to us."

Tsalyuk had considered opening the store in Boulder, but thought that market might be too saturated. Then she got one of the four dispensary permits that Longmont officials had decided to issue. The others went to Terrapin Care Station, the Green Solution and Medicine Man — but Twin Peaks is the only dispensary that also has a medical license.

Situated in the Twin Peaks shopping center at 900 South Hover Street in Longmont, Twin Peaks has nearly 4,500 square feet of space filled with pot products, Tsalyuk says. Her business group likes its dispensary names to have a local connection, she adds: 1136 Yuma Court is the address of her Denver dispensary, 1136 Yuma, while her Cherry Peak store is near Cherry Creek.

Tsalyuk's marijuana lounge, the Coffee Joint, is Denver's only open public pot consumption space. With rumors of an upcoming bill in the state legislature that could legalize dispensary tasting rooms and pot lounges around Colorado, Tsalyuk doesn't rule out pursuing a consumption area in Longmont if the city allows them in the future.

"If those rules changed, we'd try to do that as well. The Coffee Joint has been very successful for us. Not profitable, but successful, because we can do other things with it. It's helped sales at the dispensary next door," she says. "The Coffee Joint has put us in the spotlight."