january18 2018
www.vernoniasvoice.com
reflecting the spirit of our community
Vernonia’s Natural Choice:
More Than Just Weed
Vernonia’s local pot shop sells
a wide range of cannabis prod-
ucts that can offer therapeutic
effects for a variety of ailments
free
VERNONIA’S
volume12 issue2
smoked it decades ago when they were
young. They’re coming in now, people in
their 60s and 70s, and are looking for re-
lief. So we’re really trying to help people
with the medical part of it.”
By Scott Laird
Two years after Oregon
voted to approve Measure 91,
which legalized recreational mari-
juana and allowed dispensaries to
begin selling cannabis products to
the general public, consumers and
manufacturers are still discovering
new uses for this versatile plant.
Vernonia’s Natural Choice,
located at 886 Bridge Street in the
heart of Vernonia’s downtown,
opened its doors to customers as
soon as recreational marijuana was
authorized on October 1, 2015 and
the state began taxing and regu-
lating it. Owners Wendy Brisbin
and Mike Buffum initially started
selling marijuana that Buffum had
been growing as a registered medi-
cal marijuana provider in the state.
Oregon’s legal cannabis business
has expanded to include both THC
infused products (THC is the psy-
choactive compound in marijuana
that gets you “high”) along with
hemp and non-infused products
Vernonia’s Natural Choice manager Dawn Scott,
that only contain CBD which do
and owners Mike Buffum and Wendy Brisbin.
not get you high. Vernonia’s Natu-
ral Choice has expanded their product line
Brisbin says, while Oregon law
to offer numerous products that can help does not allow marijuana dispensary work-
those suffering from a variety of ailments ers to diagnose illnesses or diseases, and
including pain, nausea, inflammation, in- they certainly can’t prescribe a particular
somnia, anxiety, PTSD, and much more.
brand or product, they can make recom-
“We opened with all our own mendations of products they think might
grown product and have slowly expanded, help someone with particular complaints.
as the state approved concentrates and the She says Vernonia’s Natural Choice has
full spectrum of CBD products like topi- helped local customers minimize effects
cals, oils, capsules, and tinctures,” says from diabetes, and helped with insomnia,
Brisbin. “We’re finding that we’re now anxiety, and pain.
starting to get a lot of customers who have
“We didn’t realize how much we
never smoked weed before, or may have were going to be able to help people,” says
Brisbin. “It’s really nice when they come
back and tell us how we’ve been able to
help them with this service. There’s noth-
ing better than being able to help people
enjoy life more.”
Vernonia’s Natural Choice has
seen a wide variety of customers walk
through their doors including one in their
vote yes on
mid-80s and caregivers for the elderly.
measure 101
“It’s fun to help people and it’s fun
to see people try things that they like,”
adds store manager Dawn Scott. “We’ve
keep it local
heard from a lot of people that they’ve
columbia county
been able to quit their other medications,
especially opioids, and have gone to CBD
and THC products.”
vhs senior projects
Brisbin says she had a background
in retail sales and management, with eight
years experience managing a liquor store
among other retail jobs before getting into
the marijuana dispensary business. She
vhs winter sports
says she and Buffum were exploring the
idea of opening a retail dispensary almost
as soon as Oregon started talking about
inside
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continued on page 9
Vernonia’s Green Bridge
Scheduled for Repairs in 2021
While bridge aging is the
biggest threat across the
state, ODOT has no plans to
replace Vernonia’s bridge
The State of Oregon has sig-
nificant issues with aging infrastruc-
ture, including state highways and
bridges. One of those bridges in need
of replacement, or at least repairs, is
Vernonia’s “Green Bridge,” a steel
structured bridge over the Nehalem
River on the north end of Vernonia
that was built in 1938.
Oregon Department of Trans-
portation (ODOT) recently released
their 2017 Bridge Condition Report
which shows that, due to transpor-
tation investments over the past 16
years, the 2,742 bridges on the state
highway system are in pretty good
shape when judged by federal and
state performance measures.
Fewer than a quarter of
ODOT’s bridges are rated as dis-
tressed, meaning they have structural
or other deficiencies that limit their
function or require attention. Any
bridges deemed unsafe for travel are
closed immediately.
Still, state highway bridges
are aging — nearly 50 percent of
ODOT’s bridges were built more than
half a century ago. With age comes
a growing need to replace and repair
bridges.
Vernonia’s Green Bridge has
been deemed Structurally Deficient in
ODOT’s Bridge Condition Report, yet
ODOT is currently only planning to
do basic repairs to the bridge, rather
than a full replacement.
Former Vernonia Mayor Sally
Harrison is campaigning to get ODOT
to change their plans and replace the
bridge now, rather than make repairs.
Harrison was the Mayor in 2007 when
Vernonia suffered serious flooding on
Rock Creek and the Nehalem River,
with waters reaching the substructure
of the Green Bridge.
“That bridge is extremely im-
portant to this community,” says Har-
rison. “It’s been eleven years since
the last flood and that bridge is very
susceptible. I’m afraid the next step, if
it isn’t replaced, is they will place load
restrictions on the bridge, which could
really impact the economy of this
community. And I really don’t think
we should wait until it fails. If it’s a
matter of it needing to be replaced,
and I think it is, then let’s just do it.”
Vernonia, along with the rest
of Columbia County, are included in
ODOT’s Region 2. Vernonia’s Green
Bridge, was identified as a prior-
ity for repairs and listed on the State
Transportation Improvement Program
(STIP) in 2016. STIP is a capital
continued on page 5
4 th of July Fireworks
Display in Jeopardy
Each year the Vernonia Vol-
unteer Fire Association (VVFA) and
the Vernonia Volunteer Ambulance
Association (VVAA) have funded the
Vernonia 4 th of July Fireworks show
through donations, fundraisers, and
incentive money from Intel for volun-
teer hours by their employees.
Over the past two years there
has not been any money received from
Intel that was anticipated and there-
fore the $5,000 show has been fully
funded by the two volunteer associa-
tions.
At this time the VVFA and the
VVAA do not have the funds to put
on the show this year. The fireworks
need to be ordered by February 15.
The VVFA and VVAA are
asking for the community’s help in
collecting donations so they can put
on the show the community has appre-
ciated for so many years in the past.
Donations can be made to
Vernonia Volunteer Fire Association
and can be dropped off at the Fire
Station or mailed to them at 555 E.
Bridge Street, Vernonia, OR 97064.