Tranquil Horizons Cooperative, a medical marijuana clinic where patients can seek doctor approval for a medical marijuana card, opened its doors inside the Sac Annex in La Grande Monday.

From 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, the Tranquil Horizons’ doctor was available to see patients who were looking to obtain an Oregon Medical Marijuana Program card, according to Timothy Proesch, owner of the business. The clinic does not sell medical marijuana, but the patients are able to receive necessary doctor approval for an OMMP card if they have a qualifying condition.

Medical marijuana has become substantially less abundant in Oregon since the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2015. There are currently only eight medical marijuana dispensaries listed in the directory kept by the Oregon Health Authority. In July 2015, the Oregon Health Authority reported to KPTV there were 300 dispensaries. In La Grande, medical marijuana remains the only type of marijuana that can be legally bought in the city.

Proesch, who also owns a medical marijuana clinic in Ontario, said he thinks there was a need for the services provided by a medical marijuana clinic in La Grande.

“It just seemed like the demand was there,” Proesch said. “There’s a lot of people here who were traveling quite a ways, either to Bend or to Portland or even to us in Ontario, to receive their medical card.”

Proesch’s clinic won’t be open every day of the week or even every week. He said when he previously worked at a medical marijuana clinic in La Grande, it was only open four hours a month. Currently, the plan is to be open two days a month.

“The next time the clinic will be open is Aug. 28 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. That seems to be the ebb and flow of this business,” Proesch said, adding that when the clinic isn’t seeing patients, “we’re busy scheduling appointments and doing the rest of the cannabis activism in the area.”

See complete story in Wednesday’s Observer