ABOUT
When Terry Lucke's first patient asked him to be her provider he wasn't sure if he could provide marijuana to a 70-year-old woman. After she told him she had been smoking weed before he was born, he agreed. He has since watched countless patients lead more normal lives after using medical marijuana while they otherwise would live in pain. Medical marijuana was legalized in Montana by ballot initiative 148, the Montana Medical Marijuana Act in 2004. While Lucke said he voted for the initiative he didn't use pot because of drug testing at work. His roommate convinced him to go see a doctor about getting his patient card. Lucke grew up in the panhandle of Nebraska around agriculture. His family had a giant garden when he was growing up and he had always had houseplants. He got some books and went to a workshop on how to grow pot. Lucke stepped into the provider role after his information was shared on the Patients and Family United's website as a potential provider following the workshop. His first call was for "the Happy Hippie." He accepted his first patient, a 70-year-old woman, and his patient list continued to grow. In late 2009s, Lucke got his provider permit. Through Youtube, trial and error and talking with other providers he refined his growing techniques. After outgrowing his apartment, he and two friends each put in $1,000, purchased lights and rented a shop in Missoula. They would go to the traveling clinics as a provider in Missoula. Along with more than 100 other providers, up to 500 patients per day would funnel through and get signed up. They had between 50-70 patients at one time during the "Green Rush." The 2011 Montana legislature passed Senate Bill 423. It repealed the Montana Medical Marijuana Act to create the Montana Marijuana Act. This placed more stringent requirements on marijuana, eliminated any profit that could be made by providers and limited providers to three patients. They closed their shop and Lucke moved to Seeley Lake in late 2011. He maintained his patient card in anticipation that things would change. In November 2016, voters approved Initiative 182. This changed the name back to the Montana Medical Marijuana Act and removed many of the stricter requirements. The 2017 Legislature made additional changes to the initiative by passing SB 333. It created more detailed regulations, allowed for additional chemical manufacturing of marijuana products and created a tax on gross sales. Being more comfortable with the law, Lucke renewed his provider license in April 2017. He moved into his shop at 714 Juniper Drive in Seeley Lake about five months ago. He hired local contractors to help remodel the building. They just harvested their first six plants grown solely in their new shop. Lucke will be implementing the new "Seed to Sale" tracking software mid-March. The intent of the program is to track every gram of product in the building. Every plant in the building after it is eight inches tall will have an RFID bar code tag on it. That will be recorded in the system. For every patient, they will be allotted a certain amount of square feet of canopy. When a plant is harvested, everything is weighed. As product is sold to carded patients, it is recorded and deducted from the amount produced. Once someone has a patient card they must choose one provider and are committed, through the law, to get it from that provider. Only if a change request is issued through the state can someone change. Fat Hippie provides plant material for smoking. Lucke grows the two main strains of cannabis Sativa, Indica as well as various hybrids. They all have different effects and treat different aliments. Fat Hippie produces concentration up to 90 percent potency that can be smoked or used for cooking. Lucke makes butter and cooking oil with the concentrate dissolved into it as well as body butters and creams and that can treat muscle or joint pain. Pipes and e-cig cartridges are also available. Patients can purchase up to an ounce at a time from their provider. While Lucke does not have a legal requirement to limit the amount, he feels it is a moral responsibility to curtail purchase in excess of what he thinks is reasonable. Lucke has a heart for providing for veterans and older patients. Fat Hippie currently has about 30 patients most of which are in the Seeley-Swan and Missoula. He is currently accepting more. Lucke has a wealth of knowledge about the medical uses of marijuana, the different products and their affects. He encourages people who think his products could be beneficial to talk to their medical providers. He can also recommend doctors that will not judge or interrogate someone for asking about medical marijuana as a treatment option.