'Fort Knox Level' Security Will Guard Allegheny Co.'s First Medical Marijuana Dispensary
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SQUIRREL HILL (KDKA) -- Come next week, the first patients will be escorted into the nicely appointed waiting room at Solevo Wellness, the first medical marijuana dispensary in Allegheny County, just off the parkway in Squirrel Hill.
"It's a beautiful arrangement. It's comforting. I think that the people from Squirrel Hill got it, that this facility was not going to be some headshop," Sam Britz, with Solevo Wellness, said. "It is a medical facility just like any other doctor's office would look."
After a consultation with the on-site pharmacists, patients will be then be led into the medical marijuana display room which closely resembles a jewelry store. It's a handsome room, but the operative word here is security. Access requires a key card, and security cameras are everywhere.
"There's 50 cameras in this facility," Britz said. "Other than the bathroom, there isn't any inch this building that you will not be seen on camera."
The camera security system will be constantly monitored to prevent theft or breach -- a level its installers say is rarely met.
"It means you're approaching Fort Knox level at this place," Patrick Presto, with M&P Security Solutions, said. "If they would put a mine field out in the parking lot, we'd probably be there."
The bulk marijuana product will be kept behind a locked door and stored in a safe, and the entire facility will be patrolled by security guards.
"We want to make a safe environment for patients coming into the dispensary ... and the neighborhood," Britz said.
There will be an open house for the public on Wednesday, and on Feb. 15, medical marijuana will be available at the facility.