Storefront medical marijuana dispensaries are rising to the fore in Missoula, and Rick Rosio says it's high time.

"As things progress and people grow more accustomed, this will become a part of the community," said Rosio, president of Montana Pain Management Inc., a pot clinic on South Third Street West where a roadside sandwich board reads "Now Open."

"Two years from now we'll say, ‘What was the big deal?' It's no big mystery anymore. There is no mystique. There is nothing to hide," Rosio said.

With the Obama administration's decision in September to soften the federal stance on medical marijuana, Rosio contends that he is finally able to provide a valuable service to his patients - a service that the 2004 Montana Medical Marijuana Act legalized.

→ keep toking