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Montel Williams Helps Open High End Sacramento Dispensary

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- Former talk show host Montel Williams helped unveiled a high-end medical marijuana dispensary in Sacramento that hopes to "set a new standard" for patients who use cannabis.

Williams, the 17-year daytime television host, said he uses medical marijuana to relieve pain from multiple sclerosis but has seen the need for more professional distribution of the drug.

At some dispensaries, "you see people standing around, sticking their nose into things," Williams said. "I don't go to CVS and pick up an individual Vicodin."

The dispensary, Abatin, is hosted in a sleek new location that looks more like an office for a high end plastic surgeon, and Williams hopes the professional appearance will help change perceptions about medical marijuana users.

"Why are we treating patients who seek out this medication like they're some lesser member of society?" Williams said. "We could set a new standard, not just for Sacramento, not just for California, not just for the other 16 states that allow it now and the District of Columbia, but also for the world."

Williams said he chose Sacramento for the venture because of its history at the front of medical marijuana advocacy.

"Why not come to where the home of where the movement began?" he said.

Williams is a consultant for Abatin and hopes to open several similar dispensaries across the country.

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