How a medical marijuana dispensary balances strict regulation with patient accessibility
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A security guard sitting inside the open-for-business medical marijuana storefront along Center Avenue in East Liberty gets up from his black swivel shop stool and unlocks the transparent glass door entrance to the facility. He smiles and asks for a state issued ID and a Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Card.
No one is to get past him unless both forms of identification are presented. The guard then unlocks a second glass door, gestures to the teal and aquamarine stairway leading up to the lobby, and radios up to the front desk that a patient is on her way up. Again, out come the identification documents at the main counter, where a Maitri Medicinals employee scans them into a computer system operated by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. He asks the patient a few questions about her appointment. It’s her first visit, and it’s all being captured by a handful of closed-circuit surveillance cameras dotting the ceiling. |
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Similar to any new patient at a doctor’s office, she’s given a clipboard and paperwork to fill out, in this case asking about her experience with medical marijuana and some of the symptoms she is having.
A few minutes pass by until a personal adviser is available, and the new patient joins him as he uses his access card to pass through yet another locked door that opens into an expansive showroom floor.
There, enormous, fluorescent glass displays feature medical marijuana products from licensed Pennsylvania grower/processors in the state. No live products are present, however, as only empty packaging for the various items can be shown locked behind these displays, all in accordance with regulation. The actual products are locked up in a vault behind the checkout counter in the back of the room, which can only be accessed through another set of locked doors.
A few minutes pass by until a personal adviser is available, and the new patient joins him as he uses his access card to pass through yet another locked door that opens into an expansive showroom floor.
There, enormous, fluorescent glass displays feature medical marijuana products from licensed Pennsylvania grower/processors in the state. No live products are present, however, as only empty packaging for the various items can be shown locked behind these displays, all in accordance with regulation. The actual products are locked up in a vault behind the checkout counter in the back of the room, which can only be accessed through another set of locked doors.
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Located at the front of the showroom are two smaller rooms where an on-site licensed pharmacist can meet with a patient for a consultation. Unlike many medications that work for large parts of the population, like Aspirin for pain relief, medical marijuana consumption requires a more individual and tailored approach, as different strains of the plant can have varying effects on patients.
Similar to an Apple store with its modern feel and openness, Maitri’s showroom floor is inviting for patients to roam and explore the various products from the dispensary’s menu. The new patient asks her personal advisor for some clarification on how the vaporizer pen she is pointing to works. After a few more minutes, the two proceed to the checkout counter. The patient then leaves through the showroom’s exit-only door that opens back to the lobby where she will then go on to check out at the front desk. |
In many ways, the presentation of the showroom has been designed to produce an environment that is the exact opposite of one found in a head shop or cigar lounge. It’s modern and sleek, but more importantly, it’s nonstereotypical of what many would come to think of when picturing a facility that sells marijuana products. And it’s this exact experience CEO and Co-founder Corinne Ogrodnik had hoped for when creating the space.
“It gets back to it being memorable,” Ogrodnik said. “Just the aesthetics of the space being something that makes people feel comfortable in, that they want to come back. It really destigmatizes any of the thoughts you might have walking into a head shop or a smoke shop.”
But the operation comes at a cost and burden practically no other industry has to face as a seemingly countless number of regulations are always at the forefront of any task.
In fact, Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana industry may be more heavily regulated than the nuclear compliance industry, at least according to Ogrodnik’s brother-in-law, who has a background in working with nuclear energy regulations. Ogrodnik said her relative made the remark to her when he was helping her go over the application for a state medical marijuana license back in 2016.
“It gets back to it being memorable,” Ogrodnik said. “Just the aesthetics of the space being something that makes people feel comfortable in, that they want to come back. It really destigmatizes any of the thoughts you might have walking into a head shop or a smoke shop.”
But the operation comes at a cost and burden practically no other industry has to face as a seemingly countless number of regulations are always at the forefront of any task.
In fact, Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana industry may be more heavily regulated than the nuclear compliance industry, at least according to Ogrodnik’s brother-in-law, who has a background in working with nuclear energy regulations. Ogrodnik said her relative made the remark to her when he was helping her go over the application for a state medical marijuana license back in 2016.
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“It’s just part of the job,” she said. “I think that because I come from a public policy background, that has provided us with a more nuanced understanding of the purpose, let’s say, of some of the regulations. You almost forget some of the constraints.”
But to the average passerby, it’s hard to ignore some of the many restrictions the state has imposed on medical marijuana dispensaries and grower/processor facilities. For instance, Ogrodnik has to be cautious with her words, making sure to say medical marijuana and not use the terms cannabis or weed. Products primarily utilizing the harvested parts of the plant have to be referred to as dry leaf, even though the street term flower is botanically accurate for the actual part of the plant that is being consumed. Discussions about the possibility of marijuana becoming legalized beyond medicinal needs are referred to as adult use, not recreational use. |
“Just the aesthetics of the space being something that makes people feel comfortable in, that they want to come back. It really destigmatizes any of the thoughts you might have walking into a head shop or a smoke shop.”
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Since the Department of Health closely monitors any sort of news coverage regarding the industry, Ogrodnik is careful with how she discusses these topics, though she is far from deterred by these policies. If anything, all of these regulations have become a natural part of doing business in a budding industry. It has to be, she said.
“It is a dynamic, complex, challenging opportunity to be pioneers in establishing a brand new industry whose primary goal is to improve people’s quality of life,” Ogrodnik said. “We are problems solvers, and that’s what you have to be in this industry. You have to be problem solvers.”
“It is a dynamic, complex, challenging opportunity to be pioneers in establishing a brand new industry whose primary goal is to improve people’s quality of life,” Ogrodnik said. “We are problems solvers, and that’s what you have to be in this industry. You have to be problem solvers.”
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Even with the added need for following such strict regulation, the business has been able to turn a profit after millions of dollars worth of investment, and Maitri has been able to grow its staff to 38 employees, almost all of whom are medical marijuana patients themselves, across its Uniontown and Pittsburgh locations.
Its grower/processor facility, currently under construction in O’Hara Township, will make Maitri the only licensed grower and distributor in Allegheny County once the facility opens later this year. Ogrodnik said plans are currently underway to finalize the company’s third and final location as permitted under the state license so long as the dispensary is not in a county where one of Maitri’s current facilities already exist. Despite the many regulations, Ogrodnik said the cautious approach Pennsylvania is taking with regard to medical marijuana could actually be a good thing. |
“The Department of Health, to be honest, got it right,” Ogrodnik said. “They really developed a program that balances strict regulation with patient accessibility.”
