Above I-480, one of the major interstates stretching across the northern half of Ohio, motorists can see the new Terrasana sign sitting atop a small commercial building in suburban Garfield Heights. The medical marijuana dispensary, which opens March 28, is the first to serve patients in Cuyahoga County.
Chief Medical Officer Bill Kedia tells Cannabis Dispensary that Terrasana is placing the medical needs of this early-stage marketplace front and center at the Garfield Heights dispensary. Kedia is a primary care physician who runs a practice in nearby Tallmadge, Ohio.
“One of the things that we bring that may be a little bit more unique [is] having a physician involved on a day-to-day basis, [which] is very, very important—especially with a medical market,” Kedia says. “Every single one of the 21 conditions, I have patients who have gone through that at some point in my career.”
Right off the main retail area are two patient consultation rooms, where Kedia can meet one-on-one with patients to answer in-depth questions about how cannabis interacts with those qualifying conditions.
Kedia says that these early days in Ohio’s medical marijuana market have seen supply and pricing issues. “One of the issues that we're having—and one of the issues patients are having—is cost, because there's such a limited supply because we don't have enough growers,” Kedia says, adding that the dispensary will keep its prices for the “Ohio tenth” (2.83 grams) between $40 and $50. (Terrasana has partnered with Hypur to facilitate cashless payment, as well.)
For now, Terrasana is sourcing products from several Ohio growers, including Calyx Peak, Firelands Scientific and Grow Ohio. Based in Zanesville, Ohio, Grow Ohio was recently awarded the state’s first processing licenses; the company expects to distribute edibles and other cannabis products to stores sometime next month. For now, Ohio dispensaries only have access to medical cannabis flower—and smoking medical cannabis is not permitted under state law. Dispensaries like Terrasana are carrying vaporizers and working to educate patients on how to use them.
Terrasana holds three other dispensary licenses in Ohio: in Columbus (open now), Fremont (open April 2) and Springfield. The company is currently appealing an unsuccessful Level-I cannabis cultivation license bid in Ohio.
“It’s a huge economic boon for the city,” Kedia says. “It's going to help increase sales—not just here and not just bring people into this location, but all of Northeast Ohio. So, people from south, east, west will be coming here, we hope, to buy our products and then in turn spend some of their money in surrounding communities.”
