New West Ocean City Business Dispenses Warmth, Marijuana

Ron Strider

Well-Known Member
The term "medical marijuana dispensary" conjures all the coziness of a hospital gown.

Denise and Lyndsey Odachowski want to change that.

Their mother-and-daughter pharmacy, which deals exclusively in the newly available drug, pops with splashes of green paint and sunny photographs of the distinctive plant from which it is made.

"We really wanted to focus on being warm and happy and vibrant," Lyndsey Odachowski said as she scanned her handiwork inside the waiting room.

Positive Energy dispensary received its final license Dec. 14 from the Maryland Medical Cannabis Commission, all but clearing the path toward opening its doors.

Odachowski said she hopes to start doing business by late January. She and her staff of 10 employees need to complete their training on the state's tracking software, and they need to acquire their first round of product.

The West Ocean City business is one of two dispensaries on track to open in Senate District 38, which includes Worcester, Somerset and a portion of Wicomico. The Medical Cannabis Commission allowed up to two per district.

The other, owned by OC Botanicals LLC and operating under the name Hi Tide Dispensary, is working toward opening soon on Marjan Lane, also in West Ocean City.

The Odachowskis' dispensary is tucked into a strip mall on Route 50, just east of the Walmart shopping center. The family owns the complex as well as the businesses that reside inside it.

It's safe to say entrepreneurialism runs in the family. Lyndsey's father, Matt, has owned Royal Plus, a disaster cleanup service, since 1983. Her uncle runs Royal Plus Electric, an electrical contractor.

In 2015, as Maryland took its first initial steps toward creating a medical marijuana program, Matt Odachowski approached the town of Snow Hill about bringing his startup there. He filed license applications with the Cannabis Commission to open a growing facility, a processing plant and dispensary.

Ultimately, state regulators approved only the dispensary license. That was no small feat since more than 800 firms applied but only a little more than 100 received pre-approval.

The scaled-back business plan meant that the Snow Hill operation no longer made fiscal sense. So the family proceeded with the West Ocean City storefront.

The family patriarch, as it happens, was too busy to invest much time into the new venture. So Denise and Lyndsey assumed the reins.

Lyndsey said the family was inspired to pursue a medical marijuana business to help two of their own. Her grandfather has battled Parkinson's disease for years while her grandmother has dealt with chronic pain. Both are interested in the potential benefits cannabis has to offer, she said.

The business came along just as Lyndsey was graduating from the College of Charleston in South Carolina with a major in international business. She knew she wanted to run her own company some day, but she never realized it would be so soon.

"I always hoped to be running my own business, having my parents as role models," she said.

To be eligible to receive medical marijuana, patients must receive a recommendation from a doctor or other medical professional who has registered with the commission. And patients must register with the agency as well.

Although dispensaries aren't mandated to employ a clinical director, Positive Energy makes appointments available with Vanessa Adams, a nurse practitioner who works for the Indian River School District.

Odachowski said she wants to do everything she can to let the community know they're serious about health care.

"We really hope to be revered in the community and trusted," she said.

She also envisions hosting education seminars and allowing suppliers to speak directly to patients.

More: Former Shore hospital CEO takes reins of Md. medical marijuana commission

The downside of relying on a drug that the federal government classifies as illegal is that all patient transactions must be done in cash, and insurance companies don't cover the treatments. (Positive Energy was able to secure the services of a bank, however.)

Despite those hindrances, the first group of dispensaries that opened earlier this month were bombarded with patients. Supplies have been shallow as growers multiply to meet the demand.

But Odachowski remains as optimistic as the name Positive Energy implies.

"Medical marijuana is bringing us back to the roots of what medicine is," she said. "I see it as going back to where it once used to be."

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News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: West Ocean City medical marijuana dispensary set for January opening
Author: Jeremy Cox
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Photo Credit: Brian Gilliland
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