Cannabis Industry enters Tiffin

Tiffin has opened its doors to the cannabis industry by welcoming its first dispensary at 318 W. Market St. Thrive Dispensary will operate under Ohio's cannabis laws and regulations by providing flower, concentrates and edibles to individuals with medical cards. Thrive, owned by MariMed, Inc., will be the first MariMed dispensary to open in Ohio. With its headquarters in Massachusetts, MariMed, Inc. owns and operates cannabis cultivation and processing facilities in Massachusetts as well as dispensaries in areas such as Illinois and Maryland. "Our mission is about improving people's lives every day through our products, actions and values," said Howard Schacter, chief communications officer for MariMed, Inc."We take great pride in the quality of our products and what they can do for people, particularly medical patients…We also take great pride in being a great corporate citizen, and we look forward to doing exactly that here in Tiffin." In 2021, MariMed Inc. was awarded a state provisional dispensary license (PDL), and decided that Tiffin would be the ideal spot for a dispensary. "We look for communities that we believe provide a great opportunity, a great customer base and where we can make a difference," Schacter said. "Tiffin checked a lot of those boxes." As Ohio has its own regime of cannabis regulations, Thrive will officially open after its final inspection which Schacter estimated to be sometime this month. Because Ohio does not allow for recreational cannabis, the dispensary will be for medical purposes only. Consumers must obtain a medical license in order to enter Thrive Dispensary. "We take great pride in delivering an exceptional customer experience," Schacter said. He explained the dispensary will feature a high-quality menu of products from across Ohio, and supply proficient training for team members who will be working at the store. Staff members will range from patient care specialists to security teams and inventory specialists. "The patients that will be coming in, certainly many will be very educated about the product and that's great and they know exactly what they want, and that's terrific—but there's a lot that come in that want to adopt cannabis as part of their health and wellness lifestyle and have gotten a medical card to take care of some need," said Schacter." But, it can be a bit scary, so we take our responsibility to hold them by the hand through that process, educate them about what's available, what they might potentially want to use for whatever they're looking to take care of, be it anxiety, sleep, stress, pain—and the right format too." "Everything that the state allows, we will offer," Schacter said of Thrive's product line. "We want to be viewed as the home for cannabis education for patients in the community, as well as product," he said. "Whether they ultimately buy something or not, we can help them understand more about the benefits of this miracle plant and what it can do." For more information, visit marimedinc.com.