{"id":6396,"date":"2018-02-17T21:50:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-18T02:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lcpllutzlivetotell.org\/?p=6396"},"modified":"2019-08-08T12:41:07","modified_gmt":"2019-08-08T16:41:07","slug":"tears-joy-opening-bucks-county-medical-marijuana-dispensary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/?p=6396","title":{"rendered":"Tears of joy at opening of Bucks County medical marijuana dispensary"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tears of joy at opening of Bucks County medical marijuana dispensary<\/h3>\n

Updated:<\/strong>\u00a0FEBRUARY 17, 2018 \u2014 1:50 PM EST<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Picture credit: William Thomas Cain\/cainimages.com<\/a><\/p>\n

From left, Adam Prowell and Josh Reiss help patient Robert Consulmagno at TerraVida Holistic Center, which is one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries to open in Pennsylvania. (WILLIAM THOMAS CAIN \/ For The Inquirer)<\/p>\n

Robert Consulmagno walked into TerraVida Holistic Center in Sellersville around 9:30 a.m. Saturday and left half an hour later feeling hopeful for the first time in a while.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHelp is on the way,\u201d Consulmagno said, lifting his purchase\u00a0\u2013 a vape pen and cartridge of 500 mg of\u00a0 \u201cKeystone Kush\u201d \u2013 to applause from dispensary staff. \u201cI\u2019ve been waiting a long time for this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Consulmagno, a disabled Marine veteran who suffers from bipolar disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder, was the first person to buy medical marijuana from TerraVida, one of two dispensaries to open in the Philadelphia area Saturday. The other, Keystone Shops, is in Devon. Pennsylvania\u2019s first dispensary opened Thursday in Butler, followed by others in Pittsburgh, Bethlehem, and Enola\u00a0on Friday.<\/p>\n

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\"View<\/a>Picture credit: William Thomas Cain\/cainimages.com<\/a><\/div>\n
\u00a0Disabled vet Robert \u201cCosmo\u201d Consulmagno is the first patient at TerraVida med marijuana dispensary in Sellersville, which opened this AM.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n
Outside TerraVida on Saturday morning, about a dozen people waited in line. They drove in from Plymouth Meeting, Red Hill, Doylestown, Harleysville, and Northeast Philadelphia. They shared with one another their conditions: multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, metastatic cancer. And\u00a0talked about all the things they miss out on because of pain: kids\u2019 sports games, walking the dog, going to the beach, taking a spouse out for Valentine\u2019s Day. A cancer patient described how surgery left him with chronic pain and radiation burned off his taste buds. He dropped 25 pounds and has no appetite.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Bob Traynor, 71, shook from the strain of holding himself up on his cane. For the retired Vietnam War veteran who lives in Red Hill and has had two spinal fusions, walking and standing is intolerable. At one point, he was taking 10 opioid pills a day. He can\u2019t lift more than 20 pounds and the inability to find relief has become a strain on his family. His doctor recommended he try cannabis. \u201cThis is like a blessing,\u201d he said through tears. \u201cI just hope it works for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Picture credit: William Thomas Cain\/cainimages.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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Thom Shannon waves as he is allowed in for his appointment at TerraVida Holistic Center in Sellersville.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The mood was largely celebratory. Each time the next person was invited inside by the security guard (clients go in one at a time), the small waiting group cheered. It\u2019s been two years since the state legalized medical marijuana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never thought I\u2019d see this day,\u201d said Thom Shannon, 42, who has migraines and insomnia. \u201cIt\u2019s a ray of hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

TerraVida, a beige, nondescript building on Main Street in Sellersville, shares a parking lot with the local fire department. It\u2019s across from the American Legion, tucked right in the center of town. The dispensary has a spa-like feel, with a waterfall, wood-and-stone\u00a0decor, and a waiting area\u00a0where patients can help themselves to cucumber\u00a0water, green tea, and cookies. On opening day, the staff set up a photo area with balloons and a TerraVida backdrop, encouraging patients to share their stories on social media\u00a0to celebrate the opening and\u00a0destigmatize cannabis use.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to take away the stigma of what a medical marijuana dispensary should look like,\u201d said owner Chris Visco. \u201cThis isn\u2019t like a head shop. This is a medical facility and there are a lot of people who\u2019ve never used cannabis before who are coming here. They\u2019re a little uneasy and we want everyone to relax.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visco, 46, who lives in Springfield, Montgomery County, started her career working in retail. She was a buyer for David\u2019s Bridal and Boscov\u2019s before\u00a0getting into politics and starting up a social media and political strategy business. She was part of the campaign to legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania and has since learned much about the industry she has joined.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to be a part of helping people get off opioids and helping cancer patients and small children with epilepsy,\u201d Visco said. \u201cIt\u2019s really rewarding talking to all\u00a0these patients and knowing how long they\u2019ve waited.\u201d<\/p>\n

By late afternoon, Visco said TerraVida had served about 100 clients, and expected 40 to 50 more before the 6 p.m. closing.<\/p>\n

Visco has secured two other locations, in Abington and Malvern.\u00a0Hers are three of 27 permits granted for dispensaries statewide. Openings have been slightly delayed because it\u2019s taken growers a while to get up and running, she said. Only one is at the shipping stage.<\/p>\n

When a patient comes in\u00a0\u2013 appointments and walk-ins are welcome \u2013 they must\u00a0present their active medical marijuana card to a receptionist and wait in a locked glass vestibule to be buzzed inside. Once inside, they present their doctor\u2019s recommendation to a pharmacist who privately consults with them to learn about their life and what strain is best for their condition.<\/p>\n

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Picture credit: William Thomas Cain\/cainimages.com<\/a><\/div>\n
Patients must present their active med mar card before getting buzzed in.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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After the pharmacist consultation, the patient enters the dispensary, where they get help picking from disposable pens, oils, concentrates, waxes, and lotions displayed in glass cases. The dispensary\u00a0doesn\u2019t sell cannabis\u00a0<\/a>bud or leaf. State law does not allow sale of the plant, including joints or\u00a0food with marijuana in it. The 30-day supplies range in cost from $25 to $85 depending on the type.<\/p>\n

Consulmagno,\u00a0a\u00a0high-level jiu-jitsu competitor\u00a0<\/a>who follows an\u00a0intense workout regimen, considered an oil that could be applied topically or with a syringe under his tongue, or dropped onto candy or food.<\/p>\n

He wanted something to help him sleep and unwind after working out, so consultant Josh Reiss suggested the \u201cKeystone Kush,\u201d 67 percent THC, considered the psychoactive molecule in marijuana. The 500-mg cartridge cost him $60 and the vape pen (which can be charged via a USB cable), $15.<\/p>\n

Consulmagno, 165 pounds of muscle, a shiner still under his eye from a recent competition, has been recognized for his\u00a0work destigmatizing\u00a0mental health and helping veterans.\u00a0He\u2019s known as Super Crazy Cozmo\u00a0<\/a>and his mantra is \u201cfighting for mental health.\u201d He would most likely be the most\u00a0intimidating-looking guy buying cannabis that day, but he worried about being hassled for using the vape.\u00a0\u201cSo can I ask you, if it\u2019s in my pocket, am I going to be nervous pulling it out? Can I do it outside, like cigarettes? I don\u2019t want people bothering me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI recommend you consume in private, save the receipt to show you purchased it here,\u201d Reiss said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s your right to possess it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Retrieved from: http:\/\/www.philly.com\/philly\/news\/marijuana-medical-cannabis-dispensary-bucks-county-20180217.html?mobi=true<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tears of joy at opening of Bucks County medical marijuana dispensary Updated:\u00a0FEBRUARY 17, 2018 \u2014 1:50 PM EST Picture credit: William Thomas Cain\/cainimages.com From left, Adam Prowell and Josh Reiss help patient Robert Consulmagno at TerraVida Holistic Center, which is one of the first medical marijuana dispensaries to open in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[617],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cannabis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}