MJBizMag May-June 2021 - 44

WELLNESS OUTLOOK
COMPASSIONATE
CONNECTIONS
M
edical marijuana isn't exclusive
to MMJ dispensaries.
It's true that consumers with
serious health problems are more likely
to shop at dispensaries than adult-use
retailers in order to access more potent
products, higher purchasing limits and
low to no taxes on medical marijuana.
But many cannabis consumers with
less acute medical or wellness needs
avoid the MMJ route and embrace
recreational marijuana to address issues
such as insomnia, stress and muscle pain.
" The way that you win as a business
is to bring a differentiated experience
to the consumer or to the patient, " said
Dr. Kyle Kingsley, a former emergency
room physician and current CEO of
Vireo Health International, a multistate
operator based in Minneapolis.
GETTING FEEDBACK
But how can cannabis executives get
enough patient feedback to provide the
right experience?
Chris Diorio, who in 2017 left
pharmaceutical giant Pfizer after
20-plus years as a senior scientist to join
PharmaCann, a Chicago-based multistate
operator where he is now director of
research and development, said his
company uses several channels to gather
feedback from patients and consumers.
These include PharmaCann's social media
pages, a call center, patient surveys and
dispensary workers who serve customers.
PharmaCann has many employees
who are also patients, and the comp
Cannabis clones are propogated in Texas. Photo courtesy of Texas Original Compassionate Cultivation
BY OMAR SACIRBEY
How marijuana businesses meet the medical and wellness needs
of patients and consumers
any often relies on them to better tailor
new products.
For example, if PharmaCann wanted
to launch a new product in a certain
market, it wouldn't do it on a massive
scale right off the bat. Instead, a number
of employee-patients would test the
product and provide feedback on things
such as onset, duration and taste.
" It would be a softer launch, " Diorio
explained. " We get the feedback, make
adjustments if necessary to make it
more palatable-or, if the onset was
delayed, investigate what was going on. "
QR CODES, EXPLORATIONS
Vancouver, Washington-based
Fairwinds, which sells THC-infused
products within the state and hempbased
CBD products nationwide,
uses many traditional customer
feedback channels. It also has started
incorporating quick response (QR)
44 Marijuana Business Magazine | May-June 2021
codes on packaging that customers
are encouraged to scan with their cell
phones, activating a form where they
can answer specific questions about
the product.
" That helps us a lot. Sometimes, it's
things we would never think of. Smell
is a really huge thing for people, " said
Wendy Hull, Fairwinds' CEO.
Fairwinds also recently started an
" Exploration Series, " where consumers
are encouraged to provide feedback
about their product experience through
an online survey.
The first product in the series is a
Pax Era vape cartridge blending the
strain OG Kush with CBN, a minor
cannabinoid that many observers say
promotes sleep and stress relief.
For companies that can't or don't have
the time to put their products through
formal studies, such channels can
provide invaluable feedback.

MJBizMag May-June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of MJBizMag May-June 2021