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ionia dispensary checks all boxes
Ionia Dispensary Checks All of the Boxes
JON BECKER FOR MICHIGAN GREEN STATE
Youthful enthusiasm is great, but experience matters. When you are making the important, potentially life-changing decision on where to turn for cannabis products in a state teeming with marijuana dispensaries, it’s understandable if you feel a bit overwhelmed by all the different companies—and product options. That’s why some due diligence is in order. There’s a personal responsibility involved in making sure you’re relying on seasoned, trusted professionals when you’ve decided to embark on a cannabis regimen. When you’re putting something into your body that can impact your entire being (spiritual, physical, emotional and mental), it’s reassuring to know that Michigan has marijuana provisioning centers fronted by individuals who are promoting wellness and culture not merely a bottom line. There’s a new marijuana dispensary in Ionia, Arcanna that checks all of the boxes. With the importance of mental health being thrust into the national consciousness by celebrities and world-class athletes such as gymnast Simon Biles and tennis player Naomi Osaka, cannabis advocates can related to a battle to destigmatize. Dean St. Peter is head of processing & grow operations at Arcanna Cannabis, meaning he’s the last line of quality control for the full selection of top-shelf and popular brands of cannabis it offers its medical patients and adult recreational users. He’s also one of the founders of a company that, unlike similar ventures, has its grow, processing and retail operations situated on one site. “You can actually be in our store shopping and look out the back window and see weed growing,” said St. Peter, 36. “Any cultivation here is under my purview. Our team here is different because of all the experiences we’ve shared, and so much more. We’re not after money first, just a change in lifestyle. We all have a lot of experience and love for what we do, and unyielding obsession with quality.” St. Peter’s obsession started early. He remembers looking at an issue of High Times as a youngster and being captivated by the pictures of the various weed strains and flowers. “It spoke to me on a weird primal level,” he recalls. “I’ve been involved with marijuana for 22 years on some level, be it growing it, smoking it or selling it. I’ve loved marijuana virtually my entire life.” But love can cloud judgment. St. Peter found himself on the wrong end, legally, of the marijuana movement back in 2013 when his home and grow marijuana caregiver operation was raided by authorities. On his daughter’s birthday no less, foiling the family’s plan to visit Binder Park Zoo.
St. Peter’s crime? Selling weed to a medical marijuana patient that wasn’t his patient. “I was guilty,” he admits. “The facts are the facts. I didn’t question it.” Yet that doesn’t mean St. Peter thought is actions were wrong. “That individual was a recovering heroin addict that claimed he found relief in marijuana,” he said. “I had worked with him in one of the restaurants for a few years and knew he had a problem. I didn’t think twice about helping with that. It (marijuana) was a gift the first few times but when it’s sold it becomes illegal if the person isn’t your registered patient. There was a court case that decided that.” St. Peter was found guilty in court and was placed on probation for six months after being charged with five felonies. After successfully completing terms of his probation, the felony was expunged from his record. “The real punishment was the felony record because it holds you back in so many ways,” he said, “but I really believe in my case it primed me for the future and helped me learn to work better with other people and to navigate the sometimes choppy waters of a new frontier.” Yet for all the hardship getting popped cost him, St. Peter said, “I really believe in my case it primed me for the future. Without that event, I’m not sure I would have gone on that journey of constant improvement to develop the skill set to go from 3 lights in a basement to being able to design, flesh out and oversee a multimillion dollar operation.” He added: “So, in a weird roundabout way, I’m thankful for the experience as well as for all of the lessons that it taught. Though the roots of education were bitter and of my own doing, the fruits have been sweet.” St. Peter is no outlaw. He’s happy to be doing what he loves without any potential legal repercussions in Michigan’s new and burgeoning marijuana marketplace. “Some guys get a thrill being on the outside of the law or going rogue,” he said. “That’s not me. I’ve got a family. I don’t want to be scared and looking over my shoulder. This is my calling, my passion. It’s not easy to ignore. It’s been a wild ride but I’m not going back to the restaurant business. This is right up my alley.” It’s been a heady time for Arcanna President David Bye, St. Peter, co-founder Nicholas Nover and the rest of the Arcanna staff. Bye had owned a hydroponics business, The Big Green Tomato, before first opening Arcanna as a medical provisioning center in June 2020. The company earlier this year received its adult use (recreational) license, allowing it to expand its offerings to the community. “Experience is what separates us,” St. Peter said. “I’m not new to the game. I’m from the game. This is what I always wanted to do. This is a brand new industry and you see a lot of people getting into it with zero experience like millionaire hedge investors who see a chance to make a buck. I don’t begrudge anyone for trying to make money. Our passion for the plant is what drives us.” That same plant people were ostracized for or worse, saw them get locked up for merely possessing, has come a long way, legally and in the court of public opinion. St. Peter could go on all day talking about marijuana’s evolution and the people who, through the courage of their convictions, risked so much to elevate its standing. There has been a price to pay for so many. “Over the years it’s given me a sort of romanticized view of the era, much like Prohibition only with much less violence,” he said. “Things like people having their children taken away for operating as a caregiver despite it being a legally protected activity. How much the punitive laws just didn’t make sense. Guys that have held strains since the 1970s to preserve them as part of history. People that have been persecuted (and prosecuted) for using marijuana as a pain management tool instead of opiates.” It’s been said that if you want to be successful and happy in life, find your passion and figure out a way to make a living at it. It’s worked well for Arcanna’s trio of co-founders and the rest of the growing company’s dedicated staff. “Our passion for the plant is what drives us,” St. Peter enthuses. “It’s our focus and ultimately what I believe will be the greatest piece to the puzzle of our success. We’re not after money first. We’ve all been fortunate enough to finally have our outlet to do what we love and what we, on our team, truly feel like what we’re meant to do without fear. Not a lot of companies can say that.” Bye, St. Peter and Nover are the company’s leaders, but St. Peter is quick to mention it takes far more than them to make their operation hum. “We rely on so many people on our team. They are just as important to the whole machine as I am or David or Nic is. This wouldn’t be here if I didn’t have the support from the people around me in my life that put up with the risk-taking behavior I used to engage in, or the people that work with us as a company that believe in that vision.” Arcanna constantly looks at ways to improve every aspect of its cultivation, processing and retail operations because “we are not willing to accept anything but the best in anything we produce for our customers. That’s how we are wired here.” St. Peter is so dedicated to Arcanna that he commutes 103 miles one way to work from his home in Lawton, 20 miles west of Kalamazoo, to Ionia. “It’s so I can grow weed legally and not be afraid anymore,” he said, smiling. “There’s a whole culture around weed like there is craft beer. This economy has been brought out of the darkness into the light. Weed is medicine. It helps people bond. It provides a break at the end of the day.” St. Peter said Arcanna has been so moved by its warm welcome as a legit business in Ionia it’s exploring other locations in the state to open marijuana provisioning centers. To see Arcanna’s variety of top-notch products, visit its store or website at https://arcannausa.com
Issue 3 | summer 2021 www.MIGREENSTATE.com | 17
