COVER STORY
More Than a Medical Marijuana Dispensary By Janice Lane Palko There are many medical marijuana dispensaries in the area, but there is only one like Solevo Wellness. Since 2018 when Solevo became the first medical marijuana dispensary in Allegheny County, it has strived to provide quality care and more for those in the community. Solevo now has grown to three locations: Squirrel Hill, Cranberry and Washington. Northern Connection magazine recently caught up with Solevo Wellness, speaking with Rocco Levine, Operations Director, and Dr. Richard Greer, Pharmacy Director. Q. What sets Solevo apart? A. Solevo Wellness has been built upon education and patient support. In the medical marijuana industry, we tend to see the lack of both very important types of information and support throughout the United States. Understanding our patients and their needs helps us create a safer and more medical approach to marijuana. We strive on educating our staff, in every position, to help a patient along their journey to a better life. – Rocco Levine Q. How do most of your patients come to you? A. Most patients find Solevo Wellness through their physician or by word of mouth. Solevo Wellness has built a Wellness Center dedicated to helping our patients and their needs. This and our very accessible buildings help people understand that this is a medical facility, and you should expect the highest level of professionalism. – Rocco Levine Q. What sort of results are patients reporting to you? A. Each patient is different and has different needs with regards to medical marijuana and what it could help treat. At Solevo Wellness, we take an approach to medical marijuana where we slowly build the patient’s education about the endocannabinoid system and the medicine we provide. This helps ensure little to no adverse effects, and a higher success rate than when dealing
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FEBRUARY 2021 | www.northernconnectionmag.com
solely with a patient’s symptoms. Obviously, we wish we could say this helps with everything for everyone, but as we know, everybody responds differently to medical marijuana. – Rocco Levine Q. Have you been surprised by any of the results you are seeing? A. If you are new to medical marijuana, some of the results or stories patients provide may seem impossible. Medical marijuana has helped patients from the age of two up to 98. Since this is a relatively new industry, there will always be results that surprise all of us. Medical marijuana has not been researched enough, or to the degree that we completely understand this. Until we start understanding the medicine more, we will be surprised by the results we do see daily. – Rocco Levine Q. You have expanded to three locations? A. Yes, the patient base is continuing to grow due to education, outreach and new diagnoses being added to the program. Since anxiety has been added as a qualifying condition, the program has grown over 25%. We will continue to see growth in our industry with more conditions being added to list, opening the range of qualified patients. – Rocco Levine
