H E A LT H & W E L L N E S S
Mobile Cannabis Accessibility to medical cannabis just got easier
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hen The Utah State Legislature passed the initial medical cannabis legislation three years ago, they decided that there would not be cannabis dispensaries or pharmacies on every street corner as they are found ubiquitous among our neighbors in Colorado or Nevada. Instead, Utah adopted a model that would allow courier services to be involved so that patients all over Utah could order their product and have it sent like an Amazon order. Or so they hoped. This vision had not materialized until WholesomeCo Medical Cannabis Pharmacy in West Bountiful set up shop and about a year ago started offering home delivery to nearly every corner of Utah. CEO and founder Chris Jeffery put it this way: “We decided to take the approach of founding and establishing our company knowing that our technology would be the key factor in success.” Jeffery says they devoted considerable engineering resources to solving the problems of logistics, supply chain consistency, as well as providing a solid and easy-to-use e-commerce site that could drive a much higher level of service in cannabis delivery in Utah. WholesomeCo now offers statewide free delivery of medical cannabis serving 99% of rural communities in Utah with weekly deliveries.
18 | utahstories.com
Jeffery knows well what goes into building a successful tech company and delivery service. He was the founder of a grocery delivery and food company in the Baltimore, Maryland area. The backend of what he is building in Utah is designed to be easily scalable and highly robust. “We already have impacted the market significantly, '' Jeffery says, adding, “Today about ten percent of all cannabis orders are made online in Utah and are delivered, WholesomeCo is handling the majority of those orders.” WholesomeCo headquarters in West Bountiful are highly secure, with security guards maintaining the safety. The waiting area for patients offers a highly professional staff including (by law) an on-site medical cannabis pharmacist who was fielding calls by patients. The difficulty in operating a medical cannabis pharmacy is that patients are still required to pay in cash or debit, and there is still a stigma attached to using a medicine that is a federally-banned, Schedule One controlled substance. Jeffery has believed for years that national political leaders would work to remove this blockade. “Once the laws are changed, much more money will flow into the space, and certainly more scientific studies for treatments and strains will move forward.” Jeffery believes this is very likely by
PHOTO BY RICHARD MARKOSIAN
By Richard Markosian
