Cannabist Williamsburg, the first medical marijuana dispensary to set up shop in the Historic Triangle, officially opened up its doors this week.

The region’s new medical marijuana dispensary, at 409 Bypass Road in York County, celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday morning. The company’s soft opening was held Nov. 23.

Cannabist is a brand of dispensaries owned by parent company Columbia Care, a multi-state cultivator that distributes its own cannabis-related products — such as edibles, oils and tablets.

Inside of what was a Denny’s restaurant, the renovated and redesigned Cannabist building is complete with large touchscreen menus and glass display cases that feature the company’s medicinal offerings.

Ngiste Abebe, vice president of public policy at Columbia Care, highlighted the pharmacists who are now providing services to the greater Williamsburg area. The pharmacists, licensed through Virginia’s Board of Pharmacy, strive to serve local patients who suffer from health and wellness issues including those with ailments like cancer, insomnia, anxiety, PTSD and epilepsy, she said..

“Everyone who is behind the counter is either a pharmacy technician or is a pharmacist supervising them,” Abebe said in an interview at Wednesday’s event.

According to Abebe, patients first consult with a pharmacist and explain what type of relief they’re looking for. For more information on the process, patients can visit the Board of Pharmacy’s website at www.dhp.virginia.gov/pharmacy/PharmaceuticalProcessing/Patients.htm.

“The pharmacists help match patients with what products they have,” she said, “and then they’ll follow up with patients to make sure that they are finding the relief that they need and so they can make sure that they are having the quality of life that they need to have.”

Colombia Care, licensed to operate 12 dispensaries in Virginia, represents an expanding footprint in the state’s growing medical marijuana industry. The Cannabist Williamsburg location is the company’s sixth dispensary to open its doors, with plans to open a location in Hampton next year.

In total, Cannabist has over 33 locations with a national presence spanning 11 states, with the vast majority of the dispensaries in Florida. The company’s original Virginia location is in Portsmouth. There’s also a Cannabist in Virginia Beach and in Richmond’s Carytown area.

“All of our products are grown in the medical cannabis program,” Abebe said. “So, if they’re grown at our facilities, they’re grown at either Portsmouth or in Richmond where we have indoor cultivation facilities with seed-to-sale tracking.”

Every product is tested by a third party and those test results are sent to a regulator to confirm that it’s safe, Abebe added.

“Especially since (the pharmacists) serve immunocompromised patients, folks who are going through chemo or folks dealing with other immune illnesses, it’s really, really important that folks have access to something that they know will keep them safe,” she said.

All of Cannabist’s products are labeled, and the company sets a maximum dose limit of 10 milligrams. The pharmacists and pharmacist technicians help patients “understand how to dose themselves accurately and in ways that provide relief while still allowing for a quality of life,” Abebe said.

Cannabist operates medical dispensaries strictly for medical purposes. As of 2022, the laws on purchasing marijuana for recreational use, also referred to as “adult use,” is still being discussed at the state level.

However, marijuana is legal for adults 21 and older to possess, consume and grow in Virginia, with the state having defined limits on the specific amounts that individuals may have. To legally purchase marijuana, a licensed practitioner is required to sign off on an individual’s certification. While laws related to possession of marijuana began to significantly ease in 2021, adult use is not yet regulated by a licensed industry in the state of Virginia.

“I call it adult-use cannabis because the research shows that anywhere from 65 to 75% of customers on the non-medical side are still coming in for health and wellness reasons,” said Abebe. “The top three reasons people purchase cannabis, whether as a patient or on the adult use side, are insomnia, anxiety and pain. Adult-use access helps us expand people’s opportunities to find relief and wellness.”

Abebe sat on former Gov. Ralph Northam’s legalization task force in 2020 to discuss the benefits and challenges of adult use in Virginia. She acts as vice chair of the public health advisory council for the state’s Cannabis Control Authority.

“We have supported adult use in the past, and we will continue to support adult-use legislation that supports legislators’ clear goals to incubate and foster a strong Virginia cannabis industry that helps additional players enter the marketplace, and so that we can continue to normalize the substance and also to make it legal in a way that keeps our communities and our children safe,” Abebe said.

Dominic Catacora, dominic.catacora@virginiamedia.com