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The First Stop in CANNABIS
Our “Lift the SPOTLIGHT:
Banned” Tour Thomas Quigley,
Presented by House of Jane
Trulieve in
Pompano Beach
page 42 page 40

FEBRUARY 2019

Knox Medical Opens Miami

Dispensary; First of Five in the Area

BY VANESSA ORR

On Saturday, Jan. 19,
Knox Medical opened
the doors to its first
dispensary in Miami-
Dade County. But this
was not the first time
that the company
(l-r) Jill Giles and Dawn Yarnell Mike James
began serving this
patient population.
Florida Medical tory of servicing Former NFL
“We have a long his-
(l-r) Jose Maria Alvarez; Erika Vazquez; Michelle Roth,
Cannabis patients in the Miami- Manager, North Miami Beach; Jose Hidalgo, CEO; Mario Player Becomes
metro
area
Dade
through our delivery Luna, GM of North Miami Beach; Mark Batievsky,
Conference service, but this is our Director of Retail Operations Cannabis
first bricks-and-mortar
Provides Robust location in this area,” said Scott Klenet, public relations spokesman for Knox Medical, Advocate
which was one of the first medical marijuana treatment centers in the state.
“Our company is firmly based in Miami, and we’re very much connected to this
Look at community,” he added. “We’re extremely excited to be expanding more concretely – BY DANIEL CASCIATO
literally - into the area to physically connect to the patients that we’ve served for years,
Expanding and to introduce ourselves to new neighbors who might not know us yet.” In the fall of 2013, after Tampa Bay
Knox’s new location at 175 NW 167th Street in Miami is one of five planned Miami-
Buccaneers rookie running back Mike
Industry Continued on page 45 James fractured his left ankle during a
Monday Night Football game against the
Miami Dolphins, he was prescribed opi-
Thoughts on Marketing oid painkillers.
BY VANESSA ORR
But James, a University of Miami grad-
Since Florida legalized medical uate who now lives in Coral Gables, FL,
cannabis in 2016, the industry has grown Your Medical Cannabis Practice quickly developed a dependency on the
tremendously. And while there are now drugs that were supposed to help him. To
many options for patients, physicians, get off opioids, his wife, Aubrey, recom-
health professionals and more, it’s some- BY JANE GRANT mended medical marijuana as an alterna-
times difficult to find the appropriate tive to ease his pain. James immediately
answers in a sea of information. Although voters approved a constitutional amend- saw therapeutic benefits which helped
That’s where the Florida Medical ment in 2016 expanding Florida’s medical cannabis pro- his general well-being.
Cannabis Conference (FMCC) comes in. gram, federal and state restrictions still present chal- “Medical marijuana was a much better
Now in its fourth year, the event attracts lenges. Nonetheless, demand for medical cannabis con- option and it was beneficial in helping
people from all walks of life and all pro- tinues to become more mainstream, particularly among me with my pain,” recalls James.
fessions to learn more about products, the state’s large over-65 population. If you are evaluating “Opioids was taking a turn for the worse.
treatments and solutions. The event will the best ways to market your medical cannabis practice, With cannabis, I could do more things
be held Feb. 22-24 at the Orlando here are three considerations. and I didn’t have the same sedation and
Marriott World Space Center. First, remember that while building your practice is negative feelings as I had with opioids.”
“It’s a great industry, but it’s confusing your goal, effective marketing is based on a strategy. Since cannabis helped his pain subside,
to many,” said Jill Giles, who founded When it comes to marketing medical cannabis, consider James wanted to continue taking it.
FMCC with Dawn Yarnell, who under- focusing your marketing on something of value to Jane Grant However, the NFL still considers mari-
stands the benefits of medical cannabis potential patients, such as education, rather than sales. juana a banned substance.
first-hand. “Our goal is to help educate Using cannabis products legally for health reasons is a relatively new opportunity and In August of last year, James was
those who are curious, and to help those as such creates questions in some people’s minds. Are there side effects? Will it make required to take a drug test as part of the
who may be afraid to talk directly to their me groggy? Will I get high? Is it addictive? People are likely to turn to Google search- NFL's routine testing program. The test
doctors; we also want to provide contin- es for answers, and they should find you there. An informative blog on your website came back positive for marijuana and led
uing education to health professionals can position you as the trusted, go-to source of information. Be prepared to make a him to file a therapeutic use exemption
and physicians who want to learn more substantial time investment in writing at least one informative blog post per week or (TUE) for cannabis. The NFL denied his
about medical marijuana.” invest in the services of a talented writer to write the blog posts for you. Make sure request. Repeated positive tests can lead
Giles and Yarnell are strong propo- your website represents you well and is properly coded for search. The commitment to suspensions or expulsions from the
nents of medical cannabis; Yarnell was is substantial if you’re going to do it right, but you will be rewarded by earning peo- league. But James was never banned from
diagnosed with systemic lupus 15 years ple’s gratitude for providing the information they seek.
Continued on page 44 Continued on page 42 Continued on page 46