Steve Scott said the Midland community doesn’t realize a lot of soccer parents and corporate employees are using marijuana products.
Scott is the owner/founder of Craft Hemp Company in downtown Midland, which sells hemp and CBD products. He has been on a long journey in this industry.
Scott began the business at a time when he was using chemotherapy to treat his cancer. Now, he uses his long history with marijuana as a survivor to spread awareness of the health benefits to Midland area residents.
“Midland doesn’t realize, there’s a lot of moms that like to eat an edible at night, smoke a joint or use a vape pen,” Scott said.
“These are soccer moms. These are corporate employees,” he said of Midland area parents and caregivers who visit his shop.
By not yet having opted in to allowing marijuana businesses in the city, he said Midland is missing out on an economic opportunity.
“I hear that a lot of people go to Bay City or will get delivery services here, so (Midland is) losing out on a lot of money,” Scott said.
Throughout the pandemic, Scott said there’s been an increase of anxiety-related symptoms, which has caused some people to turn to his shop for relief.
He said first-time customers are stopping by daily, which has brought new faces into the Midland shop.
“Business is great,” Scott said.
But in terms of his personal gain, Scott said he’d rather have a customer walk out with an open mind even though they might still be empty-handed.
“I want to help people with a plant-alternative medicine,” he said.
And some Midland area residents want to learn more about the hemp options. Scott said the Craft Hemp Co. is truly an education center that sells hemp and CBD products.
Craft Hemp sells high-end CBD and hemp products such as lotions, topicals and tinctures that can help with various ailments, based on both federal and state regulations. Whereas the marijuana industry – medical and recreational dispensaries – sells a variety of THC products and other goods.
Craft Hemp offers an in-shop consultation with customers to open the door for care catered to an individual.
He said the workers sit down with people and ask them questions to hear their current experiences with symptoms and provide a recommendation of dosage and protocols that fit.
Scott said it’s often during the consultation portion of a customer’s in-shop experience when people’s minds are more open to a non-pharmaceutical and/or non-mind-altering option.
“(Customers might realize), ‘They’re actually caring about our quality of life,’ and that’s when they start to get it,” he said.
In order to enhance any given customer’s quality of life, Scott said he sources from a local farmer who is the “gold standard.”
Craft Hemp Co. works exclusively with Ag Marvels in Shepherd, which is the largest hemp farm within Michigan’s industry. This is Craft Hemp’s go-to farmer, processor, and manufacturer of products to bring customers the “farm to table” experience of cannabis.
According to the hemp farm’s website, it was the first mover and pioneer in the hemp industry in Michigan.
Scott said Craft Hemp has built a great relationship with Ag Marvels as he believes it’s important to source from a Michigan-based group.
“We make sure that we have the best products in here,” he said.
One of the best-selling products at Craft Hemp is customizable CBD Tinctures.
“We craft them right in front of you,” Scott said.
In the customizable tinctures, there’s a series of cannabinoids, which are chemical compounds of the cannabis plant. A plant contains more than 100 cannabinoids.
One of the well-known cannabinoids is Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which is the compound that gives marijuana a psychoactive “high.”
Another chemical in marijuana is cannabidiol, or CBD. CBD does not cause a high and is often sold as a dietary supplement or included in creams, oils and other personal care products.CBD is also extracted from hemp, a plant in the cannabis family, which is low in THC.
Scott said CBD, CBG (which helps with anti-inflammation, cell growth and anti-bacteria) and CBN (which helps with insomnia, pain relief and muscle spasms) are commonly used to formulate a custom order. In addition, there’s more than 40 flavors of oils to choose from.
“We’re kind of like what Baskin Robbins used to be back in the day,” he said.
Marijuana is the dried flower of the cannabis plant and is used for both recreational and medical purposes. The hemp plant is also used outside of the marijuana industry. Fibers of the hemp plant are used in making rope, clothing, paper and other products.
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