A New Leaf on Life: Medical marijuana dispensary opening doors in Parkersburg | News, Sports, Jobs

Verdant Creations of Columbus will operate as Parkersburg’s first medical marijuana dispensary starting 11 a.m. Tuesday at 1255 Gihon Road, Parkersburg. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — Parkersburg’s first medical marijuana dispensary will debut Tuesday.

Verdant Creations of Columbus has a mission to “service diverse communities and prioritize patient health” and plans to provide “high quality, precisely dosed marijuana,” according a press release.

“As a whole, we are big on supporting regional communities and ensuring there is access to our products to as many in the community as possible,” said Cory Poches, Verdant managing partner. “This move made regional sense with our roots being in Ohio and West Virginia being so close to home. The Parkersburg community was great to work with through the entire approval and real estate process.”

West Virginia legalized medical marijuana in 2017, but opening of the dispensaries was delayed. The state awarded 100 dispensary licenses last year.

“We are excited to be the first dispensary to open in Parkersburg. We are family owned and operated and pride ourselves in giving the best patient experience through great product knowledge and excellent customer service,” said Kelly Hondros, advisory board member and compliant officer for Verdant Creations.

Verdant is owned by Hondros Family of Companies, which also owns a medical marijuana processing lab in Ohio, a hemp farm in Centerburg and Motive Wellness, a seed to sale CBD company.

“The dispensary will feature a wide array of products and brands to suit the specific needs of all West Virginia medical marijuana patients,” the release said.

Information about how to become a patient can be found on the website, verdantcreationswv.com. It says people can identify if they qualify and obtain a doctor’s recommendation from a medical cannabis registered physician.

To qualify, patients must have a diagnosis of conditions such as cancer, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, epilepsy or Huntington’s disease, among others.

The grand opening will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at 1255 1/2-A Gihon Road, Parkersburg.

“We are excited to be opening our first dispensary outside of Ohio there,” Poches said.

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.

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