Combining its aspiration to grow its presence in Pennsylvania with an increasingly knowledgeable and expanding customer base, PA Options for Wellness opened its fifth medical marijuana dispensary on Oct. 18 on West Baltimore Pike in Kennett Square.
The location will feature on-site consultations, curbside delivery and an interactive pre-order menu, and will be open six days a week, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. It will offer a selection of products across its brand portfolio, and patients will have the option to choose from a wide array of premium cannabis products, including access to a library of flower strains, solventless rosins, and their signature Troche — a lozenge that provides fast-acting symptomatic relief from pain.
Headquartered in Harrisburg and founded in 2014, PA Options for Wellness’ mission is to be the preferred provider of medical cannabis to qualified, approved patients through high-quality products, and dignified, professional service, with a focus on research, patient outcomes and quality of life.
The company has been working with Penn State University College of Medicine on non-cannabis related research to explore the medicinal properties of hemp and flax since 2015. Research projects are in the areas of plant productivity, oncology, gastroenterology, pediatrics and neurology, endocrinology and trauma.
In collaboration with the College of Medicine, it was awarded one of the first Pennsylvania Clinical Registrant licenses in 2019, and also has a 65,000-square-foot grow/process facility and laboratory in Perry County.
In addition to PA Options for Wellness’ new location in Kennett Square, the company currently serves patients in Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lansdale and the Lehigh Valley, and will open its sixth location on Oct. 31 in State College.
“We feel there is a need in this area [for our products and service], because it is an area that we feel has been underserved, not just specifically in Kennett Square, but throughout the western portion of Chester County and even part of Lancaster County,” said PA Options for Wellness Founder and Chief Executive Officer Thomas Trite.
The company’s arrival in Kennett Square is in step with the continued growth of the U.S. medical marijuana dispensary industry, one that has been supported by an increase in state legislation, the legalization of medical marijuana across the country and a growing acceptance of the product as an alternative treatment.
By 2024, the estimated marijuana retail sales may generate up to nearly $12 billion in the U.S. Dr. Kent Vrana, the director of the Pennsylvania Designated Medical Marijuana Center at Penn State University, said that the growth of medical marijuana facility industry is happening state by state.
“On a national scale, it hasn’t exploded yet, primarily because we know that there are reasons to believe that cannabis will have benefits,” Vrana said. “We already have two FDA-approved drugs that come from cannabis — CBD and THC — but the trouble is that it’s been opened up to just about any disease, and frankly, it’s not a cure-all.
“That’s why I think the program that the Commonwealth has designed will allow us to provide some guidance to the dispensaries, in terms of what can work and what doesn’t.”
“Pennsylvania has become one of the fastest growing medical markets in the nation and we are proud to be able to widen access to patients across the state,” Trite said. “PA Options for Wellness will bring top-quality, innovative products to the medical market, meeting the demand of our patients while adhering to strict ethical standards. Providing therapeutic solutions, we focus on combining plant science and medicine to transform the lives of our patients.”
