The Green Clinics is the first board-certified medical cannabis clinic to open in the Kansas City area.
The clinic has two doctors who are state licensed and board certified. They can evaluate patients and provide the necessary physician certification document if the patients meet state requirements. Qualifying conditions include cancer, epilepsy, intractable migraines, terminal illness and post-traumatic stress disorder, among others.
“Our clinic is not a rubber stamp,” CEO Emily Branch said in a release. “That’s not how it works. Not everyone who wants to use cannabis will qualify, and we’re sticklers for following the law and its spirit to the letter. That said, hundreds of thousands of our friends and neighbors have a legitimate medical need, and our mission is to help them gain access to the medicine that can help them feel better.”
Once patients receive physician certification, they can submit an application to the state, beginning July 4. The state will review the application and, if it meets the requirements, issue a card allowing patients to legally buy and possess cannabis. Patients will be able to buy cannabis medicine at dispensaries in Missouri sometime between late 2019 and early 2020. They also can get a license to grow as many as six flowering plants.
The Green Clinics does not cultivate, dispense or otherwise sell any form of cannabis, the release said. Cannabis possession and use is forbidden on its premises, and no cannabis or cannabis product is stored at the facility.
What The Green Clinics does is help patients take advantage of the therapeutic benefits of cannabis to treat their medical conditions. Many medical practitioners are unable to help patients because cannabis is still illegal on a federal level.
“That’s where we come in,” Branch said in the release. “Our doctors can provide the certification, and the clinic is here to provide a forum for science-based cannabis education.”
Branch said The Green Clinics plans to open eight locations statewide in the coming months. Additionally, each location will host cannabis education and workshops for the communities it serves.
The Green Clinics will offer a 50 percent discount to military veterans. The clinic will be proactive in outreach to connect with historically underserved communities. It offers appointment times to accommodate the schedules of working people, reduced fees for those on disability or state aid, and accommodations for those residing in rural Missouri.
Branch is founder and CEO of Kansas City-based Legal Staffing Solutions LLC, which provides hiring services for law firms.