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New medical marijuana center opens in Clay

By Wesley LeBlanc
Posted 10/3/18

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New medical marijuana center opens in Clay


Posted

ORANGE PARK – Jack Davitt, a Clay County Navy veteran of 30 years, has lived with back pain from degenerative discs for years. After disappointing results from virtually all types of treatment, he’s looking to one final drug to ease his pain – medical marijuana.

Davitt attended the Sept. 27 grand opening of Atlanta-based Surterra Wellness, Orange Park’s first and only medical marijuana facility. Like many attendees, Davitt found himself ready to try this new type of treatment. While many guests were there for the celebration, Davitt was there to get his needs addressed, pronto.

“Today will be the first day trying medical marijuana,” Davitt, who just recently received his state-approved card, said. “I’m just so excited. I have faith this will work.”

According to Davitt, despite the numerous medicines he’s tried taking, the multiple chiropractor appointments he’s gone to and the acupuncture therapy sessions he’s been through, he still deals with the back pain that’s plagued him for years.

“Nothing has worked,” Davitt said. “I’m tired of this pain and I’m tired of trying things that don’t work.”

What has Davitt so confident in medical marijuana? His son. Davitt’s son suffered a bad back injury months ago and, according to Davitt, medical marijuana has been the only thing that’s helped ease the pain. He said it was his son’s confidence in the drug that persuaded Davitt to give the drug a try.

While marijuana is slowly becoming legal both recreationally and medically throughout the nation, Clay County has been slow to adopt the drug. Today, recreational use of the drug is illegal in all forms, but after a voter-approved Florida Constitutional amendment passed in 2016, non-smokable forms of medical marijuana are legal. Patients cannot obtain the drug without a physician’s recommendation.

After a recommendation, it’s up to the patient to secure a state registration card that tells facilities like Surterra Wellness that legally, you are allowed to purchase the drug.

While medical marijuana cannot be purchased without undergoing these stringent approvals, anybody can stop into the shop on to browse Surterra’s offerings or speak with an employee about what might be right for them. Located at 80 Blanding Blvd., Suite 3, in Orange Park, this Surterra Wellness is just one of 11 in Florida, with more stores in other states.

Strictly retail, Surterra Wellness sells vapes, oils, patches and more, and all of its product is manufactured in Florida. With more than 300,000 square feet, Surterra Wellness’ cultivation facility in Hillsborough County is the largest cannabis grower in Florida.

At the Blanding location, after signing in, guests are welcomed by one of 10-15 employees. From there, guests or patients wait in the welcome lobby before being ushered back into the kitchen area, located squarely in the center. According to Kim Hawkes, Surterra’s senior manager of Government and Public Relations, it’s in this kitchen area, where guests can sip on coffee and tea, that much of the discussion takes place.

With its walls lined with products to buy, farther back into the facility looks more like a sleek and classy hotel than a place to buy marijuana. Near the back of the building, sits the area where patients complete the purchase of medical marijuana products.

“We want this place to feel very comfortable,” Hawkes said.

The price to walk around the building, chat with specialists and determine if the drug is for you is free, but the cheapest product, a transdermal patch, of one of five Surterra products. They offer different types of marijuana referred to as either calm, serene, soothe, zen or relief starting at $20 each. The next cheapest product is a vaporizer, which costs $25. For a tincture oil, depending on the oil dosage, the price is anywhere from $40 to $150. Oils, lotions and oral sprays will cost somewhere between $60 and $75. These products still contain tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, and because of that, patients will still feel the psychoactive effects of the drug. According to Hawkes, patients feeling those effects should not drive.

Hawkes said that ideally customers purchase the product recommended to them by a physician, but if the customer feels something different would work better, they’re free to purchase something else.

“It’s all about the patient and what works best for them,” Hawkes said. “Different products and different strands work differently from person to person.”

The medical marijuana products Surterra Wellness sells help with a number of different things such as mood management, stress and anxiety, pain and discomfort, which is what brought Davitt in to the center.

Surterra Wellness’ Orange Park facility, located on Blanding Boulevard across from the Orange Park Mall, is open Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.