community spotlight
Eden Pharmaceuticals Fueled by a Passion to Make the World
a Healthier Place by Jackie Flaherty
T
here are a lot of questions about medical
cannabis and the staff at Eden Pharmaceu- ticals is here to help. Owner, Mica Hays, a registered nurse, wants everyone to feel comfortable as they enter one of their two welcoming, bright and modern dispensaries. “Education is one of our main goals,”
(PTSD); headaches and migraines; depres- sion and anxiety; cancer and AIDS. All-natural
Mica Hays
explains Hays who opened her fi rst Eden Pharmaceuticals store in Midwest City in January 2019. T e second store opened six months later in Edmond. Hays says there are a lot of misconceptions about medical cannabis which are gradually, across the country, being addressed and corrected. But it takes time. Hays is committed to training and
educating her staff so that they can help their clients make informed decisions. Fear of the unknown and the image of the stereotypical marijuana user are two of the challenges that marijuana dispensaries face, according to Hays. T e medical cannabis fi eld in Okla-
homa is strictly regulated and overseen by Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority (OMMA). Patients start by getting a refer- ral from a medical physician who is regis- tered with OMMA to consult with patients and write recommendations. Medical cannabis therapy consists of
patients using medical-grade cannabis to treat specifi c health problems including chronic pain, infl ammation, MS and ar- thritis as well as to treat glaucoma and help control seizures. It is also recommended to treat post-traumatic stress disorder
16 Greater Oklahoma/OKC Edition
with few side eff ects, medical cannabis is minimally addictive. Many have found that it oſt en works better than pharmaceuticals, which helps explain its popularity as medical marijuana is now legal
in 33 states. Contrary to being a gate-way drug, medicinal marijuana can help people get off opioids and other addictive pre- scription drugs. “We want everyone to be comfortable
coming into our stores,” explains Hays. “It’s vital to have a staff that is trained, knowledge- able and genuinely helpful.” With the diff erent variations and unusual names, it can be confusing to fi gure out which type of medical marijuana is best suited for your purpose. Hays says they are seeing clients being
helped by treatment from medicinal canna- bis which has been around for thousands of years and has been used by many cultures for treatment as well as recreational usage. “T is has been one of the biggest
blessings of my life,” Hays says of her work sharing and educating the many positive properties of medical marijuana. Seeing how it helped her and being a witness to many of her customer’s path to pain-free living energizes her to share these success stories and serve even more people. As a nurse, Hays was frustrated seeing
the many issues with prescription drugs in- cluding over-prescribing, complications of one drug causing issues that require other drug(s) to be prescribed, and the common issue of prescription drugs masking the
NaturalAwakeningsOKC.com
symptoms instead of fi nding and treating the causes of the problems. Hays says that many of these issues are
addressed with medical marijuana which off ers more benefi ts while not having as many side eff ects, especially the more seri- ous issues of overdosing and dying. As more people experience the
benefi ts from medical marijuana and fi nd relief in their symptoms and the causes of their illness, they are sharing their stories which are helping others which expands the cycles of awareness. T ere are a variety of means to take
medicinal marijuana including ingestion, smoking, vaping, topical ointments, sup- positories and tinctures. T e Eden Phar- maceuticals’ staff is happy to consult and educate anyone who wants to call or stop in to learn more. Hays encourages people to do their
own research and recommends three websites as starting points: Leafl
y.com;
WeedMaps.com;
OMMA.ok.gov. T e Eden Pharmaceuticals’ website is expected to launch in coming weeks. Getting started with medicinal mari-
juana can be confusing, which is where a dedicated, helpful and knowledgeable staff makes such a diff erence. T e process for getting a patient license to receive medical marijuana begins with getting a recommen- dation from an OMMA-registered physi- cian. A medical marijuana patient license allows an individual with an approved application to legally buy, use, and grow medical marijuana and medical marijuana products in Okla. T is license will be in the form of an identifi cation card that can be used to prove an individual is a license holder. T is card will contain the indi- vidual’s name, photo, date of birth, city and county of residence, the type of license, the date the license expires, and the patient’s unique medical marijuana license number.
Eden Pharmaceuticals has two locations: 7550 SE 15 Str., Midwest City; and, 210 W. Edmond Rd., Edmond. For more informa- tion, call 405-455-7200 or 405-562-1400. See ad, page 9.
Jackie Flaherty is a freelance writer in Minneapolis.
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