Cannabis Education | Amesbury MA Seniors
CNA Stores, ATG, The Healing Rose Collaboration for Education
Recently, CNA Stores, joined representatives from ATG and The Healing Rose (Newburyport) to talk with area senior citizens about cannabis and the options made available through the cannabis industry. Many of the people who attended the meeting at the Amesbury Council on Aging Center are part of the generation who grew up hearing harsh, negative comments about cannabis. Consumers were socially stigmatized. This writer’s earliest conversations with seniors in 2015 were very different than today. This is a refreshing change. Those first discussions were stressful for the speaker and at times risked their reputation. We survived that period through perseverance and by providing ongoing public education. Today, we can speak openly about choices, ingestion methods, and THC values.
For almost three hours, the three cannabis businesses interacted with an attentive audience, answering focused, well-thought-out questions related to both myth and reality. Education is not only key, but is mandated by the sheer need, as evidenced by the lengthy list of questions during this session. Understanding the huge number of choices can be challenging for even the seasoned cannabis connoisseur, let alone those revisiting the rumors and misinformation about the plant after forty years or more.
This plant is part of a larger topic, larger than CNA Stores, and larger than the industry. It is about health, personal responsibility, and choice. The newfound responsibility includes choosing from a vast number of products found by navigating menus with multiple choices, each regulated by a type of license – Recreational or Medicinal. Personal responsibility includes having an honest conversation with health care providers to assure there will be no negative interaction with medications prescribed for physical ailments. This cannot be stressed enough.
CNA Stores is a business, but first and foremost, we are members of a community that deserves clear, honest answers and choices for their medicinal and recreational needs. For that reason, we in the industry put aside competition and focus on the consumer. For example, CNA Stores does not hold a medicinal license, so we are unable to provide the benefits that accompany the medicinal card allows, i.e., discounts and cost savings that are especially important to those on a fixed income. We welcome opportunities to answer questions about medicinal options, but then direct them to shops that can meet their needs. CNA and our industry friends don’t want to just make a sale; we want to help individuals find the right option for them.
Cannabis is and will always be bigger than any group or individual. It can have a positive impact on people’s lives. And regardless of where they choose to shop, both the distributor and the consumer will benefit when they are well educated about this plant.
