On any given month, about 40,000 patients across Louisiana visit one of the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries to treat conditions such as anxiety, cancer, depression, chronic pain or PTSD.

Baton Rouge-based Capitol Wellness Solutions became the first pharmacy in the state to sell medical marijuana in August 2019.

While founder and owner Randy Mire won’t discuss revenue, Capitol Wellness has done well enough over the years to move into an expanded location and open a satellite store. The new Baton Rouge location, which opened Friday, is co-branded with Cookies, a half-billion dollar company founded by Berner, a rapper turned cannabis entrepreneur who has been featured on the cover of Forbes magazine.

Cookies sells a variety of medical and legal marijuana products, including smokable flowers, extracts, edibles, tinctures and creams.

Getting with a brand as well-known as Cookies is a coup for Capitol Wellness. The Baton Rouge location is the first of its kind in the state and the 77th branded store in the world. The company boasts flashy partnerships with former NBA great Gary Payton and rappers such as Rick Ross, El-P and Killer Mike.

Mire said he expects the partnership will lead more people to seek medical marijuana treatment.
“People are such creatures of habit as they see something they’re familiar with, that’s going to raise the awareness,” he said.

Mire has plans for more expansion. He plans to open an Ascension Parish dispensary in the next year.

In this week’s Talking Business, Mire discusses how he got started in the medical marijuana business, what the partnership with Cookies means for his company and the future of the industry in Louisiana.

Interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me how Capitol Wellness got started.

I’ve had several pharmacies, and we shipped a lot of specialty medication to over 30 states. I’ve been licensed then to have a nurse go in the home and infuse specialty meds. We’ve taken care of very sick patients in their home with specialty medications. When medical marijuana was first coming on the radar as coming to Louisiana in 2012, I was one of the first to get involved in the program because of how passionate I am about how this could help patients.

What does it mean for you to have this partnership with Cookies?

We will be the premier location to sell all the Cookies product now that a Cookies location will be open. We have priority over all their products. Being with a brand like this really gets the word out to patients because so many patients still don’t realize there’s a dispensary in Louisiana. And what I enjoy most about this partnership is the brand awareness for patients. People when they have a brand that they trust, many people from our state have been to other states and walked in dispensaries.
For them to see that same brand represented now in Louisiana is amazing.
There’s so much confusion with the legal dispensaries and all the vape shops, all the people selling THC products, CBD products.

What makes Capitol Wellness different?

What makes us different is we’re the licensed dispensary to be able to sell tested medical marijuana. Half of the patients will utilize a smokable device because of the onset of action. If you have a migraine or you have pain or you want to fall asleep quickly, inhaling it works the fastest.

The edible products, they take a longer time to act. So unfortunately some people, they will eat one, they won’t feel the effect for 30 minutes and they’ll try another. We are always educating patients to go slow and wait for that effect as opposed to with smoking, it’s immediate.

Who is your customer?

All walks of life, every single walk of life. I’ll tell you, the average patient is a 40-year-old female. We have pediatric patients that suffer with autism or have epileptic seizures. College kids that can’t sleep at night or have anxiety because of other medications that they’re taking to cope with school. People that want relief from pain, anxiety or insomnia. Another big thing is the pain management doctors will send us a lot of patients that are wanting to not take as many opiates. While they still may need some, being on medical marijuana considerably reduces their opiate intake.

Where do you see things going for the medical marijuana dispensary business over the next couple of years?

Major awareness, more awareness, more educating the patients, being a lot easier for them to get enrolled in the program with the medical recommendations to see a doctor. Thirty medical marijuana locations should be open within the next year and a half, so once those are all open throughout the state, we should see a lot more awareness in patients realizing this is a solution.

*Article taken from https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/

BATON ROUGE — Traffic was backed up Friday morning on both O’Neal Lane and Interstate 12 Exit 7 going westbound as a line of hundreds of cars formed in anticipation of the opening of a new medical marijuana dispensary.

Lines formed around the corner and around 2,000 people gathered in the neighboring AMC Baton Rouge 16 movie theater’s parking lot for legal marijuana or discounted medical cards at the new dispensary, Cookies located at 1940 O’Neal Lane.

The store opened Friday in partnership with Capitol Wellness Solutions, Baton Rouge’s sole distributor of legal marijuana. Cookies is an internationally recognized brand in medical cannabis sales. With the Baton Rouge store, Cookies reaches 77 worldwide locations.

The company was founded in 2010 by Billboard-charting rapper and entrepreneur Berner, who was at the opening of the O’Neal Lane store with a DJ and retail tents.

“Anywhere the markets open up, we want to be there,” Berner, whose real name is Gilbert Milam Jr., said. “It made complete sense to move forward with this.”

The grand opening event, which started at 10 a.m., also saw doctors on hand to issue medical cards to people with conditions such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain and insomnia at a discounted fee of $25, Capitol Wellness said. According to Capitol Wellness CEO Randy Mire, the average price for a medical card is $49.

Mire, who founded Capitol Wellness as the first dispensary in the state in 2019, said that medical marijuana can be a safe alternative to pain and sleeping pills, adding that smoking isn’t the only way to feel the effects.

Mire, who founded Capitol Wellness as the first dispensary in the state in 2019, said that medical marijuana can be a safe alternative to pain and sleeping pills, adding that smoking isn’t the only way to feel the effects.

“Many people that want to smoke, it’s because of the onset of action. It helps them relieve their anxiety so quickly, it helps them get a good night’s sleep if they use a vape device. But we have some patients who say we don’t want to do that, we just want to take a gummy before bedtime,” Mire said.

As of August 2020, any Louisiana licensed medical doctor in good standing with the state Board of Medical Examiners may recommend medical marijuana to their patients. Mire said it’s easy to sign up for a card even after the event, pointing potential customers to their website.

“I love how he wants to continually bring awareness to the medical marijuana program, and that was a big thing for Louisiana to be able to educate patients and for them to see a brand that they recognize to join the program,” Mire said.

All of the products at the store will feature marijuana grown at Good Day Farms, which has operations in Ruston and Baton Rouge. A recently signed law reallocated the state’s two medical marijuana growing licenses to be given to two private growers, including Good Day.

For most of the industry’s history, Louisiana’s medical marijuana was grown exclusively at LSU and Southern University through partnerships with these private companies.

Capital Wellness’ partnership with the brand expands Baton Rouge’s medical marijuana distribution to a second location, with Capital Wellness operating another dispensary on Picardy Avenue. A third Capitol Wellness location is set to open in Gonzales on Airline Highway.

*Article taken from https://www.wbrz.com/news/

BATON ROUGE — Traffic was backed up Friday morning on both O’Neal Lane and Interstate 12 Exit 7 going westbound as a line of hundreds of cars formed in anticipation of the opening of a new medical marijuana dispensary.

Lines formed around the corner and hundreds of people gathered in the neighboring AMC Baton Rouge 16 movie theater’s parking lot for legal marijuana or discounted medical cards at the new dispensary, Cookies located at 1940 O’Neal Lane.

The store opened Friday in partnership with Capitol Wellness Solutions, Baton Rouge’s sole distributor of legal marijuana. Cookies is an internationally recognized brand in medical cannabis sales. With the Baton Rouge store, Cookies reaches 77 worldwide locations.

The company was founded in 2010 by Billboard-charting rapper and entrepreneur Berner, who was at the opening of the O’Neal Lane store with a DJ and retail tents.

“Anywhere the markets open up, we want to be there,” Berner, whose real name is Gilbert Milam Jr., said. “It made complete sense to move forward with this.”

The grand opening event, which started at 10 a.m., also saw doctors on hand to issue medical cards to people with conditions such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain and insomnia at a discounted fee of $25, Capitol Wellness said.

As of August 2020, any Louisiana licensed medical doctor in good standing with the state Board of Medical Examiners may recommend medical marijuana to their patients.

“I love how he wants to continually bring awareness to the medical marijuana program, and that was a big thing for Louisiana to be able to educate patients and for them to see a brand that they recognize to join the program,” Capitol Wellness CEO Randy Mire said.

All of the products at the store will feature marijuana grown at Good Day Farms, which has operations in Ruston and Baton Rouge. A recently signed law reallocated the state’s two medical marijuana growing licenses to be given to two private growers, including Good Day.

For most of the industry’s history, Louisiana’s medical marijuana was grown exclusively at LSU and Southern University through partnerships with these private companies.

Capital Wellness’ partnership with the brand expands Baton Rouge’s medical marijuana distribution to a second location, with Capital Wellness operating another dispensary on Picardy Avenue.

*Article taken from https://www.wbrz.com/news/

The biggest brand in the legal cannabis business is set to open its first Louisiana location Friday in Baton Rouge.

Cookies is opening a medical marijuana dispensary at 1940 O’Neal Lane as part of a partnership with Capitol Wellness Solutions. The event, which starts at 10 a.m., will feature a DJ, food trucks and a car show.

The event is open to registered patients with a current Louisiana medical cannabis card, but doctors will be on hand to issue medical cards to people with conditions such as anxiety, depression, chronic pain and insomnia at a discounted fee of $25.

Cookies is a half-billion dollar company founded by Berner, a rapper turned cannabis entrepreneur who has been featured on the cover of Forbes magazine. He will be on hand at the opening to sign autographs.

Berner, born Gilbert Milam Jr., said he never thought he would be opening a medical marijuana business in a conservative Southern state when he started the company more than 20 years ago. He joked that he was scared for his tour bus to drive through Louisiana in case he had a joint. “This is monumental to me,” he said.
“Anywhere the markets open up, we want to be there,” he said. “It made complete sense to move forward with this.”

This will be the 77th branded Cookies store in the world, joining locations in Thailand, Israel and Canada. The company boasts flashy partnerships with former NBA great Gary Payton and rappers such as Rick Ross, El-P and Killer Mike. Berner attributes the company’s growth to the knowledge and experience he developed by operating in the legal marijuana business for the past 23 years. “We’re super passionate about providing the best experience possible,” he said.

Randy Mire, founder and CEO of Capitol Wellness, said the partnership with Cookies came about after the company reached out to him. He met Berner at a conference in Las Vegas, and the two hit it off. “I love how he wants to continually bring awareness to the medical marijuana program, and that was a big thing for Louisiana to be able to educate patients and for them to see a brand that they recognize to join the program,” Mire said.

Patients will be able to purchase a variety of Cookies products at the dispensary including smokable products, metered dose inhalers, extracts, edibles, tinctures and creams. All of the Cookies products at the store will feature marijuana grown at Good Day Farms, which has operations in Ruston and Baton Rouge.

Mire said he expects the introduction of a brand like Cookies in the market will increase the number of medical marijuana patients in the state. “It’s going to be really different and a unique experience that has not taken place in Louisiana before,” he said.

The pharmacy’s inventory includes various forms of marijuana, such as flower, edibles, metered dose inhalers, tinctures and topical creams. Its team of experienced pharmacists can help eligible patients select the right medication and dosage to treat conditions like cancer, epilepsy, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, PTSD and others. “Our focus,” says CEO Randy Mire, PharmD, “is to provide an easy way for patients to find relief through the use of natural treatment.”

Becoming a Patient

As of August 2020, any Louisiana licensed medical doctor in good standing with the state Board of Medical Examiners may recommend medical marijuana to their patients. Patients can visit capitolpharmacy.com for a list of physicians actively recommending medical marijuana in the area. Many of them offer telehealth visits, allowing patients to visit with a doctor from their smartphones. The recommendation is faxed or e-scribed by the prescriber directly to Capitol Wellness Solutions, and the patient receives a text when the recommendation has been received.

*Article taken from https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/business/how-the-biggest-brand-in-legal-marijuana-came-to-baton-rouge/article_7e2febe2-7545-11ef-b14d-efe0ff84fe62.html

In 2019, Capitol Wellness Solutions was the first pharmacy to dispense medical marijuana in the south—big news at a time when it was illegal for Louisiana residents to possess even small amounts of marijuana. In recent years, however, the stigma has lifted and Capitol Wellness Solutions is bringing relief to thousands of patients.

The pharmacy’s inventory includes various forms of marijuana, such as flower, edibles, metered dose inhalers, tinctures and topical creams. Its team of experienced pharmacists can help eligible patients select the right medication and dosage to treat conditions like cancer, epilepsy, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, PTSD and others. “Our focus,” says CEO Randy Mire, PharmD, “is to provide an easy way for patients to find relief through the use of natural treatment.”

Becoming a Patient

As of August 2020, any Louisiana licensed medical doctor in good standing with the state Board of Medical Examiners may recommend medical marijuana to their patients. Patients can visit capitolpharmacy.com for a list of physicians actively recommending medical marijuana in the area. Many of them offer telehealth visits, allowing patients to visit with a doctor from their smartphones. The recommendation is faxed or e-scribed by the prescriber directly to Capitol Wellness Solutions, and the patient receives a text when the recommendation has been received.

Randy Mire, Pharm.D., CEO and Founder; Kanoa Jo Mire, Business Development

Per doctor recommendation, Louisiana law allows the pharmacist to work with the patient to determine the appropriate products and dosage. It’s common for patients to sample between three and five products before they find their ideal relief. “The pharmacist is always in control of the treatment plan,” Mire says, “to make sure you get the most effective medicine.”

Reaching the Community

With online ordering and free delivery to East Baton Rouge Parish and its surrounding areas, Capitol Wellness prides itself on offering an easy and efficient way to provide treatment.

The clinic, located at 8037 Picardy Ave. is now open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for pickup orders only. A second location on O’Neal Lane is coming soon to better serve the community.

For more information, call 225.800.9420

Randy Mire, Pharm.D., CEO and Founder; Kanoa Jo Mire, Business Development

Step 1: Visit the Capitol Wellness Solutions website, capitolpharmacy.com.

Step 2: Choose a qualified physician from the online list. As of Aug. 1, 2020, any Louisiana licensed medical doctor in good standing with the Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners may recommend medical cannabis to their patients.

Step 3: Schedule a 10-minute telehealth appointment to qualify as a patient. The providers listed online by Capitol Wellness Solutions offer telemedicine visits for your convenience. Simply select the “Get Started” tab under your chosen medical professional and fill out the requested information to schedule a quick consultation.

Step 4: Visit Capitol Wellness Solutions in-person or online to choose the products that are right for you. There is no need to pick up a recommendation from the doctor or bring it with you to the dispensary. Your recommendation will be faxed or e-scribed by the prescriber directly to Capitol Wellness Solutions, and you will receive a text from the dispensary stating that they have received it.

Once your doctor sends your recommendation to the dispensary, you gain access to Capitol Wellness Solutions’ online ordering system where you can select products, pay online and schedule pickup or delivery.

The online store contains information on each product including the effects and what symptoms the product is known to alleviate. Ordering online is the quickest and easiest way to place your order. If you are not comfortable ordering online and would like to speak with a pharmacist, you can stop into the pharmacy between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Friday to speak to a pharmacist.

For patients who place their order, pay online and schedule their pick-up time, they can be in and out of the dispensary within one minute. For patients who complete everything online other than payment, they can be in and out of the dispensary within two minutes. The dispensary’s new location includes 12 checkout stations to lessen wait times.

Capitol Wellness Solutions also offers free delivery to most areas, including East Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes for even more convenient service.

Coming soon in Spring of 2024 is a second satellite location of Capitol Wellness Solutions. It will be located on O’Neal Lane, right off Interstate 12. For more information, visit capitolpharmacy.com or call 225.800.9420.