Whole Plant Wellness, a clinic for Atlantans seeking relief from pain and certain health conditions with the help of medical marijuana, opened its doors in East Cobb last month. 

People with various health conditions—including cancer, seizure disorders, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, autism spectrum disorder, PTSD and intractable pain—can now apply and get approval for a Georgia medical marijuana card if their condition fits certain criteria and if they are certified by a physician. 

Whole Plant Wellness’s physician can facilitate that process by providing in-person and virtual consultations to educate, inform and assist patients in getting the best medical marijuana solution for them. Founder and director Mary Adams says, “We like to help patients before they go to the dispensary to know what medicine is available for them and what we would recommend for their diagnosis.” Staff might also recommend which type of product—gummies, tinctures or lotions, for example—would serve their condition best.

Medical marijuana was legalized in Georgia in April 2015, but it wasn’t until April of this year that the first dispensary, Trulieve in Marietta, opened in Atlanta. Adams says that the reason for the eight-year gap between legislation and availability is primarily due to the Georgia legislature’s insistence that the medical marijuana sold in Georgia must be grown in Georgia. Other aspects of the law pushed the timeline as well, such as requiring a starting inventory of $1 million.  

Whole Plant Wellness does not dispense medical marijuana; it writes prescriptions for it. Patients receive a 15 to 30-minute intake and information consultation, plus a consultation with the clinic’s physician. Virtual appointments cost $150, and in-person appointments cost $200. Veterans and minors get a reduced rate of $100.

“Half of the [online] companies that offer a medical cannabis card are out-of-state conglomerates with doctors’ offices. You have no real relationship with them,” says Adams. “We take our job and our relationship with our patients very seriously. We want them to get the most for the money, time and effort that goes into it.”