As part of the ever-growing Tweed family, MedCannAccess unveiled their newly branded Better by Tweed Community Engagement Centres yesterday.
I caught up with Rade Kovacevic, head of Business Development and Customer Experience, and Theresa Kozak, Manager of Better Centres, about the opening of these locations and unveiling of Better By Tweed, curious about what services these centres offer. Formerly operating as MedCannAccess’ Solution Centers, two existing locations were redesigned and rebranded in both Hamilton (100 James St. S., Suite 2) and Guelph (55 Wyndham St. N. Suite 201). With the national scope of the MMPR, it’s expected we will see these locations open across Canada.
Mark Zekulin, the President of Tweed (you may remember him discussing the issue at the Toronto Forum), was present at both ribbon-cutting ceremonies to greet guests and answer questions.
As the team explains, these are certainly big changes for the former MedCannAccess team “MedCannAccess will always hold a dear place in my heart. It was a brand that represented the collective efforts of Blaine, Rade, Kevin, and I as we worked to provide clients with professional medical cannabis access”, explains Kozak.
We saw the MMPR as a step in the right direction – creating a regulated system that provided patients legal access to high quality and safe marijuana for medical purposes – this was the goal of compassion clubs from the outset. ~Theresa Kozak
Community-based locations accessible to the public are surprisingly a first under the MMPR, even though this type of access to information and help has often been cited as missing from the new program since its inception. This seems to be a logical next step, particularly when we consider the history of those coming from MedCannAccess, along with their experience working in the compassion club industry.
“We saw the MMPR as a step in the right direction – creating a regulated system that provided patients legal access to high quality and safe marijuana for medical purposes – this was the goal of compassion clubs from the outset, Kozak continues. “We believed that face to face support was still an important aspect of customer service, and as such decided to build a model that took all the best attributes of compassion clubs, while maintaining regulatory compliance. We really feel the community engagement centre model embodies this”.
Bridging a gap in the MMPR, there are a host of services people can access through these Community Engagement Centres. This includes on-site consultations, assistance with registration to ensure timely access to medicine, questions about the program itself, alongside a host of educational opportunities such as vaporizer demonstrations.
These services are available to anyone. “A lot of the people who visit are interested in what marijuana for medical purposes is, what the process of gaining legal access involves, and generally learning more about Health Canada’s system,” explains Kovacevic.
I sense the team anticipated my next question, asking if this was a blueprint for on-site dispensing in the future. Kovacevic explained, “Our focus is on providing our customers with the best experience possible. Many people are more comfortable buying products and services in person as opposed to over the hone or online, and this is particularly true when obtaining medicine or health advice. Being able to provide this level of support, no matter what the regulatory environment, is a major value-add for Tweed and Bedrocan customers”.
Certainly, their experience brings a diverse range of on-the-ground knowledge about patient’s day to day lives, including dosing, administration, and the overwhelming beginnings of learning about cannabis as a medicine. Literature on compassion clubs demonstrates their function in bringing members of the community together, giving them space to connect, learn from one another, and access knowledgeable people for help.
“Working in the Better Centres closely mirrors the services offered within the compassion club industry. Drawing upon my experience, we have implemented meaningful case management into Better by Tweed. Not dissimilar to the dispensary model, people are afforded the opportunity to speak about their health concerns and cannabis queries with a trained professional. Of course, the team and I bring extensive knowledge about the cannabis plant and various modes of medication, but more importantly, we are offering perseverance and hope,” says Kozak, who is also a registered social worker.
“It’s also been fantastic to work again with our friend Hilary Black who founded the Canadian compassion club sector back in 1996, Kovacevic added. “I think there’s something to be said for having the leading marijuana brand in Tweed, and some of the most well-known former compassion club operators working together to create the best possible customer experience in the industry.”
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