Marijuana: Not just for hippies anymore

Pharmer’s Market has something for everyone
Fri, 10/27/2017 - 10:00am

Story Location:
638 Wiscasset Road
Boothbay, ME 04537
United States

There's a store on Wiscasset Road in Boothbay that might solve a lot of people’s holiday dilemmas of what to get those on their list who “have everything.”

Pharmers Market isn’t just for people interested in cannabis. Inside the bright, clean, nicely appointed interior, you’ll find a wide selection of medicinal edible sweets, and tinctures, creams and lotions — one made right here in Edgecomb by Blue Tin Farm — for humans and their pets.

There’s also a display of beautiful blown glass pipes, and all the other paraphernalia you’ll ever need for smoking marijuana, which is also available, but only with a note from your doctor.

Jan Martin and Darrell Gudroe, with help from his wife Sarah and employee Tad Modzelewski, opened Pharmers Market in July, and business has been good, but CBD-infused edibles, tinctures and body creams are a relatively new concept, at least for Maine.

With a close 50.3 percent majority vote, recreational use of marijuana, or cannabis, in Maine became legal on Jan. 30 with some stipulations. Now, Mainers 21 and older can legally grow six marijuana plants and possess two-and-a-half ounces of cannabis for private use.

Though it’s been legal to purchase marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation since 2009, it won’t be legal to buy or sell recreational cannabis until a moratorium expires in February 2018.

Inside the shop Oct. 25, Sarah Gudroe talked about the products she and her husband sell.

The edible sweets, and tinctures, lotions and capsules, all made in Maine, contain different levels of CBD, or cannabidiol, one of over 60 chemical compounds in cannabis. Of all those compounds, CBD and THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) are the most widely recognized and studied.

Unlike THC, CBD is non-psychoactive, meaning it won’t produce the high that smoking or ingesting marijuana does, but it has significant medical benefits, without side effects.

While much of the marijuana grown for recreational purposes contains a higher level of THC than CBD, through selective breeding techniques growers of cannabis are able to create varieties of the plant with higher levels of CBD, and next to zero levels of THC.

The range of medical benefits provided by CBD is wide. According to an informational pamphlet at the store, studies have found that CBD possesses several medical properties, including reduction of nausea, suppression of seizure activity, relief from anxiety and depression, relief from pain due to inflammation, and combating tumor and cancer cells.

One item, Pet Anxiety Tincture, is made in Harpswell by  Healing Harbors, owned and operated by Stacy Moore. The CBD-infused tincture has been proven successful in relieving pain due to inflammation, and anxiety in dogs. “Older dogs begin acting younger and want to play more,” Gudroe said.

Darrell Gudroe said one skeptic tried the tincture on his dog just to see what would happen. “His 10-year-old was and is acting, in his words ‘more like a puppy than when he was a puppy.’"

Pharmers Market also sells Healing Harbors’ soaps, lotions, tinctures and body butters for humans.

The CDB-infused lollipops in the store are made by Hippy Chick Natural Solutions, in Sangerville. Owner Janet McAllister, whose year-old company is growing by the day, also makes hard candies and deodorant, body butters, bath balms, tinctures and capsules, all available at Pharmers Market. “She came into this running, and she’s doing very well.” Gudroe said.

According to Gudroe, the lollipops will help relieve stress and anxiety, and some pain and inflammation. “It’s not necessarily a sedative, but due to the relief from pain and anxiety, people say they sleep better. It will calm you down without psychoactive activity, and make you feel relaxed.”

Other CBD-infused candies and dog biscuits in the store come from Sticky Bud Farms, a Maine-based company that won seven Cannabis Cup Trophies with their products, and in 2016 received the Award of Excellence for Caregiving in Maine.

“The CBD products are our best sellers, Gudroe said. “People want relief for themselves and their pets without pharmaceuticals, and without getting high or inebriated. And these really do work. We’re totally willing to work with people to help them get away from pharmaceuticals and opioids.”

“These products will produce a calming effect. THC edibles are a whole different beast.”

Gudroe said the Friends of Pharmers Market Facebook page has gained over 1,600 followers from all over the country in the four months it has been open.

Pharmers Market is located at 638 Wiscasset Road. Call 207-315-6719.