Silver State Relief talks medical marijuana industry

Silver State Relief has had their doors open for business for over a year now. The initial licensing and build out for the location took them about two years.

“This was a purpose built location” Aron Swan, general manager of Silver State Relief, said.

The design is very spacious and very medically focused. The atmosphere includes quality furniture, nice artwork and good selection of product.

When they started the process of getting Silver State Relief up and running they were looking at both Reno and Sparks for a location that fit their needs and met the requirements for operating a medical marijuana dispensary.

The lot that is now their dispensary at 175 East Greg Street in Sparks was empty and for sale. Numbers like 25,000 cars driving by on neighboring McCarran Boulevard made the location a good fit.

Swan mentioned Sparks being easy to work with throughout the process as well.

The building is access controlled, features built in safety and added security to meet the needs of operating such a specialized business. These extra steps also ensure the level of controlled adaptive operation that is part of their mission.

“We haven’t had any issues,” Swan said regarding their relationships with their neighbors in the shopping center. In fact, he expressed nothing but positive interactions.

Reflecting on Silver State Relief having their doors open for over a year, Swan said, “it is just like any other business.”

“Managing growth has been a challenge,” he went on to say.

They started out seeing 100 patients on their opening day to now serving between 300 and 400 patients daily.

Many companies face challenges scaling their business to meet demand and Swan highlighted the same task.

As Silver State Relief looks to build their business, they are working on expanding their grow facility.

Nevada requires that dispensaries also cultivate in the state. Silver State Relief’s facility is also located in Sparks with room to expand.

Currently they have 16,000 square feet built out of the 158,000 square feet of space. They have plans to build out another 10,000 to 12,000 square feet that will be four new grow rooms.

Swan explained they don’t have enough supply to sell wholesale. In addition to their product, they currently carry about 10 different suppliers in their dispensary.

Silver State Relief’s dispensary currently employs around 20, with a mix of full and part time. Their grow facility employs another 20 as well.

Employees go through four to five days of training as well as two days of cannabis education to ensure their ability to provide the experience Silver State Relief wants with each patient and their varying needs.

Swan estimated a 10 percent interview to hire rate. He talked about the medical marijuana industry working to break down some of the myths of working in medical marijuana as well as the stigma of the industry.

Recent changes relieving the requirement of patients having to go to the DMV to get their medical card has been great for patients Swan explained.

“It is a lot of Baby Boomers; 50 and older,” Swan mentioned as one of the surprising aspects of their patients.

The process at Silver State Relief is tailored to the patient.

“Transactions can range between 2 minutes and up to 45,” Swan said.

Medical marijuana cardholders come in and check in with the front desk where they provide their state issued identification as well as their medical marijuana card. Once they know how much of their two-week supply they still have available through a state operated system, they wait for one of the consulting stations to open and enter into the back where they can view product, receive consultation and make purchases based on their needs.

“We have about 20 to 30 new medical patients per day,” Swan said.

“It is not glamorous,” Swan explained about working in the medical marijuana industry.

According to their website, Silver State Relief is focused on bringing legitimacy to the marijuana industry by acting with the highest level of integrity, strictly adhering to regulations and by promoting the clinical efficacy of medical marijuana.