A medicinal cannabis business owner recently settled on Cortes Island and has set up shop at the local markets.
Thaddeus Conrad has been running a medicinal cannabis business and college since 1992, but officially branded the business "Med-Man Brand" in 2007 and established the business as a non-profit. Med-Man Brand continues to be a registered non-profit in Manitoba and British Columbia.
Conrad has been offering his products at the Friday Markets at Mansons Hall throughout the summer and fall. This venue setting is his preferred method of connecting directly with those in need of medicinal cannabis and education on the subject. The entrepreneur hopes to bring DIY grow kits to the market in the new year.
According to Conrad, Med-Man Brand is the “world's most awarded vertically and horizontally integrated cannabis company and college.” The company has won over 200 awards for the college, seeds, flowers, and fertilizer- as well as awards for Med-Man's methods and growing systems. He explains that medicinal cannabis is only 25 per cent of the company; his online and in-person teaching methods cover the other 75 per cent, including education around diet and exercise and practices like yoga, meditation, qigong and martial arts.
“Our mission has been to teach people the four steps to a ‘wholistic’ [lifestyle]…in 2012-2013, when the government started saying, 'Oh, you can use these products for medical purposes,' the demographic dramatically changed to Hutterites, Mennonites, Amish people of a much older demographic than what I was used to... this veil was lifted,” Conrad said, adding that the majority of his current clients are over 60-years-old.
Conrad and his wife, Joanna, chose to settle on Cortes because they were looking for a rural, affordable life. The business owner was pleasantly surprised by local interest in his offerings.
“Me and Joanna had no idea what was going on here. I never imagined that after three years I would be able to be accepted and to be appreciated and to be able to do markets here.”
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