Springville's Medical Marijuana Pharmacy (and its Sister Cultivation Facility) Trade Hands in a $6.5 Million Transaction

In a deal valued at $6.5 million, New York City-based The Cannabist Company (OTCQX:CBSTF) has sold its Springville, Utah-based medical marijuana pharmacy and cultivation facility to Standard Wellness, a Cleveland, Ohio-based retailer of recreational / medicinal marijuana products and accessories.

According to its 2023 Annual Report (as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), The Cannabist recently sold its Springville operations to Standard Wellness for $3.9 million in cash and a $2.6 million promissory note due no later than July 2025.

Interestingly, in July 2019, Standard Wellness was selected by the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food as one of the eight initial firms named by UDAF as a cultivar, the term given to organizations licensed to grow, process and sell medical marijuana within the state.

That grow/processing site is located some 12 miles south of Tremonton in the city of Corrine in easternmost Box Elder County.

A Peek Inside "The Forest Springville"

With its acquisition, the Springville pharmacy (aka, dispensary) has been renamed as The Forest Springville, the brand name used by Standard Wellness for its five retail locations in Ohio, Missouri, and Utah.

To get a true sense of what residents of Springville and the surrounding communities can expect with the new ownership of this medical marijuana dispensary, I decided to take a drive down to the heart of Utah County to see for myself.

And to be honest, when I rolled-up on The Forest Springville early Wednesday evening, I admit I was a somewhat underwhelmed at its outer appearance showcased by a temporary banner hung a bit off-kilter over the prior pharmacy signage.

But when I was invited inside the facilities, I quickly went from "Meh" to "Alright," due in large part to two factors

1. The welcoming and highly professional attitude of Mike Hamilton, Pharm.D., General Manager and Pharmacist in Charge of The Forest Springville; plus
2. The inviting yet impressively buttoned-down layout of the inner sanctum of the centrally located retail area of the pharmacy.

SIDEBAR:

For those who have never been inside marijuana pharmacy or retail location, it's important to realize that marijuana's current role as a Schedule I narcotic relegates marijuana products of all types to a cash-and-carry status. {NOTE: More on this below.} This is true whether such products are sold as medicinal or recreational marijuana, regardless of where or how they are sold within the United States.

Why is that important? Simply put, because credit cards cannot be used to make marijuana purchases — only cash. And the implications of this are huge.

So, in the case of The Forest Springville, all outer windows on the front side of the building are glazed over and/or obscured, as is the front door, which is locked. Always. And in the very back of the facility is an impressive-looking metal safe measuring approximately 3x3x4-feet designed to hold and protect all cash payments received daily.

To be clear, visitors can only be admitted into The Forest Springville after announcing themselves via an intercom attached to the outer wall of the facility and then being buzzed-into the secured lobby.

Within this outer lobby that measures roughly 15x40-feet, you'll find a massive, armed private security guard sitting to the right of the front door behind a podium, with staff members sitting within a bulletproof glass enclosure on the opposite side of the room. And in the center of the wall across from the front door is a reinforced and electronically controlled/locked door leading into the retail section of the dispensary that measures roughly 25x60-feet.

Within this retail area, you'll find two rows of waist-high, glass-enclosed display cases arranged lengthwise in the room to highlight various products available on-site. Along the back wall of this centrally located and secured retail area (but located behind a separate chest-high and deep glass display case that straddles most of the room), you will note a floor-to-ceiling mixture of wooden drawers and shelves that contain and feature additional cannabis products. {See the photo above.}

Last of all, behind this wall of wooden drawers/shelves in the back-half of the dispensary is a separately locked and secure area containing the facility safe, storage for additional products, and a lunch room.

The Forest Springville is located just off the 400 South/Interstate 15 exit in Springville at 484 South 1750 West, and is based within a strip mall in a modestly sized retail footprint of roughly 3,000-square-feet.

That said, what it lacks in square footage it makes up in its breadth and depth of cannabis offerings,

• From dried cannabis flowers to chewable tablets, and
• From gummies to tinctures, plus a
• Selection of vaporizers, oils and more.

And although I've never partaken of any form of cannabis, legal or not, as someone who both grew-up in the drug-influenced late 60s and early 70s of the San Francisco Bay Area, I'm definitely familiar with the sweet and slightly pungent smell of marijuana, in all forms, a smell that permeates The Forest Springville.

Jumping Through Cannabis Hoops

As noted above, due to its classification as a Schedule I drug, cannabis as marijuana continues to be illegal to grow, process, sell, and/or consume on a federal level, whether for recreational or healthcare usage.

That Schedule I status also prohibits online advertising and sales of cannabis products.

However, it is possible to place an order online for medical marijuana products — such as someone can do here on The Forest Springville website — but you have to pay for and pick-up the products in person, on-site, with cash.

Hence, the need to have dispensaries in Utah for the legal sale of the psychoactive versions of cannabis and cannabis-derived products, those containing the chemical compounds that make users high:

• Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-9 THC),
• Delta-8-tetrahydrocannabinol (Delta-8 THC), and
• Cannabidiol.

It's also why consumers need a Medical Marijuana Card in Utah to legally purchase and consume marijuana for medicinal purposes within the state. {Visit Utah's Center for Medical Cannabis website to learn more.}

That said, 38 states within the United States have made marijuana legal for medicinal use (including Utah), with 24 of those states also making it legal for recreational usage.

As of today, The Forest Springville is 1 of 15 medical marijuana dispensaries located throughout the state, specifically in

• Brigham City,
• Cedar City,
• Lehi,
• North Logan,
• Park City,
• Payson,
• Price,
• Provo,
• Salt Lake City (2 locations),
• South Jordan,
• South Ogden,
• St. George, and
• West Bountiful.

And of these, four companies each own 2 or more dispensaries in Utah:

1. Beehive Farmacy (Brigham City and Salt Lake City);
2. BLOC Pharmacy (South Jordan and St. George);
3. Curaleaf (Lehi, Park City and Provo); and
4. The Flower Shop (North Logan and South Ogden).