BeLeaf and SWADE emphasize education while reinvigorating the medical cannabis market

As Missouri’s marijuana industry has seen a renewed push for an emphasis for focusing on medical marijuana, the team at BeLeaf, and their retail arm SWADE; are working to prioritizing patient education and outreach in their own way. Building on the tradition of medical focus that BeLeaf was founded on.

Mitch Meyers, co-founder of BeLeaf, said the company is committed to ensuring patients remain at the forefront.

“I just know that people my age and older have an interest in cannabis, but they’re not just wandering into our dispensaries to learn about it. They’re a little bit more intimidated and feel like it might be a scarier event than it actually is,” Meyers explained.

Meyers, who is an iconic figure in cannabis as one of the most visible women in the space for more than a decade, is in her 60s and encouraging adults her age and older to find or rediscover cannabis.

“Our thought is – ‘We need to have outbound marketing to people like me and friends of mine and other people that have this interest. We’re going to go to people and explain to them how cannabis can be part of a wellness regime.”

Part of the plan for that outreach includes a new role created within the company, Wellness and Aging Consultant.

Sarah Figueroa, recently appointed to the position, brings a gerontology background and years of experience serving older adults across St. Louis.

“When they learn about different ways they can use cannabis, how they can now with legalized cannabis customize their experience to exactly how they want to feel, they get really excited about it,” Figueroa continued. “They feel really empowered.”

Figueroa explained that older adults often face predictable health concerns such as joint pain, neuropathy, and sleep disturbances. Her work as a gerontologist has focused on how aging affects individuals not only medically but socially, nutritionally, and emotionally. Cannabis, she said, fits naturally into conversations about improving quality of life. “Every single one of those things can be helped with cannabis.”

Breaking down barriers for older adults

The response to Figueroa’s community presentations has exceeded expectations.

“There’s been no education between then and now to this target customer,” Meyers explained. “They do not realize the products that are now out there that are targeted for medical.”

Edibles and topicals have proven especially popular among older consumers, who value discreet, repeatable experiences and especially so for those who live in retirement communities or locations with smoking restrictions.

For Meyers, the work has both a social and business impact.

“As a business person, I look at that as that’s all new business for us,” she explained. “There’s a lot of people aging in place around us in the state of Missouri. If we can be helpful, provide that information, and fill in the spaces between the 70s and now and then get them to be customers of ours, it’s a good business decision.”

That strategy comes at a time when Missouri maintains a strong medical marijuana program, with more than 125,000 active patients. Medical marijuana sales consistently bring in between $14 and $15 million each month, representing about 10 to 12 percent of total marijuana sales on average.

BeLeaf and SWADE see these numbers not as a shrinking segment, but as evidence of ongoing demand for medical-focused products and services.

   

The Potline

SWADE has added a new access point for guidance with the launch of the Potline, a dedicated customer service number where consumers and patients can speak with cannabis employees outside of the dispensary for real-time help.

In our first call to the line, Greenway spoke with Rose, who took time to answer a wide range of questions, offered personalized recommendations, and explained some of her preferred products along with the personal benchmarks she uses to evaluate flower.

Rose was knowledgeable, patient, and attentive to the therapeutic side of cannabis use.

Joey Pintozzi, Chief Strategy & Revenue Officer at BeLeaf, framed the service as values driven.

“We wanted a safe space where customers and patients alike felt heard. We created a white glove service for cannabis.”

The Potline complements SWADE’s in-store education efforts by providing a low-pressure channel for new and returning patients who may be intimidated by modern product formats or by navigating a busy sales floor. For BeLeaf and SWADE, it is another touchpoint in an ecosystem built around access, information, and follow-through.

Changing perceptions

Meyers and Figueroa agree that education is key to reshaping perceptions.

For Figueroa, this is where outreach can make the biggest impact.

“We have to start at what is a dispensary, how do you navigate through a dispensary and how do I talk to this budtender, who’s probably younger than my grandkids – are they going to make fun of me?,” she continued. “We have to make them comfortable and assure them that this is their time and budtenders are there to help.”

Meyers echoed the point, “To an older person, if you go in and explain, here’s the experience you’re going to have and say, yeah, the guy with the purple hair and the earrings, you’re gonna love him. Ask him everything…it makes it more comfortable.”

Looking ahead

Both emphasized that sustaining medical focus inside recreational markets requires consistent education before, during, and after a store visit. “We all did rush towards recreational,” Meyers said. “I don’t feel like we have spent the time we need in store to educate. And so that’s on us as operators and owners to get that educational program in place.”

Meyers believes momentum is returning, she continued saying, “I really feel like there’s a new push, there’s new momentum back into the medical side of things.”

With Missouri’s medical program maintaining a solid base of patients and steady sales, BeLeaf and SWADE see an opportunity to grow while focusing on education, outreach, and approachable products.

As Meyers put it, “Consistent, repeatable experience is the key to this. We can now make products that have consistent dosage and bring in other cannabinoids and adaptogens. It’s complicated, but it’s fun to talk about. It’s our job to help educate.”