Jason Crady talks secret words, limited drops, and the idea behind Missouri Wild Alchemy’s first Speakeasy

Missouri Wild Alchemy, a locally owned dispensary in O’Fallon, is rolling out its first Speakeasy event on October 28 and 29. 

The unique event underscores the dispensary’s commitment to the support of small business and homegrown brands in Missouri cannabis, while remaining true to the company’s roots in education and care.

Missouri Wild Alchemy has consistently shown solidarity with small-scale cannabis businesses and brands. Collaborations with licensees, such as Heartland Labs, and shelving both indie or locally owned brands in addition to some of the state’s most popular products and licensed offerings make them a keystone of Missouri’s cannabis landscape.

“We’re all small in our own way, we’re up against this new industry and all the regulations, and the fact that it’s only legal within the state. In the grand scheme of things, we’re all small businesses, we’re all locally working and employing people that live locally, even the bigger cannabis companies in the state. So that’s really why we want to work with everybody. These companies in particular that we’re having at the Speakeasy are people that for the last three years, we’ve been talking to on the phone and trying to work together,” explained Owner Jason Crady.

“We’re all a part of this industry and we really collaborate and work together to try to figure it out. It is still so new that there was really no groundwork for anybody. We’ve all really benefited from collaborating and working together. Most of these brands, I know the owners and we talk. We know their sales reps, we know they’re brand ambassadors and all their teammates. We’ve toured most of these facilities, we’ve seen how they do things, how advanced they are with their methods, and how clean they are.  They’re all just absolutely amazing with what they’ve been able to accomplish from nothing! Building this from the ground floor,” he continued.

“It’s really been an honor to be part of it. It’s really been a lot of fun and really cool. It’s definitely something that I think we will all eventually look back on in our lives and go ‘Holy crap, that was really cool that we got to be part of this.”

MWA has become one of the state’s most beloved dispensaries despite the brand’s small stature in a sea of competitors, not just because of the dispensary’s willingness and enthusiasm to support local brands and small businesses, but largely due to the staff and leadership’s consistent devotion to both advocating for and educating about the therapeutic benefits of medical marijuana while championing cannabis destigmatization in society.

Jason Crady, has been a vocal advocate for cannabis and has been on the front line of the push to allow first responders the opportunity to medicate with marijuana in addition to, or in place of, other medications and substances. 

In August of 2021, Crady spoke to Greenway about the use of cannabis in treating mental health. “When medical cannabis was brought to Missouri there was a lot of talk of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD),” Crady explained at the time, “I am a first responder here in St. Louis County and have seen some of my brothers and sisters suffer from PTSD, I’ve also seen a lot of them sweep their PTSD under the rug and turn to alcohol and opiates.”

“These are things we are learning that cannabis can be helpful in treating and we are just now starting to be able to openly talk about and study. As a society that relies on evidence-based medicine, we are just in the infancy of cannabis study,” he said.

This weekend, Missouri Wild Alchemy will launch its first SpeakEasy event.

“It’s kind of a nod to the end of prohibition, and that prohibition era. This is our generation’s prohibition, so we want to make sure that we show respect to our past, for what we’ve been through, and what we’re going through now,  just to kind of commemorate where we are at in our lifetime and in the industry,” Crady explained.

“It’s legal here now, and we’ve seen the stigma decrease in our area probably 10-fold since we started. We feel like it’s our responsibility to continue to educate people, be really good partners, and put up a good industry, so there’s none of this negative aura;  that people are really educated, they don’t overconsume, especially when they’re starting out.”

The SpeakEasy name ties together the prohibitionist past with recent success and movement forward in the cannabis legalization and the community. While medical marijuana was legalized in 2018, the experience – especially early on, often had an intimidating and secretive feel. 

   

“I still envision somebody coming up and knocking, then opening up this little slide window; they look at the person, they say a secret word, and then they’re given access.”

“At Missouri Wild, we don’t have that little holding area like a lot of dispensaries have where you have to kind of look at the cameras and then get buzzed in. When you walk into our facility, the lobby is very big, open, and it kind of gives you a vibe of a doctor’s office. When you get into that limited access area it’s like, ‘Hey, I want to be back there. How do I get back there?’

“When you go into the back, to our sales floor, it carries a different vibe than our check-in area. It’s hidden from the people that are just walking by on the street or who are going to the restaurant next to us for dinner. From the outside, it just looks like we have merch and t-shirts, hats, some CBD, and just stuff like that up front with brochures and educational material. But once you get into the back, it’s more of the vibe of just a super chill dispensary. Not everybody gets to see it and to me, that’s part of this, too.”

Attendees who are in the know can use the secret word “Halloweed” for an exclusive experience and pricing. 

“When you come in and you say the secret word, you’re gonna get this special menu that nobody else is gonna get. And then you’re gonna get these better deals.”

Those deals include limited pricing and offerings from some of Missouri’s favorite cannabis companies and brands. For Crady and the team at MWA, the SpeakEasy event is also about celebrating those companies. 

“Obviously, we love all of our vendors. For our first-ever event, we wanted to go with these partners because we’ve worked with them all from the beginning,” Crady explained.

“These are some of the main vendors that we’ve dealt with since the beginning of the medical market and other smaller groups kind of like ourselves; we’ll have Heartland Labs, Teal Labs, Amaze Cannabis, and Robust Cannabis. Amaze and Robust will be our flower offerings. Teal, and Clovr. and Heartland Labs will be on the manufacturing side with special deals. They will have vendors in-house throughout the day and they may have giveaways themselves with swag and merchandise.”

Crady told Greenway that Heartland’s recent collaboration with MWA, Sweaty Melons, will available in limited supply during the event, at a substantial discount. With each vendor bringing unique offerings and limited time pricing, Crady said, “All these are while supplies last, so we suggest people get there early and get what they can. We’re not gonna allow presale or have these available on our online menu. So it’ll be available first-come, first-served in the store.”

“What we really want to do is be able to feature these brands, so that maybe somebody that’s never tried Heartland, or Teal or Clovr, Amaze, or Robust, maybe they’ll come in and try it and go, ‘My God, that’s amazing. that’s my new favorite brand.’ That’s what we hope to be able to do for the brands.  

“We feel like in doing this, the brands are giving us a deal, so we’re not marking the prices up as high, we’re all working together on that to try to make it better for the customer and more cost-effective for consumers.”

Missouri Wild Alchemy is located at 2173 West Tara Lane in O’Fallon Missouri and online at www.Missouriwild.com.