Cannabis Treatment Success Inspires Unique Delivery Method

Cannabis has become a large staple in the wellness industry — and rightfully so. Advanced science has revealed a plethora of minor cannabinoids including THCA, CBG, CBN, and many more, and their properties have helped people manage symptoms of so many injuries, illnesses, and conditions. 

Mary’s Medicinals is a female-founded brand that was largely inspired by the story of one little girl – Charlotte Figi. Suffering from frequent debilitating seizures, Charlotte’s parents worked with doctors to find relief for her symptoms. After trying many pharmaceutical medications — and none of them working — her parents acquired a medical marijuana card. They found a low-THC, high-CBD strain that produced stunning results – Charlotte’s seizures subsided, and her quality of life improved dramatically.

Knowing regimented cannabis treatments can provide such positive results, Mary’s Medicinals  incorporated cannabinoids into transdermal products. Launched in 2012, the company began offering a unique cannabis product line – patches. Similar to the function of a nicotine patch, Mary’s transdermal patches offer a slow release of cannabinoids into the bloodstream to provide consistent relief for individuals who benefit from regular cannabis regimen. 

Allie Greenstone – National Educator and NorCal Sales Manager at Mary’s – sat with The Green Letter to share that inspiration, the science behind how the patches work, and the hope for cannabis to lead in the wellness space and continue providing life-changing results for those who need it. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What inspired the start of Mary’s Medicinals?

Are you familiar with the story of Charlotte’s Web? Not the book or the movie, but the little girl who inspired the strain of high-CBD cannabis that’s named after her? Her story came to light when she was young — about six or eight years old. Charlotte unfortunately struggled with a very severe form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. Charlotte found that using a strain of cannabis oil that was really high in CBD and low in THC drastically improved her quality of life by lessening the severity and frequency of her seizures.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta did an expose on CNN called Weed that was all about Charlotte and CBD, and it was like a global awakening — a catalyst to the CBD movement. Most people had no idea that there was more to cannabis than just getting high. This story was so pivotal for so many of us on this side of the industry because it created the awareness that there is so much more to this plant. 

This is the era that Mary’s Medicinals was born. Charlotte’s story is so important because it was the inspiration for our founders to create products optimal for people like Charlotte, not necessarily specific to epileptics but in the sense of those who are regimented users of cannabis. At that time and to this day, there are not many products that offer a very efficient way to use cannabis, nor was there anything that offered a time-release delivery method. 

What makes the time-release method so effective?

With smoking, the effects taper off within a few hours. With edibles, there’s a million variables; there are peaks and valleys. That’s what inspired Mary’s patches. Not only do they offer that eight-to-12-hour slow release dose of cannabinoids, but transdermal cannabinoids absorb about 10 times better into the body than edible cannabinoids.

It’s about bioavailability, which refers to how much of a drug actually makes it into our bodies and takes an effect. Of anything on the market and all the delivery methods available, transdermals have the highest. That means you can use a lot less cannabis to get the results you need. Not only does the time release make a huge difference in terms of other products offered, but because of that bioavailability, they’re the most optimal products for these regimen-reliant users because you can use much less of the cannabinoids and keep your tolerance. You can spend less and your endocannabinoid system is more and more responsive.

The founders of Mary’s Medicinals already understood the transdermal effects and knew about the scientific research, and wanted to create a product based on that. There are tons of transdermal products that exist in the pharmaceutical space, and cannabinoids are lipids. Many other transdermal products in the pharmaceutical world utilize very similar molecular structures, so we took that existing science and fused it with cannabinoid science, and that’s how we’ve backboned our entire product line.

What is the structure of the patch, and how does this work?

It’s actually a cannabis extract, just like something you would put into an edible, sublingual, or topical product. We use distillate in Mary’s patches because it’s something that is sitting on the skin for so long, and you want the extra plant elements out of there. We mix the oil with the transdermal carriers which push the cannabinoids deeper [into the layers of skin]. They’re placed onto the backing of the patch then laid out to dry on racks. The plastic backing is put on, then they go into the laser cutter and are packaged.

Cannabinoid molecules are too large to permeate beyond the dermis and the epidermis, so that’s why traditional topical products like our muscle freeze lineup will not biomechanically go anywhere but the skin, so that’s why you never get high or anything systemic from a topical. You’ll never fail a drug screen from a true topical product. For a product to actually be transdermal — meaning it’s actually going through the skin either into the bloodstream or permeating deeper somewhere else — they have to include carriers. All of our transdermal categories are a little different, but with our patches, we use sunflower lecithin, propylene glycol (which is completely safe in transdermals and topicals), and oleic acid. It’s the combination of these three things that push the cannabinoids to permeate seven to 10 layers and allow them to break the blood-brain barrier and enter the bloodstream for a full-body or systemic effect.

How is this different from a traditional salve or cream?

Mary’s also makes spot-specific transdermal creams and balms, but the patches are actually systemic. You can think about Mary’s patches as more like a birth control or nicotine patch — you’re putting it very intentionally on the body, which for Mary’s is going to be the inside of the wrist or the top of the foot so it can actually absorb into the blood and get to the brain. These locations have thin skin, no fat, and lots of veins so those cannabinoids easily absorb into those venous areas, but all in all, transdermals are entirely different from topicals. We make THC-predominant patches where the point is for you to get the intoxication — you’re just getting it in a time-released, low-dose format. Topicals definitely can’t do that. 

Do the distillates have a different molecular makeup than those used in topicals?

It’s actually the patch itself. The cannabinoids and the carriers are on the patch, and it slowly absorbs into the skin for that eight- to 12-hour time frame. They’re heat, sweat, and water resistant; you can wear them exercising or swimming, and they don’t slip or peel off like a band-aid. We’ve innovated over the past 12 years to make them stay on really well. They also do not hurt to remove.

Are you seeing other brands add similar patches to their product lines?

Not really. We have very few competitors in each of our markets — one or two patch competitors for each state we’re in. It’s a more complex product to manufacture; you need quite a bit of equipment to do it. It’s a unique product and we kind of corner the market, which is amazing. We sell a lot of patches, that’s for sure.

How have your sales changed or grown over the years?

When we started, we had four or five different patch varieties. They’re all the same strength except one that is an extra strength or higher dose, but they’re all different cannabinoids and different ratios. Over the past few years, we have innovated alongside the industry and expanded our cannabinoid profiles to include CBG patches, triple cannabinoid ratios, and multi-packs. The majority of our patch users are everyday, regimen users. Bringing it back to Charlotte, we have people that are truly reliant on these and are using them every day. We’ve been able to launch 10-packs in the majority of our markets which save between 40% and 50% for our customers, which is huge.

What does it mean for Mary’s Medicinals to have that kind of impact on someone’s well-being?

It’s everything. This industry is incredibly trying, challenging, and getting beat down constantly, but that’s really what keeps us doing it – the people that really believe in wellness and therapeutic cannabinoids and believe in Mary’s. For our people, that’s what keeps us going. For me personally, I feel like I’m making a mark, making an impact. It’s why we’ve continued what we’re doing.

As big of a brand as we are, wellness continues to be only 2% to 3% of overall sales in the market. It's hard to hang on when we’re facing the industrial challenges we’re all up against, but it’s so important because we’ve created this incredible customer base of people that rely on our products and are loyal to our brand. That’s why we keep going and we continue to innovate, and keep science and our patients at the core of what we do.

What other innovations is Mary’s working on?

We have really incredible spot-specific transdermals as well. Unlike the patches where it’s imperative they’re placed on the body correctly so the cannabinoids get to the brain, we make spot-specific transdermal creams and compounds. Unlike topicals where those cannabinoids are only going to permeate the skin, our compounds and creams allow for deeper permeation. For folks that struggle with neurodegenerative issues like multiple sclerosis or something like Parkinson’s where there are spasms or spasticity involved, we’ve created products that allow the cannabinoid to potentially reach deep enough to relieve those types of issues.

We’ve also launched – in one market so far – our Power Patches. We’re making strain-specific live rosin transdermal patches that are geared toward higher-tolerance or higher-need individuals. They’re 50 milligrams total of live rosin. Our patches are very absorbent as are the original patches, but there are folks out there whose tolerance has built over the years from using cannabis for so long. I’m really excited about those. We also make really cool products for pets, too, on our hemp side of the product line. As a dog mom, that’s near and dear to me — helping all the pups and the cats.

Which of your patches are people gravitating toward the most?

It’s actually all across the board. Our number one selling patch is our 1:1 CBD to THC patch, which is actually non-intoxicating because of how the cannabinoids are received into the body transdermally. When you have that 1:1 balance, you are actually getting the true balance – the negation of the high of the THC from the CBD – but you are getting the benefit of both of those cannabinoids. That tends to be the most popular, but that’s pretty closely followed by our indica or extra strength patches which are definitely intoxicating. It’s across the board to be honest, but for people that are using our products for pain, spasms, mental health, or sleep, oftentimes their need is so high that they’re not necessarily looking for that intoxication — they’re just looking for the therapeutic effect of the THC or other cannabinoid. That’s the kind of result these patches are bringing for people. 

Another option is for people to microdose Mary’s patches down. You can’t do that with the majority of other patch brands on the market. A lot of people find that a quarter of a THCa patch or a half a CBG patch is plenty, so it’s very easy to tailor their dose. You can even mix and match patches to find your perfect blend if you want. I love a THCA on one foot and a 1:1 on the other, and I’m a better person for it.

Do you feel like having a patch versus other consumption methods is helping normalize cannabinoids in the wellness space?

One hundred percent! I think because transdermal patches, balms, and creams are more familiar and comfortable of a delivery method for a lot of the demographic that are using our product – older folks. Much of that demographic are not necessarily comfortable with smoking flower or eating an edible because there’s still a stigma around it, but they’re more comfortable trying these because they’ve used them in a pharmaceutical or Eastern medicine realm before. 

It’s interesting – I heard a statistic that the number one most commonly purchased category from first-time dispensary visitors is topicals, which speaks to that as well. It’s just more comfortable. It’s a perfect entry-level point, and they’re effective. It absolutely has made it more mainstream — more comfortable and more accessible.

The senior market is definitely the largest opportunity. Cannabis in general is often going to cater to 18 and up – millennials, Gen Z – we already know about cannabis and how to get it. The seniors are still kind of left over from this Reefer Madness era, or folks that maybe have never even tried cannabis before and are still nervous about it – those are the folks we can educate and can really benefit from cannabis. They may be able to get off a pharmaceutical regimen or just take the action to use cannabis to feel better in whatever way.

As more people leverage cannabinoids for their wellness journey, do you think it will have an impact on regulations and legalizations across the country?

You’d like to think so, and theoretically you would expect that to be the case, but the government and big pharma in particular doesn’t see cannabis as a positive for their business models. They already know cannabis is medically beneficial – there are patents about cannabis that date back decades. The problem is that we’re a threat. We’re a threat to big alcohol. We’re a threat to big pharma. We’re a threat to big tobacco.

If rescheduling happens in such a way that would allow big pharma access into cannabis, they’re coming in and wiping us all out. Because of how we’re regulated at the state level, we’re able to operate outside of the federal government. There are people that are replacing pharmaceuticals with cannabis for an extremely large array of issues – mental health, sleep, GI issues, cancer, pain – all of the big heavy hitters that pharmaceuticals rely on for profit.

It’s a huge problem for family-owned businesses, and unfortunately that has already changed due to the struggles the industry faces. The extremely high rate of taxes and the extremely high cost of doing business has created this insane level of price compression, so prices have hit the floor. It’s extremely competitive and it’s hard to be profitable, so unfortunately it has bred mass consolidation across the industry, and it’s not an optimal environment for mom and pop operations to thrive — or survive at all.

If you look at Colorado for example – one of the earliest recreational and really just the earliest regulated cannabis markets – it’s all consolidation. You don’t see those small operators anymore, and it’s sad. Like California – that’s the culture here. We have third-generation pot growers from the Emerald Triangle up north. We have 25-year-old dispensaries in the Bay Area. That’s like nowhere else. Unfortunately, the threat of overregulation and overtaxation is serious, and it’s getting worse. We’re seeing retailers and brands like us shudder on a weekly basis. It’s really sad.

How are brands like yours dealing with the price compression and still being able to earn enough operational revenue while continuing to offer products at a reasonable rate to your customers?

Thankfully the price compression doesn’t affect the wellness space so much — we’re lucky in that way. If you look at flower, cartridges, concentrates, and gummies that are in super-saturated markets, you’ll see that price compression even more. At Mary’s, we’ve maintained being the highest-quality wellness brand, and wellness customers are a bit different. I believe there’s almost no loyalty when it comes to cannabis customers, but in wellness, there absolutely is. Our customers will pay a higher ticket price for a product they know is better and that they’ve continued to use. In that older demographic – they’re less likely to say that there’s another option that’s less expensive; they’re less trusting of that. With flower, gummies, cartridges – it’s all kind of the same. There are certainly brands and products that are better, especially when you’re talking about craft cannabis, but like in California, there’s mostly just mid-grade product on the market, so there are more bargain shoppers.

With wellness, it’s a different customer that will pay for good products, but we’ve adjusted our products over the years. We’ve reformulated our products – we’ve doubled the milligrams, doubled the dosage of the majority of our products and kept prices the same or we’ve dropped prices on certain categories just to stay competitive. Price compression also affects oil as well, so we’ve been able to source oils at a lesser price and we’ve passed that along to our customers, so that’s a good thing.

It all really goes to show there are many brands that have grown to the size Mary’s has in terms of how many markets we’re available in and how many others have lost their integrity. If you lose the integrity, you lose the heart and soul. Mary’s has never, and continues to value quality products and the customers at the end of those products. That’s the thing that really keeps us going.

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