DocMJ Patients Find Relief through MÜV™ (AltMed)

Florida medical marijuana patients have access to many different licensed Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers throughout the state. Since the amendment passed in 2016 allowing companies to dispense medical marijuana products to qualified patients, there has been tremendous growth throughout the entire industry.

DocMJ sat down with Todd Beckwith, the Marketing Director for AltMed Florida, to discuss AltMeds journey through this market. AltMed owns the MÜV™  dispensaries located throughout the state. Todd has been with AltMed since the early days, even before it had any commercial products. He still recalls his first days with the company with colleagues Patrick Smullen and Dr. Christopher Witowski when they shared a cubicle space and developed the initial plans for the MÜV™ products portfolio.

How AltMed Started

AltMed was originally founded in Florida, but due to laws not passing they moved to Arizona and started diving into research and development then began producing medical cannabis products. In Arizona, they originally only had licenses to cultivate, manufacture, and distribute. They did nothing but wholesale for a while until they had the opportunity to open their open dispensary out there.

Todd believes that because of Dr. Christopher Witowski’s extensive research and development done while in Arizona, they were able to hit the ground rolling when the amendment in Florida finally passed in 2016.

 “Chris did a lot of R&D while we were in Arizona and we collected a lot of feedback from patients so we could really fine tune our products to be consumer friendly. We were then able to bring that product portfolio to Florida when we merged with Plants of Ruskin to get our license, which allowed us to open our stores with a range of products we knew would give patients the results they were looking for.”

Plants of Ruskin, the original license owner, was the perfect fit for AltMed to merge with according to Todd. They have a hundred years of agriculture leadership in Florida and have donated millions of dollars to the University of Florida for research. The two companies share a lot of the same values and have had a great relationship 

Experience in Florida

AltMed opened their first dispensary in Apollo Beach in June 2018 and opened their 11th store at the end of November 2019. At first, it was a bit of a challenge to open a store because there was no understanding on how long the approval process would take. It took the Department of Health months to approve their first product, but Todd noted that it has been “kind of a learning process for both them and the Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU) and everyone is growing together to get patients better access to this medicine.”

Since opening, they have grown to over 300 employees and are excited to keep adding more to their team. AltMed prides itself in having a great community feel with both its employees and their patients, which is one of the reasons they believe makes them stand out in the industry.

A DocMJ patient who visits their Longwood location said the staff there was “extremely friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. They have always treated me right and fair. They are my favorite spot to go to.”

Looking Forward for What’s to Come

With 2020 just around the corner, the team at AltMed is most excited for seeing MÜV dispensaries in all reaches of the state. They are eager to truly be able to serve patients from all over Florida, because it has always been their goal since they were founded. AltMed plans to reach this goal by the first quarter of the new year.

They are also excited to bring new products to patients in the year to come as well. Their intent is to offer “all different delivery methods for all patients, with formulation variety” so they can eventually have a product for every time of every day. 

“I’ve integrated MÜV™ products into my daily routine because nothing has given me relief the way they do. I add tincture to my coffee, their cream to my eczema, and keep a transdermal patch on my back to aid the pain. I’m excited to see what new and improved products are to come.” – DocMJ patient.