As more and more medical cannabis dispensaries pop up around town, you might find yourself wondering, “Do they really have that many people buying their products?” Or maybe “who are people that are using medical cannabis?.”
Hi, I’m Melanie and I’m one of 160K+ medical cannabis patients in Missouri. My goal in sharing my personal experience is simple. I want to be more open about what is working well in my life this past year and medical cannabis has been a part of that.
About me. I’m a married mom of 4. I have a full-time job & love to overcommit to volunteer causes. I love my family & friends and spend lots of time walking my dog. I do the normal things we do- take kids to practices for sports & music, help with homework, make dinner. Repeat.
Over the past 16 years of parenting, I’ve struggled with anxiety and depression. I also have a long history of migraines – pre-dating my children. Prescription meds & therapy did help some for anxiety but I was never able to find a migraine medicine that worked for me.
In November of 2018, Missouri voted to legalize medical marijuana. At the time, I could count on two hands the number of times I had used recreational marjuana in my life but I felt like the stories of people using it to help with medical ailments were overwhelmingly positive.
I voted yes. In 2019, when it was time to apply for a medical marijuana card through the state, I applied and was approved. It wasn’t a complicated process but once I had my card, I didn’t really know what types of products to consider or what could help me with migraines or anxiety. Supplies of products in dispenseries were limited and while budtenders across the metro were helpful, I’m not sure I knew what I needed to ask.
I didn’t feel confident enough to just go buy products to see what worked for managing migraines and it was important to me to use caution to avoid adding to my anxiety. Throughout 2020 and most of 2021 I didn’t make much forward progress on my cannabis journey.
Fast forward to Feb 2022. I was introduced to the BesaMe Wellness team as a new client at work. I work in marketing/advertising. Professionally, I was now tasked to help them grow their business and elevate messaging with my team.
Personally, this partnership was extra rewarding because now I was finally connected with people who could help me understand more about what would work to help treat my medical conditions. I learned about terpenes and cannabinoids and how I should journal as I worked through how to best treat my conditions.
I was connected with a cannabis nurse who was able to spend time educating me about cannabis and help me understand more about the process. I’ve learned how to better handle migraines without the prescription drugs that were so hard for me to tolerate. Additionally, I’ve taken other wellness steps this past year towards better mobility and strength and I’ve eliminated alcohol from my life.
Overall, I feel like incorporating medical cannabis into my life has helped me make many positive changes and resulted in reduced anxiety.
I understand that my role here is a little blurry. It’s important to disclose that my employer was working on behalf of this business for many months. However, my desire to share my cannabis journey and the role BesaMe Wellness played is altruistic.
I’m a person and a mom that has navigated the traditional healthcare system for many years. We all know there are so many great providers in our healthcare system but we know the system as it stands can be hard to navigate and costly- even with insurance. Considering medical cannabis for my qualifying conditions was a good choice for me.
As a customer at BesaMe Wellness, I can say with confidence that their staff goes above and beyond to help people at any stage of their cannabis journey. Their team is passionate and knowledgeable. If you are looking for more information or a place to get started, I would wholeheartedly recommend a visit to one of their five KC Metro area locations.
Visit for more information on the Missouri Medical Marijuana program.
“A special note: this sponsored post has been written by one of our contributors, Melanie Olson-Cox. It’s important to us to be transparent and let you know that Melanie worked to support BesaMe Wellness via her marketing agency for part of 2022. However, Melanie was also a medical marijuana patient in the state of MO prior to that partnership. While this situation was unique, we valued her perspective and felt that she could provide honest insight our audience would enjoy as we tackle new conversations about medical cannabis.”
