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| Matt Huron, Owner, Good Chemistry |
Jeremy is a Denver gay man who has been living with HIV for 20 years. He uses medical marijuana to treat his nausea, pain, and anxiety, but lives on disability benefits that make it hard to make ends meet. Like many people on disability, he sometimes had to choose between paying for his preferred medication and necessities like food or rent. Then a friend referred him to Denver dispensary Good Chemistry’s Compassion Program that helps patients with serious health issues and financial needs obtain medical cannabis at minimal cost.
“I’ve been with the program for two and a half years and, living on disability with a low income, it just means the world to me,” said Jeremy. “I came in and talked to the manager and they got me set up as easy as one, two, three. It definitely helps with my nausea and pain. I have headaches and neuropathy and it helps with all of that. I also have anxiety and trouble sleeping and it puts me to sleep. It just does wonders for my well-being.”
The Compassion Program has been in place since the dispensary opened in Denver four years ago and currently serves upwards of 30 patients with medical conditions ranging from HIV to cancer to epilepsy.
Matthew Huron, owner and founder of Good Chemistry, has been in the medical marijuana business for 14 years. He started the company with his father and his father’s life partner in San Francisco before moving the business to Denver in 2010.
“I grew up in a gay household in San Francisco,” said Huron. “My father and his partner both had HIV and his partner eventually was in hospice care. We started growing and cultivating therapeutic marijuana at that time just for him. But then he would pass it around to other folks at the hospice so we made an arrangement with the management of the hospice to provide the other folks with medicine as well. From there we began expanding the business, going to other hospices and assisted living facilities in San Francisco. We developed the Compassion Program at that time. Eventually my father’s partner passed away.
“Fast-forward nine years and a friend of mine here in Denver told me about the medical marijuana industry out here, and I came out to explore opportunities. Unfortunately, my father then got very sick himself and passed away in 2009. The Compassion Program is important to me because it reminds me that there is a real therapeutic and compassionate element to what we do and that’s really how it all started. I feel my father would be very proud of what we are doing.”
To apply for the program, patients fill out a simple questionnaire and provide proof of their medical condition from a primary care physician. Once approved, staff will figure out how much medicine a client is eligible to receive. More information is available at the Good Chemistry website. Patients can also come to the dispensary’s Colfax location and speak to any of the budtenders on staff about signing up for the program.
“I feel like we are giving people aloha through medicine,” said budtender Cassandra Batrez. “Aloha is love, compassion, understanding, and caring for others. It’s so positive to me to be able to provide medicine to people that would not be able to provide for themselves otherwise. It’s one of the things that attracted me to Good Chemistry. What other dispensary does something like this? Cares so much? We’re kind of like a family here and we’ve really got a good thing going on – especially with the Compassion Program.”
“Every time I go in I get shown a lot of compassion and a lot of love,” said Jeremy. “They’re very attentive; they pay attention to which products work best for you. Good Chemistry loves and treats everybody like a member of the family. I appreciate them so much. I bake cookies and things to bring them because I appreciate them that much. They make me feel like family – they really do.”
