In 1993, the Om of Medicine owner learned cannabis was decriminalized in Ann Arbor after he and his friend were pulled over by a local police officer. It led him to pursue his passion in the area. He wanted to normalize and educate others on the plant that he spent years consuming, so he did some research on California’s model, promoted health care studies on the benefits of marijuana and conceived his business. This year, he celebrates 10 years at Om of Medicine. “The movement started in California. All of the dispensaries were serving their patients in a very similar passion, shoulder to shoulder with little to no privacy,” Passerini said. “We wanted to make sure we weren’t going to follow the norm that I saw in California. We wanted to change the model on how patients were served. We focused on one-on-one private consultations. We focused on the research. We, I think to this day, are the only ones with a chief medical officer.”
Mark Passerini