AP Photo The father son duo Enzio Figaretti, left, and Dino Figaretti, right, are confident in their ability to transition from the restaurant business at Figaretti’s Italian Restaurant to medical marijuana distribution at Country Grown Cannabis.

Father-and-son duo Dino and Enzio Figaretti have ventured from the restaurant industry into the medical marijuana business with the opening of Country Grown Cannabis in Elm Grove.

While new to the cannabis industry, the owner of Figaretti’s Italian Restaurant, Dino Figaretti, is confident in the new store, believing there are “a lot of similarities” between the cannabis and restaurant businesses.

Co-owner Enzio Figaretti explained that the benefit of having “roots established” in the community was evident while getting started at Country Grown Cannabis. He described the patients as “much more comfortable” entering the business and “seeing a familiar face.”

“I feel like Figaretti’s has established a good demographic for us right off the bat,” explained Enzio Figaretti. “It also creates a one-on-one customer relationship, if you will, in an industry that you don’t see that too often.”

The Figarettis have been “trying to get into the medical marijuana business for a really long time,” said Enzio Figaretti on the store’s origins. However, when they ended up not getting the growing license, he described “stars instead aligning” for them to open an independently-owned branch of the medical marijuana distributor Country Grown Cannabis.

Enzio Figaretti added that the franchise approached the Figarettis because they had “trust” in their family as business owners due to the success of their restaurant.

“This building has been in our family for a long time, and Country Grown Cannabis had some interest in the location while also knowing we had an interest in the industry,” said Enzio Figaretti on the partnership.

While getting the business up and running was “easier” for the pair due to their experience at Figaretti’s Restaurant, Dino Figaretti acknowledged the “vast differences” between running a marijuana distributor and a restaurant.

Dino Figaretti noted that the regulations and laws they had to follow were much stricter when opening Country Grown Cannabis compared to Figaretti’s Restaurant, with the restaurant business “paling in comparison” to the regulations of marijuana distribution.

Country Grown Cannabis is also a more “education-focused” establishment, explained Dino Figaretti, while Figaretti’s Restaurant is in the hospitality sector. He said the business prides itself on the select few budtenders they employ, who are equipped with “the knowledge and time” to educate patients on products.

To purchase products from Country Grown Cannabis, customers need to possess a valid West Virginia medical marijuana card. The store’s website allows patients to take “the majority of the steps” to acquire a card online, explained Enzio Figaretti, making this requirement not too much of a hurdle for patients.

“If your personal physician is authorized to issue medical cards, there’s a wide range of psychological and physical ailments that you can qualify for getting a medical card for,” said Enzio Figaretti on the card application process.

Depending on the prescription, a customer receives an allotment of cannabis, which could be “anywhere from four to six ounces depending on the ailment,” said Enzio Figaretti. The period for when customers can receive their allotment resets every 30 days.

Because the medical card can be prescribed for a variety of ailments, Dino Figaretti said that they see a “vast array of demographics at their store,” from “21 all the way up to 80.”

“We see a lot of patients with pain, a lot of patients with sleep apnea and patients with all kinds of other disorders,” said Dino Figaretti. “Medical marijuana can get rid of a lot of their pain, so many physicians have begun recommending their patients to come here.”

With the store receiving a “great reception” from their grand opening last Saturday, Dino Figaretti believes that another reason the business is doing so well is that “the stigma” surrounding medical marijuana “isn’t as bad in years past.”

For those who still have negative misconceptions about cannabis, Dino Figaretti recommends that “people should get educated before they cast judgment.”

“There are so many people that are benefiting from it a lot, and it’s even helped a lot of people get off of opioids,” Dino Figaretti added. “There is abuse, but the vast majority benefit from it.”

With the strict regulations and laws Country Grown Cannabis has to abide by to help customers alleviate their pains, Dino Figaretti described the business as operating “basically as a pharmacy.”

“We want the community to recognize this as a pharmacy because that’s basically what we’re doing here,” explained Dino Figaretti. “For people that don’t know much about cannabis, I encourage you to please read about it or come in here, and we’ll be happy to educate you.”