Iowa’s Cannabis Company Has New Name, New Mission

By Amie Rivers

June 10, 2022

The lone supplier for Iowa’s medical cannabis program announced in June it changed its name.

MedPharm Iowa, which has operated growing operations and laboratories for medical cannabidiol in the state since 2018, now goes by Bud & Mary’s as it expands past the Hawkeye State and into markets that are fully legal.

“We just needed a new look that better matches who we are and where we’re going,” the company said on its website. “We’re still the same family-owned company based in Iowa, operating in Colorado and Iowa, and soon to be expanding into Michigan!”

Whereas “MedPharm” seemed to indicate pharmaceutical-only usage, Bud & Mary’s—seemingly a play on cannabis buds and “Mary Jane”—plays more to the company’s entry into legal cannabis states.

“Our new name and brand aligns better with who we are and what we represent,” the company said.

Both Colorado and Michigan, where Bud & Mary’s is expanding, allow adults to possess and consume marijuana legally. Those two join 18 other US states and the District of Columbia. Another 21 states, Iowa included, allow for medical use only.

A fair number of Iowans choose to shop across the Mississippi River for a wider variety of products in Illinois, a legal cannabis state, though Bud & Mary’s notes on its website the state’s dispensaries have “full THC” in its products.

“Tinctures, creams, capsules, and vapes are available in all five dispensaries across Iowa,” the company notes.

By Amie Rivers
06/09/22

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Amie Rivers

Amie Rivers is Iowa Starting Line's newsletter editor. She writes the weekly Worker’s Almanac edition of Iowa Starting Line, featuring a roundup of the worker news you need to know. Previously, she was an award-winning journalist at the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier; now, she very much enjoys making TikToks and memes and getting pet photos in her inbox.

Have a story tip? Reach Amie at [email protected]. For local reporting in Iowa that connects the dots, from policy to people, sign up for Amie's newsletter.

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CATEGORIES: CANNABIS

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