Rooted in History: Celebrating Medical Cannabis Awareness Week

Every living thing that grows from the earth carries a story beneath the surface. The oak tree that has stood tall for centuries, the wildflowers that return to the same field every spring, and the rose that blooms after the harshest winter all begin the same way, with roots quietly holding on and reaching deeper long before anyone notices what’s growing above. Cannabis is no different, and its roots run deeper than most people realize. Long before it ever reached a dispensary shelf, this plant was growing across ancient lands, passing through the hands of farmers, healers, and traders, and carrying a story that has lasted for thousands of years. Today that story continues right here in Maryland, every time a patient walks through our doors on a chilly November day and a wellness advisor on our team greets them by name. They are not just a customer passing through, they are part of the Trilogy family, and this week we are celebrating them.

Every year from November 1st through November 7th, communities across the country recognize Medical Cannabis Awareness Week, a time to shine a light on medical cannabis patients and the programs that serve them. Trilogy Wellness of Maryland is proud to be a part of it, and for us this week feels more personal. When Trilogy first opened its doors in Ellicott City, Maryland back in March 2018, we were a medical-only dispensary, and our medical patients were the very first people to believe in us. They walked in when we were brand new, they trusted us with their questions and their stories, and they stayed with us through every season that followed. They are the foundation Trilogy continues to build on and the heartbeat behind everything we do, and to us, they are not just patients, but family.

Across Maryland, medical cannabis has become an important part of the community, giving patients another option to explore with their certifying providers and a safe, welcoming place to find the products they rely on. Trilogy was built to be that place, and from the very beginning we have tried to be more than a storefront. Over the years we have hosted community events, held charity drives that collected food and winter clothing, and supported local veterans, dog shelters, and school supply drives, because the community that welcomed us deserves to feel that love right back. We have come a long way since we first opened our doors in 2018, but one thing has never changed: our commitment to our medical patients. You can feel it in every conversation with our team and in the care we put into every single visit.

That commitment is exactly why our registered medical patients save 30% at Trilogy Wellness of Maryland every single day, and there is no better time to stop in and use it than during Medical Cannabis Awareness Week, November 1st through November 7th.

• Where: Trilogy Wellness, 9291 Baltimore National Pike, Ellicott City, MD
• Who: All registered Maryland medical cannabis patients
• What to bring: Your MCA patient ID and a valid state-issued photo ID

Our team will apply your discount at checkout, and as always, medical patients receive priority service every time they visit. While you are here, our Healer Certified team is always happy to answer your questions and help you find what fits your routine.

To understand why this week matters, we have to go all the way back to where it all began. Picture a hillside in Central Asia thousands of years ago. The sun is setting over the mountains, a cool breeze is moving through the valley, and rows of tall green plants are swaying in the wind, growing wild long before anyone even gave them a name. A farmer walks through the field with dirt on his hands, kneels down, and pulls at the stalks, twisting their fibers into rope and weaving them into cloth for his family. He has no idea that the plant in his hands will one day travel across mountains, deserts, and oceans, passed down from one generation to the next. Every step of that journey helped lead to the medical cannabis programs patients know today, and it all started with a single seed.

That seed eventually left its mark everywhere it went. Thousands of years later, archaeologists digging through the soil of Japan’s Oki Islands brushed away layer after layer of dirt and found cannabis seeds dating all the way back to about 8000 BC. In China, they uncovered pieces of pottery from the 5th millennium BC with the imprints of hemp fibers still pressed into the clay, like fingerprints left behind by the people who made them. Back then, hemp was one of the very first plants grown for fiber, and long before cotton came along, families were turning it into rope, clothing, and paper. Then, around 2700 BC, the Chinese Emperor Shen Nung, often called the father of Chinese medicine, wrote cannabis into his pharmacopoeia, creating the oldest known written record of the plant and giving its story its very first page.

From there, the plant began to travel. It moved with traders along dusty roads and crowded marketplaces, making its way into India, where it became part of religious ceremonies and traditional medicine. 

Spanish colonists carried cannabis to Chile, and by 1619 the Virginia colony had passed a law requiring its planters to grow hemp. A new chapter had begun, with cannabis now taking root in American soil.

Once cannabis took root in America, it didn’t stay in the fields for long, and by the 1800s it had made its way into medicine. Much of that started with an Irish physician named William Brooke O’Shaughnessy, who was working as a doctor in India in the 1830s. While he was there, he watched how the plant was used amongst the local traditions, studied it closely, and wrote about everything he had learned. When he returned home in 1841, he brought that knowledge with him and introduced cannabis to Western medicine, and doctors across Europe and the United States soon began to take notice. Before long, it was sitting on pharmacy shelves across America, and from 1850 until 1942 it was listed in the U.S. Pharmacopeia, recognized by doctors and pharmacists as a medicine for close to a hundred years. Then the story took a dark turn.

Even in the shadows, the story kept going. Inside quiet labs around the world, scientists were working one discovery at a time to understand what made cannabis so unique. The first breakthrough actually came back in 1898, when researchers isolated cannabinol, known today as CBN, making it one of the first compounds ever pulled from the plant. In the 1940s, chemists Roger Adams and Alexander Todd, working separately in the United States and the United Kingdom, each isolated cannabidiol, better known as CBD. Then, in 1964, an Israeli chemist named Raphael Mechoulam isolated THC for the very first time, finally identifying the compound most closely connected with cannabis.

The discoveries kept coming. In 1988, American researcher Allyn Howlett and her team found cannabinoid receptors in the brain, leaving scientists to wonder why the human body would have receptors for a plant. The answer came in 1992, when Mechoulam’s team discovered anandamide, a compound the body makes naturally, and just a few years later, in 1995, researchers identified a second one called 2-AG. Piece by piece, these discoveries revealed the endocannabinoid system, a network of receptors and compounds found throughout the human body that researchers are still learning about today.

While scientists were making discoveries inside their labs, patients and advocates were sharing their stories, showing up in their communities, and pushing lawmakers for change, and slowly, the tide began to turn. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis, and one by one, other states began to follow. Here at home, Maryland passed its medical cannabis law in 2013, and after years of planning, the state’s first licensed dispensaries finally opened their doors to patients in late 2017. In July 2023, Maryland opened adult-use sales, and today both programs are overseen by the Maryland Cannabis Administration. After thousands of years, the cannabis plant that started on a hillside in Central Asia had found a new home right here in Maryland.

From day one, Trilogy has believed that the customer comes first. That is why we partner exclusively with Maryland-based vendors, why our team puts so much focus on education so every customer understands what they are buying, and why our medical patients still receive priority service every time they visit. Our commitment to education runs deep, which is why we partnered with Healer, a cannabis education program co-founded by Dr. Dustin Sulak, to train our team, and became the first “Healer Certified” dispensary in the state of Maryland. Over the years, we have hosted educational events and growing workshops, supported local nonprofits, and matched our customers’ donations to causes that matter to our community. Today we serve both medical patients and adult-use customers, but our story always comes full circle, right back to the medical patients who were there from the very first day and who will always be the heart of Trilogy.

Thousands of years after cannabis first grew wild on that hillside, the same plant is now part of a regulated medical program right here in our state, one that thousands of Marylanders are a part of today. If you have ever wondered whether becoming a medical patient is right for you, there is no better week than this one to learn how it all works.

1. Register with the state. Create your patient registration through the Maryland OneStop portal. Registration is free.
2. Get your MCA Patient ID number. It will be sent to you by email once your registration is approved.
3. Get certified by a registered provider. Visit a registered certifying provider, such as a physician or nurse practitioner, who can certify you using your patient ID number.
4. Visit a licensed dispensary. Your certification must be used at a dispensary within 120 days, and it is renewed once a year.

Any Maryland adult 21 and older can shop adult-use, so you might be wondering what makes registering as a medical patient worth it. Here are a few of the added advantages that come with your patient card.

• No sales tax. Medical purchases are tax-free, while adult-use purchases carry a 12% tax.
• Higher purchase limits. Medical patients can purchase up to 120 grams of flower or 36 grams of THC product in a rolling 30-day period, unless their provider certifies a different amount.
• Access to higher-potency products. Medical patients can purchase certain edibles with up to 40 mg of THC per serving and 400 mg per package, compared to the adult-use limit of 10 mg per serving and 100 mg per package.
• Access starting at 18. Adults 18 and older can register as medical patients, and minors can qualify with a parent or guardian as their caregiver.
• Patient-only discounts. Here at Trilogy, medical patients save 30% on every visit.
• Priority service. Here at Trilogy, our medical patients are always served first, so you spend less time waiting and more time getting the help you need.

Every patient’s journey is different, so we always encourage you to talk with your certifying provider about what is right for you. Whether you are already a patient or just starting the process, our Healer Certified team is here to walk you through it, answer your questions, and make sure you feel welcome from the moment you walk in.

Just like the oak, the wildflower, and the rose, every story worth telling starts with its roots, and at Trilogy, our roots were planted by our medical patients. They walked through our doors when we were brand new, they helped us grow into who we are today, and this Medical Cannabis Awareness Week is our chance to celebrate them. Stop by anytime from November 1st through November 7th to use your 30% medical discount, ask our team any questions, and become part of the next chapter of a story that started thousands of years ago, and one that we are proud to keep writing together.

For use only by registered qualifying patients and adults 21 and older. You must be 21 or older to view this content. Cannabis use can cause side effects, and the most common include dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, increased heart rate, and impaired memory, coordination, and judgment. Cannabis can be habit-forming, and more serious risks can include anxiety, paranoia, and dependence. Do not drive or operate machinery after using cannabis. Keep all cannabis products out of reach of children and pets. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, talk with your healthcare provider before using cannabis.

• DEA Museum: Cannabis
• University of Sydney, Lambert Initiative: History of Cannabis
• Wikipedia: History of Cannabis
• Cannabis Business Times: Trilogy Wellness Reflects on Its First Year
• Maryland Leaf: Trilogy Wellness of Maryland
• MCA Cannabis Patient Registration Guide (July 2026)
• Your Health Magazine: Is a Maryland Medical Card Still Worth It?
• MCA bulletin on medical and therapeutic claims (Dec 2025)
• MCA advertising restrictions (Mar 2025)
• Weedmaps: Trilogy Wellness
• Maryland Leaf: Refresh the Stash at Trilogy Wellness
• Trilogy Wellness: Dr. Dustin Sulak and Healer

• Featured image, 30% OFF graphic, and ribbon cutting photo: Trilogy Wellness of Maryland
• CelebStoner: Cannabis in Kazakhstan (intro field photo)
• Auctionet: Chinese Cord-Impressed Pottery Jar, Neolithic Qijia Culture (pottery photo)
• Savvy Tokyo: Rich Land, History and Culture in the Oki Islands (Oki Islands photo)
• Getty Images (cannabis on antique map photo). License pending; add the Getty image ID once licensed.
• Wisconsin Historical Society: Inter-State Narcotic Association Marijuana Warning Poster (warning card)
• HR Grapevine: More and more workers are turning to cannabis to treat work injuries (cannabis research lab photo)
• Trilogy Wellness: Dr. Dustin Sulak and Healer (Healer banner)
• Maryland Cannabis Administration (sample ID card)
• New York State Department of Health: Cannabis (Safety First banner)