Cushman Cannabis, Educating and Empowering

Cushman Cannabis and Co. is the picturesque family owned, small town business.  Being family owned and a part of a small town is all in its name.  

Cushman Cannabis is owned and operated by Miranda Chrisman and her husband, Steve.  They opened the business on Nov. 3 of 2019, naming it partly after the town that she knows and loves, [Cush]ing, and partly after her family name, Chris[man].  After just three months of working the kinks out of owning a new business, COVID-19 threw Cushman Cannabis a curveball.

“It was a wild beginning,” said Miranda, “We are blessed that we have a loyal and supportive community.”

Being a first time business owner can be difficult enough, but Miranda is also navigating her way through a brand new industry.

On June 26, 2018, Oklahoma voters legalized medical cannabis.  Since then, the state has been the quickest in the nation to fully implement an effective cannabis law.  Just two months later, the health department began accepting applications from patients, caregivers, and prospective medical cannabis businesses like Cushman Cannabis.  

“We did a lot of research in other states to help us understand what those markets looked like when first starting out and help us gauge what the market here would look like” said Miranda, “But quite honestly, Oklahoma broke records with the way the laws and regulations were written to start out, and no other state has had that so we were truly on our own.”

Oklahoma is now home to more retail cannabis shops than Colorado, Oregon, and Washington states combined.  Oklahoma has also overtaken California as the state with the largest number of licensed cannabis farms, which now number more than 9,000.  One of which is owned by the Chrismans.  From seed to sale, they make sure that their product is the highest quality for their patients.

“We are proud of the lengths we take for the safety and satisfaction of our patients,” said Miranda.

Any product they can’t grow or make themselves is only brought into the dispensary after it has gone through an extensive vetting process by Miranda.

“Our dispensary is the last stop for a product before it is consumed.” Said Miranda “This is a huge responsibility, and we take it very seriously.  Our patient's safety is our biggest priority.”

Cushman Cannabis offers a wide range of products from flower and infused drinks to bath bombs and edibles. The Chrismans have made it their purpose to serve the community and to give Cushing a convenient and enjoyable place to purchase their medical cannabis. 

“No one wants to drive an hour for their groceries,” said Miranda “so why should they have to go that far for their cannabis products?”

The heartbeat of Cushman Cannabis is their patients.  The Chrismans work closely with their patients, and advocate to each of them the importance of responsible consumption.  They encourage their patients to journal and to understand what they are consuming.  

Miranda grew up in a family of educators and has brought what they taught her into her daily business practices.

“Knowledge is power,” said Miranda. “When you educate people, they become empowered to make more informed decisions for themselves.”

The Chrismans also practice what they preach by keeping up with the latest news in the industry and educating themselves on the products that they sell to their patients.  

From 1968 until May of 2021, researchers in the United States were limited to testing cannabis from only one domestic source.  This is a facility based at the University of Mississippi, through a contract with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Since May of 2021 the Drug Enforcement Administration has registered several additional facilities, giving more researchers the opportunity to understand the cannabis plant and learn more about what all it can be used for.

“It is truly humbling to get to be a part of the pioneering that is happening in this industry” said Miranda “We are truly living in the middle of history right now.”