Missouri cannabis consumers get medicinal support through Bluebird Wellness Center

Art by Keegan Hudspeth

When individuals see their loved ones in despair, they jump into action. Regardless of the risks and costs, they are willing to go to great lengths to aid their friends and family in times of need. The reason for this can only be attributed to love. In times of distress, love can be irrational, causing people to do things they may have never fathomed, simply because it will help the one they love. This is no different for Victor Owens.

After a visit to KU Med, doctors told Owens’s sister that she had cancer on the bridge of one of her feet. Their resolution: amputate her leg and undergo chemo therapy. For Owens, that option was out the window from the get-go.

He was aware of the medicinal benefits that cannabis offered, having worked with his mother’s boyfriend through Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) treatments, as he also had cancer. He wanted his sister to give the stigmatized plant a try.

After a second opinion from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Owens’s sister began personal treatment by applying topical cannabis ointment on the wound as well as ingesting doses of cannabis, all while enduring five rounds of chemo. Owens says that the tumor on her foot, along with the bloodline flowing to the tumor, completely went away through the treatment.

Owens knew that his sister’s experiences were not a one-off circumstance. He wanted to find a way to help create avenues to the same care his sister had for other cancer victims. That is when he founded his medical marijuana clinic, Bluebird Wellness Center, in July 2018, which recently won The Pitch’s 2024 “Best Medical Marijuana Clinician” and was runner-up for “Best Medical Marijuana Clinic”. Missouri voters passed legal medical marijuana shortly after in Nov. 2018.

“That’s really my ‘why,’ because my sister is still with us here to this day, and she’s been cancer free ever since,” Owens says. “Whenever I travel and go out of town or anywhere else, she’s always a big inspiration, like,  ‘Go save someone else’s life like you did mine.’”

Owens says that, when medicinal sales first began, one of the oncology departments was referring Bluebird to cancer patients looking for alternative avenues to relieve pain.

“That’s why we still have an office, and we have a brick and mortar, because cancer patients would come in the door with their caregivers,” he says.

Nearly seven years later, and now two years since the first legal recreational sale, Owens is still operating Bluebird Wellness in Lee’s Summit. But this is not a one-man band; Owens has physicians on staff who work full-time in other healthcare facilities across the state.

Dr. Russell Allen works in the ER in hospitals in Brookfield, MO and at VA medical centers in Topeka and Leavenworth. After meeting Owens through a mutual friend, he now chooses to spend some of his time away from his main occupations helping Missourians receive their medical marijuana certification. 

Allen explains that many distressed patients that he sees have never considered the idea of using cannabis as a resource for relief. 

“My biggest thing that I see now is, I’ll see patients in the ER and they’re in pain,” Allen says. “A lot of patients come in because their pain is uncontrolled. I’m like, ‘Well, have you considered marijuana?’ No, no one ever—It’s like, this stigma is still out there. Like, ‘No, it’s gonna make me high and I can’t use it.’ I’m like, ‘Whoa, there’s a lot of misconceptions now.’ So I try to explain to them what I can from the ER standpoint.”

Allen believes that offering a new form of liberation from their ailments gives a sense of optimism to those who may have lost it after years of treatment and opioids.

“They’re on opioids, and they’re seeing pain management physicians, and they’re just—‘What else can I do?’ And they just don’t think about it. So I think it gives them hope that they’ve got another avenue to pursue, at least,” he says.

Photo by Joe Ellett

One aspect of Bluebird that makes them stand out from other medical marijuana clinics throughout the state is their use of two physicians to raise allotments for patients. Due to the structure of Missouri’s medical marijuana program, patients are allowed to purchase up to six ounces within a 30-day window. But, the Constitution states that if two physicians were to agree on a specific amount for a patient, that limit could be raised.

Once Owens realized this, he began hosting back-to-back consultations for individuals looking to obtain more marijuana. He says that it usually takes about 24 hours for patients to receive their certification from the state with their necessary allotment after the two consultations.

This is not a shortcut or alternative route for stoners to get a few extra buds: Individuals in palpable need are benefitting from Bluebird raising the bar. 

“We have people call us legitimately in distress, like, ‘I’m out of cannabis, and they say I can’t buy any more medicine for seven more days. What are we to do?’ I’m like, ‘Well, so we’ll have two physician evaluations performed. It will raise your allotment,’” Owens says.

Allowing patients to raise their allotment is crucial for home growers. Medical marijuana patients that also hold credentials to grow their own cannabis can have up to 18 plants. If they are an experienced grower, they are more than likely going to harvest more than the regulated amount of six ounces. In that case, they would be required to destroy the excess amount, but, with the help of Bluebird, personal growers are able to raise their amount to fit their needs, while also meeting state compliances.

Since recreational sales have become legalized in the state, there has been a slight decline in the amount of patients that Bluebird is seeing. However, they were prepared for this and have thought well ahead. Since they can conduct consultations virtually, they have expanded into fresh medical markets in Ohio and Texas, which is completely compliant with Missouri regulations since it allows anyone from any state to obtain their medical marijuana certification. 

Not only have they helped individuals in need in these states, but they have also helped friends right across the state line in Kansas. According to Owens, Kansas employers cannot discriminate against certified cannabis users if they are not consuming on the job or on company property. On top of that, Owens has seen those who have violated their parole or are in child custody battles due to marijuana conflicts come to him to obtain their certification. 

Owens says that he has helped hundreds of people under these circumstances on a quick turnaround.

“They’ll call and be like, they need it now. Why do you need it all of a sudden, right now? And it’s like, ‘My probation, parole—I need it, I have court coming up,” he says.

Bluebird Wellness Center is one of Missouri’s pioneers in helping locals receive their necessary modern day medicine, and continues to champion the plant, providing resources that extend across state borders. Legal medical and recreational marijuana within the state has opened the door to a rapidly developing and proven resource for those with the most minuscule to extreme ailments, and now it is clinics like Bluebird who help patients get one step closer to relief.