Pricilla Vilchis, CEO of Premium Produce, is taking a lead in the cannabis industry, she is one of the few people that hold two medical licenses in Las Vegas, Nevada and soon in California. Twenty-seven percent of executives in the cannabis industry are women and she’s part of the growing demographic that is coming to the aid of patients that are able to use medical marijuana instead of opioids that have been proven quite dangerous.
Vilchis became an entrepreneur in her early 20’s as a consultant for medical practices where she saw first hand the growing opioid epidemic. One of the main reasons for starting up Premium Produce was influenced by her experience working in healthcare and seeing the improper use of opioids, often resulting in overdoses in patients. “Our goal, our mission is to get opioids replaced with marijuana,” she says. Vilchis expresses that people can’t overdose on medicinal marijuana, which is something that many don’t know. Researchers found that since 2011, the number of opiate-related deaths in the US has decreased by 33% after certain states began legalizing marijuana.
The company is one of 66 medical marijuana establishments in Nevada that was able to attain two licenses from Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. Vilchis was the first minority female to ever be awarded these licenses. Premium Produce was 1 of 500 companies that applied that was granted these licenses. The business is looking to begin cultivating medical cannabis in Linwood, California pretty soon.
