Mike Petrella

As odd as it may seem and unlike nearly everyone else in the cannabis industry, Mike Petrella, the owner of one of Ohio’s 15’s licensed medical marijuana dispensaries, has never once felt the benefits of the product he sells.
“Personally, I have never actually tried marijuana in my life,” he says.
Yet, Petrella believes in its medicinal properties. His father’s 2016 lung cancer diagnosis prompted his interest in cannabis. Petrella’s father was allergic to opiates so “instead of getting better with cancer treatment, he was getting worse.”
It made him wonder about alternative treatment options and he began to research cannabis. That year, Ohio passed its medical marijuana law and Petrella visited a dispensary in Colorado to learn about the business.

A serial entrepreneur who still owns the landscaping business he started in high school, as well as real estate investments, a couple of companies and a restaurant with his brothers, Petrella applied for a license and on June 4, 2018, received one. Ohio Valley Natural Relief opened Jan. 16, 2019.
Petrella says the company prides itself on its educational, patient-centric focus, particularly in small-town Ohio, where the majority of his customers are senior citizens in pain.
“They’re not very educated but willing to learn,” he says. “This is the new frontier.”