Sisters Paige Colen, left, and Ashley Colen purchased what is now the Hippocratic Growth building in downtown Chestertown in November, 2024. The original structure was completed in 1826 as a Masonic temple. Photos by Dennis Forney
And now, in large letters, beneath an iconic Masonic Temple symbol, the simple phrase emblazons the front of one of the most prominent and historic commercial buildings in downtown Chestertown.
The 19th-century red brick building at the corner of Monument and Court streets serves as corporate headquarters for Hippocratic Growth. Its primary business is sales and distribution of cannabis, known most commonly as marijuana, or, in its humblest form, weed.
Ashley and Paige Colen formed the company in 2015. As chief executive officer and chief operation officer, respectively, the sisters began selling cannabis at its current location in Centreville in 2017, following legalization in Maryland. Ashley says there will be no retail sales at the Hippocratic Growth building in Chestertown.
The name is a play on the Hippocratic Oath title which has guided the medical profession since its earliest times. “When we first started,” said Ashley, “the only legal cannabis sales in Maryland were for medical purposes. The Hippocratic Oath instructs first and foremost to do no harm. Our intention from the start was to grow, process and sell cannabis and to do no harm. So the name we chose after bouncing lots of ideas around evolved as a hybrid.”
She said they are still in the process of procuring a license from Maryland to grow cannabis. “Our goal is still to grow cannabis, mindfully, ethically and helpfully.”
In the meantime, they acquire all of the 96 different cannabis products they sell at their Ash and Ember Centreville dispensary–from marijuana buds to gummies, tinctures and more–from other Maryland licensed growers and processors. All aspects of cannabis growth and processing in Maryland have to originate within Maryland’s borders. Federal law currently prohibits interstate sales.
Originally a Masonic Lodge completed in 1826, the building has been known by many different names as it nears its 200th anniversary in 2026. Most recently it was the Hogans Building, and previously the Rasin Building. In the late 1800s and until 1933, according to a written history, it was known as the Kent News building, owned by the Usilton family. Family members printed and published the Kent News in the building during those years.
“We wanted to make our own mark with the building. Planting, painting, scraping, tearing out walls, strengthening the structure–it’s a good thing, and using cannabis too. Just trying to make a point. You can do it all.”
This former, now vacant, bank building near exit 43B on the eastbound side of Route 50 in Grasonville will be the new location for Ash and Ember’s cannabis dispensary now located in Centreville. Its opening is scheduled for the end of October.
While the Colen sisters continue to repurpose their entire Chestertown building for administration, conferencing, testing packaging ideas, creative thinking and brainstorming, they have taken their community improvement philosophy to Grasonville as well.
There, at exit 43B on the eastbound side of Route 50, they purchased a vacant bank property where they will relocate their Centreville Ash and Ember dispensary. They have painted the building’s bricks white and are converting the interior for cannabis sales. “Three drive-through lanes will allow us to run more people through,” said Ashley. “We plan to be open by the end of October.”
She said getting proper permits for the relocation has been laborious. “Permitting is difficult for anything, but with fortitude and determination–and two-plus years–we’re getting it done. The new location will give us more visibility. We will be our own billboards now.”
To meet state regulations, they are adding a vault to the former bank where products have to be secured when the business is closed. “Everything we’re bringing in has to be tracked,” said Paige. ”The display bins have to be portable and collapsible for putting away, and designed for showing people what they want to see and are interested in. Every single thing matters. And the regulations and how things actually flow in the operation don’t always mesh.”
“We’ve learned a lot about how the government works,” said Ashley. “There’s a lot of streamlining that could be done. We used to get upset when something didn’t go our way. Now we just pivot and figure out a different way.”
So what does the future hold?
“We’re just going to keep biggering. Expand to other states as that becomes available,” said Ashley.
In Portland, Oregon, the sisters have formed another company called Mush To Do. The state of Oregon has legalized the use of therapeutic psilocybin for medical purposes and Mush To Do–referring to the mushrooms that produce the psychoactive substance psilocybin–focuses on the production and sales of those items.
“The use of psychedelics for medicinal purposes was unfortunately set back for a long time by government restrictions,” said Ashley. “Now it’s taking off with lots of trials underway again.”
This second floor corner room in the Hippocratic Growth building once was home to the printing operations of the Kent News in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Its wooden floor was lined with lead sheets to protect it from molten lead used for setting type in the printing process.
Extensive reporting on the medical use of psychedelics has illuminated their value in helping break drug addictions, addressing PTSD issues, and easing stress in individuals coping with terminal illnesses.
“I have personally witnessed a terminal patient, using these drugs, shifting from terrified and frantic to a sense of it’s going to be OK. It flies in the face of logic not to use these drugs for beneficial purposes,” said Ashley.
She is currently working with state legislators and others on a psychedelics task force exploring their potential as a legal medical option in Maryland.
Dennis Forney has been a publisher, journalist and columnist on the Delmarva Peninsula since 1972. He writes from his home on Grace Creek in Bozman.
