Chris Visco, the co-founder and CEO of Jenkintown-based TerraVida Holistic Centers, which has a location in Malvern, is striking out on her own and opening a dispensary in West Virginia, writes John George for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Visco, who runs Pennsylvania’s largest woman-owned medical cannabis company, will be the sole owner of the West Virginia Kindness dispensary.

She chose West Virginia for her first medical marijuana venture outside of the Keystone State due to the pressing need of the neighboring state that has emerged as the “epicenter” for deaths due to opioid overdoses.

“West Virginia has the largest opioid crisis in the United States,” she said. “The state has said it will help subsidize the cost of medical marijuana, and that could help a lot of people and make it a great market.”

According to Visco, a year after medical marijuana became legal in Pennsylvania, the state recorded a 25 percent decrease in opioid-related deaths.

Visco plans to have West Virginia Kindness enter into a license and management services deal with TerraVida, so that it can operate under the TerraVida brand and take advantage of the company’s management experience from Pennsylvania.

Read more about TerraVida in the Philadelphia Business Journal here.