Originally from Northwest Indiana, Dr. Mara graduated from Indiana University Medical School in 1993.  He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Illinois Peoria in 1996.  He practiced in an urban hospital in Indianapolis for almost 20 years before moving to Sarasota in 2015.  After years of seeing the devastating effects of the opiod crisis, he became interested in medical marijuana as an alternative once it was legalized in Florida.  He became educated and began qualifying patients in the fall of 2017.  He has been gratified to find help for a variety of patients in addition to those suffering from pain.