Have You Been to the Cannabis Dispensary?

It’s Friday afternoon. The sun is shining on this 3-degree winter day. I decided to go to the cannabis dispensary. Cannabis has been legal here for two years now. This was my second visit. Let me tell you all about it.

The dispensary is hidden a few blocks off of the main road, in an industrial park. It sits in a large corner building with visible signs and ample parking staff indicating you have found the place.

The building appears to divide medical vs recreational clients, with 2 entrances. Medical marijuana patients can even drive-thru. Recreational customers park in the huge lot across from the building or off street. There’s a steady stream of customers on this early Friday afternoon. Not overwhelming; but certainly steady.

The customer base is extremely diverse, a magnitude of people with a variety of different ages, backgrounds, and styles. These are the same people you’d be shopping at Walgreens with. There is no telltale sign that these people are stoners; except for the fact that we’re in a dispensary.

There’s an I.D. check at the door. The security staff scans my I.D. Then he swipes his badge to unlock the main door to let me in. He only lets in one customer at a time. Security appears tight. They’re on it.

Not to mention, there are an amazing number of employees working the Friday afternoon shift. If I had to guess, I’d say there were easily thirty employees that were visible, working the floor, the checkout, the parking lot, the drive-up, security, etc. And many more out of sight, filling orders, and such. It was notable how insanely well-staffed they were.

Once I got inside, I was directed to a large room full of touchscreen kiosks to place my order. Immediately, a friendly girl wearing the green dispensary t-shirt came over to see if I needed any help. I explained I was looking for oil cartridges. She gave me a couple of recommendations and was totally helpful.

Side note: There is also an online menu available on their website for those who would like to view the options before they come. This is a nice feature, as all current products are listed in real-time. Customers can take their time reviewing the products privately from their cell phones or from the comfort of their home.

Since I knew I wanted oil cartridges, the girl quickly filtered the options on the touchscreen kiosk and gave me a brief explanation of the high, medium, and lower quality products.

I went with two of the higher quality 1-gram indica oil cartridges, priced at $115/each. I put the items in the virtual cart and hit ‘place order’. A total flashed across the screen: $321!

From $230 to $321?! Apparently, the taxes on cannabis are many, and they are high (no pun intended). All of these taxes are added on:

- State Recreational tax

- State Sales tax

- Local Sales tax

- County Cannabis tax

- Municipality tax

The total tax for the 2 items came out to $90! Now I remember why I hadn’t been back in two years since the original glory of our state’s marijuana legalization!

Either way, I’m there now. I’d placed the order at the kiosk. Next step was to pick up the order and pay for the goods.

In the adjoining large room, stanchions are set up for the would-be line. However, there is no line today. As I said, they’re well-staffed. There is a minimum of 12 staff members available for checkouts at the long reception area with plexiglass windows. Each one has a large tip jar in front of their window, all appearing to be nearly full, and it’s only 1 pm! Apparently, potheads are generous!

A guy with dreadlocks and a crocheted rastacap waves me over to his window. He asks for my I.D. and enters my information into his computer. Then asks to enroll me in a rewards program. (Just like the grocery store!)

He turns around and grabs a cubby containing my order of 2 oil cartridges. He verifies the products and rings up my total. I can pay by cash or with a debit card, not credit. I pay the bill. He puts my 2 cartridge boxes in a nice canvas bag sporting the dispensary logo on it, tucks the receipt in the bag, and sends me on my way. Like any other retail transaction.

Honestly, it was a smooth, streamlined process from start to finish. This dispensary has an awesome staff- organized, friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. In less than 15 minutes, I was in and out. It was an incredibly simple retail transaction. The cannabis business is like any other consumer-buyer relationship. I am glad to see the stigma beginning to dissipate.