To be honest, marijuana has never much interested me. Give me a solid glass of wine to relax any day of the week and I'm all set. I did, however, want to see what a dispensary was all about on a recent trip to Colorado.
A quick Google search turned up a slew of dispensaries near where I was staying in Beaver Creek. It kind of felt like searching for a Starbucks - there's always one nearby. I hopped in the car and headed right over to the shop which was located in a strip mall type shopping center.
Walking in, I checked in at the front desk where they asked for my ID. He noted my information down on the sign in sheet and then told me to have a seat in the waiting room. One of the walls of the waiting room was floor to ceiling glass which served as a window into their growing room. Rows and rows of potted marijuana plants filled the room, towering over the space. Each pot was labeled with the type of marijuana that was available and the sign above read "pick your own buds!". This was all so fascinating to me.
The process for entering the room full of goodies was essentially one in, one out. As soon as one person or a group left, those in the waiting room would be let in. After waiting for a few minutes, I was led into the main room. The room was filled with edibles, oils, tinctures, and more. I was truly astounded at all the stuff that they had. Stuff that I didn't even know existed!
He showed me around and lead me over to the edibles cabinet. The guy was super knowledgable and clued in a novice like me. He directed me to the gummies and pulled out an array of different kinds. Different flavors had different strengths and they all included CBD oil (more on this in a later post!).
"We have stuff for all different kinds of highs," he said. There's more than one kind? He had gummies for first thing in the morning, ones for being productive, ones for vegging out, ones for after dinner, and so on and so on. Who knew!
He said the gummies with CBD oil are the most popular and he advises people to take it after a meal that had some fat in it because the fat would help the body absorb the THC better. Because of my affinity for wine and not so much for weed, my mind was blown.
I left with some gummies in tow (actually stashed under my jacket because you aren't allowed to walk out with it in plain sight) feeling totally amazed at this whole other world that existed and also feeling like I was getting away with something sneaky even though it was totally legal. We all know about the marijuana industry, but to see it in action and to realize the depth of it was really interesting to see.
Funny enough, in talking to a friend afterwards, she happened to visit the same dispensary only she had forgotten to bring her license with her. Because of this, she was allowed to enter, but was not allowed to talk to her friend that was with her (she thinks it has something to do with them thinking you could possible resell the stuff and they'd have no record of who you are). I find this hilarious because they were both trying to pick out what they wanted, but she couldn't say anything so she kept kicking her friend to show her approval or disapproval.
A few nights after my visit, I gave it a shot. Due to my last weed experience years ago (which shall go unexplained), I decided to take it easy and start slow. I cut a quarter of the cube (maybe even a little less to be honest) and would wait and see if I needed to take more about 30 minutes later. Long story short, the quarter cube did nothing and I got too tired to take any more due to some apres-ski wine action beforehand. Because it was my last night in Colorado and I didn't have another opportunity to try it again, I put them all down the garbage disposal (sad) because I didn't feel like being a drug mule going back to Jersey. Very anti-climactic, I know.
While I didn't reap the so-called benefits of visiting a dispensary, it was a cool experience. If you happen to find yourself in a state where it's legal, I would recommend swinging by and seeing it all for yourself. We are truly only seeing the beginnings of where this industry will go!