Researching Cannabis Growth in America

I met Mike on the golf course, because we had both snuck away to get high.

The golf and country club is not the best place to get stoned.

The way pot smoke carries in the breeze is like shooting a flare into the sky and reads “Hey I’m Smoking Dope!” Normally I never vape, I prefer to smoke flower, but when I golf I always bring a vape pen with me. I met Mike, who was also vaping behind the ball washing station. We made small talk, and then Mike gave me a business card that said he worked at a cannabis dispensary. I would come to find out that was not the case, he was an illegal cannabis dealer who called himself The Dispensary. He had a custom website that listed the products he currently had in stock, and just like a regular dispensary he only took cash, no cards or checks. Since he offered free home delivery, I called Mike the next day and ordered $500 worth of cannabis products from his website. I guess he doesn’t get a lot of sales that big, because he was at my house within the hour presenting my cannabis products. He also offered me a secret menu that wasn’t online, because he had more exotic things to sell than just cannabis and vape carts. On a whim I decided to supplement my cannabis supply with a couple chocolate bars infused with magic mushrooms. I hadn’t tripped in many years, but the idea of taking mushrooms and then smoking cannabis all day sounded like a ton of fun.

Cannabis

I decided to take a few days off from drinking beer.

This came at the request of my doctor, who was a little taken aback when I told him how much beer I drink every week. I also smoke a lot of pot, and eat a lot of fast food, so my body is pretty much a wreck. Still, I wanted to try and heed the doc’s advice and decided to try having a “dry weekend.” I never considered myself an alcoholic until I realized how much I missed drinking beer – and this was just the first day! To tide myself over I went to the cannabis dispensary with the intent of getting a nice sack of weed. With a head full of cannabis smoke, maybe I wouldn’t miss beer as much. Instead, I stumbled across a new cannabis product that I never knew existed. I have never cared for edibles, so it never occurred to me that there would be drinks infused with cannabis. I found an entire cooler of different cannabis drinks, ranging from sparkling water to fruit juice. They also had beer that was infused with cannabis, and I made a mental note to try that one next time. Instead I stuck to my vow of “no beer” and bought a six-pack of strawberry lime juice enhanced with cannabis and CBD oil. The cannabis drinks taste nothing like beer, and I found them far too sweet, but they did distract me from beer. I had something cold in my hand to sip on, and even if it wasn’t beer it got me high,

Space cake

I hope that the other cannabis dispensaries are all successful, because I can’t think of a better way to save money on my weed budget

Capitalism thrives on competition. When weed first got legalized in this state, our town was like a gold rush… in this case we called it the Green Rush. The area had long been notorious for the illegal pot farms, but now the floodgates were open for legitimate businesses. As a result our modestly sized town became home to no less than eight different cannabis dispensaries. With that much competition, every business was fighting for a piece of the market. This meant that some cannabis dispensaries offered huge discounts and sales, just to get people inside the store. Other times a cannabis dispensary would hold a huge event, with food trucks and live music, to make their store more attractive to the locals. I have no brand loyalty, so I choose whatever cannabis dispensary is having the best deals that particular week. Sometimes I will hop around to three or four of the dispensaries and see what cannabis products they have discounted. I am always looking for ways to save money, and with as much cannabis as I burn through every week, this is the smartest way to shop. In the last three months two of the cannabis dispensaries have gone out of business. That is the tough part about competition, is that not everyone can be a winner. I hope that the other cannabis dispensaries are all successful, because I can’t think of a better way to save money on my weed budget. The last thing I want to do is try to grow my own cannabis, I know it’s cheaper but there’s no way I’d be good at it.
Marijuana oils

This means I no longer buy the Purple Haze or the Silver Blue Dream, I get the stuff no one else wanted

I don’t blame the President in particular, because I feel our current economy is a culmination for several decades of bad leadership. Any way to look at it, this country is in a bad spot in terms of money and debt. Everyone seems to be feeling the pinch. I have had to completely restructure my monthly budget just to try and make ends meet. I really don’t want to get a second job, so I have to adjust my spending and tighten my belt. I stopped shopping at the nice grocery store, and now get my food at the crappy one. I also had to cut back on buying cannabis, although I am not quitting, just trying to save money. I would rather go without food than to go without cannabis. To help save my budget, I was forced to stop buying the top name brands of cannabis products, and shop from the bargain table. Not every cannabis dispensary has a bargain section, but many of them do. This is where they put the cannabis products that didn’t sell, and are about to expire. Instead of throwing them away, the cannabis dispensary will mark these items down in price and see if anyone wants them. This means I no longer buy the Purple Haze or the Silver Blue Dream, I get the stuff no one else wanted. Last week I bought a vape cart of cannabis oil with a Pineapple Upside Down Cake flavor, and it tasted so nasty! On the other hand, it was better than having no cannabis at all.
Edibles

For the last three years I have been a devotee of yoga.

• I take so many yoga classes at the studio they have asked me to become an instructor! I always turn them down, because I know it involves being certified.

I do yoga because I love it, so I don’t want to take tests and fill out paperwork, right? Another reason is that I don’t want to have to take a drug test for employment. No thank you! I smoke far too much cannabis to ever pass a drug test, and I don’t plan on ever changing. In fact, it is the lovely combination of cannabis and yoga that makes me the happy and well-rounded person I am today. There is an unfortunate stereotype about people who smoke cannabis, that they are lazy and unmotivated. That stereotype could not be more wrong, at least when it comes to me, because I consider cannabis to be a key component for a holistic lifestyle. Of course you can be healthy without cannabis… but why would anyone want that? Cannabis has so many medicinal benefits, both for your body and your mind, that I consider it to be essential medicine. I would be lying if I said I didn’t like getting stoned. This is what makes cannabis the best medicine of all time – it helps your body, it soothes your mind, and it gets you blasted. I never go to the yoga studio without smoking a bit of marijuana first, just to put my mind in a state of readiness to relax and grow.
Sativa

Ed and I go way back, having met each other in middle school.

The local junior high was a rough place to get an education. The biggest education I got there was from Ed, who taught me self defense, and showed me the joys of smoking weed. Later on I would get excellent grades in high school, and then go to the local community college for my AA degree. So the problem wasn’t me, it was this terrible school! Without the friendship of Ed I might not have survived the experience, and I certainly never would have smoked cannabis that young. Ed made money by selling cannabis in the school bathroom, and I served as his lookout. Perhaps this was a bad decision at the time, but we never got busted for marijuana so everything worked out just fine. After I went away to college, I heard that Ed expanded his cannabis operation, and was even trying to start his own marijuana farm outside of town. Years pass, and after I have my degree in marketing and business management I go back to the old hometown and contact Ed. He is still selling cannabis, but his sales are slumping thanks to legalization. There are so many legal cannabis dispensaries now that he can’t sell weed like he used to. I pitched him the idea of teaming up, like in the old days, and starting our own cannabis dispensary. When I needed help Ed was there for me, and now I can repay that favor by helping him with his cannabis business. Wish us luck.

Hybrid strains

Members of the Gold Star Club get free cannabis delivery, extra discounts on items like rolling papers and bongs, and best of all we get exclusive offers

Above all else I value good customer service. I don’t mind paying a little bit extra to get the gold-star treatment. A great example is with grocery stores. There is one store which is very inexpensive, but it’s also dirty, and there are never any employees to help me out. Nearby is another store, and the prices are so much higher! At the same time, this place offers friendly customer service reps, and the store is always immaculately clean. I don’t mind paying more for a better product, and the same is true when it comes to buying cannabis. I smoke a lot of cannabis, and usually need a trip to the dispensary once a week or so. I found the nicest, cleaning cannabis dispensary in the area and set up an account with them. One thing I really like about this cannabis dispensary is something they call the Gold Star Club. This is a paid monthly membership service for select customers of the cannabis dispensary. Members of the Gold Star Club get free cannabis delivery, extra discounts on items like rolling papers and bongs, and best of all we get exclusive offers. If the cannabis dispensary is going to have a big sale, members of the Gold Star Club get first dibs on those products! If they are receiving a new strain of cannabis, I get a text message giving me access to purchase it before any of the other customers. This cannabis dispensary has raised the bar when it comes to customer service, and I am proud to be a loyal client.

Marijuana oils

I am not a cannabis dealer, just an honest budtender, but I know all the biggest potheads in the area.

My boss Max finally decided to pull the trigger on the smoker’s lounge. For the last few months he has been chatting me up about the idea, with the intent of making me the manager. I have been the senior budtender at the dispensary for the last two years, and Max could tell I was getting bored with my job. I was excited to hear that Max was opening the smoker’s lounge, because I had a lot of exciting ideas about how to promote it. If done correctly, the lounge would mean a big boost in profits for the cannabis dispensary. On one hand I don’t have a lot of experience with marketing, but on the other hand I know everything there is to know about cannabis. I am not a cannabis dealer, just an honest budtender, but I know all the biggest potheads in the area. Just with a solid social media presence I could boost the visibility of the cannabis dispensary by making the smokers lounge a fun place to chill and hang out. The point of the lounge isn’t to sell more cannabis, it is purely a recreational area. All drinks, edibles, and cannabis products will only be available inside the dispensary, but the lounge is the place right next door to visit after you get stoned. Should I get some TVs for the lounge, and play classic cannabis-themed movies? Or should I set up a small stage and encourage local bands and comedians to do small shows at the cannabis dispensary? I’m not sure what to try first.

Pot brownies

When Gus got kicked out of his house by his wife, he didn’t move very far away.

He parked his 20 foot long fishing boat in the front yard, and started to live in it. I have learned that Gus and his wife have broken up and reconciled several times before. This might be different, because he has been living in the boat for over six months, but Gus doesn’t seem to mind, so I will just keep my nose out of his business! I like to hang out with Gus on his boat, and not just because he is my cannabis dealer. Even if I could go the local marijuana dispensary and buy it legally I would still come over to hang out with Gus. We smoke cannabis together, and he tells me the most amazing fishing stories. I have never been fishing and never want to go fishing, but I could get stoned and listen to him talk all day! Gus has his medical prescription card from the government, which means he can legally buy cannabis from any of the local dispensaries. It turns out that crafty old Gus also owns a rental home in another state, and has his medical cannabis card there, as well. He drives over once a week, so that he can skirt the rules for cannabis purchasing limits and get the double the legal amount! He uses the extra cannabis as an extra source of income, I imagine to pay the bills for this fishing boat. Gus no longer goes fishing, by the way, he just uses the boat for a home.

Sativa

My dad always used to say “beggars can’t be choosers” and although he wasn’t talking about weed, he was right! As a high school kid in a small midwestern town, I had very few options when it came to having fun.

Sneaking some beers, or some weed, and partying in a clearing in the woods was about the only fun thing we had to do.

No wonder so many small town kids end up alcoholics, because it is just so boring out there! Whenever I had a chance to score some cannabis, I always had to buy whatever was offered. Beggars can’t be choosers, remember? Back then there were no cannabis dispensaries, and finding anyone who had weed to sell was very rare, so I had to take what I could get. There were only a handful of occasions where I bought high quality marijuana, most of the time it was scrub weed grown in someone’s cornfield. “Scrub weed” was our slang term for locally grown, poor-quality cannabis, and most of what we had available was scrub weed. These days the whole world has changed, and I have legal access to a couple of different cannabis dispensaries. I am no longer a beggar, I am a chooser, and like to take my time and carefully select which strains of cannabis I want to smoke that week. I try to choose something new and interesting every time I visit the cannabis dispensary because I want to experience them all. After so many years of smoking scrub weed I am enjoying the variety of cannabis strains I have available.
Marijuana products