I got Blacklisted from a Dispensary

Beginnings are a time to ensure the balances are correct, and trust is the primary ingredient of any relationship. Not only are these awesome film references, but they are also important lessons that the young cannabis industry needs to apply.

When I lived in an illegal state, I had to get my cannabis from a drug dealer. Both my dealer and I were engaged in illegal activity — bonded to each other by our mutual crime. While there were times that I could perhaps select between low, mid, and high — it was rare that I could be more careful with my selection than that.

Imagine my absolute delight, in 2006, when I first walked into a medical dispensary in Los Angeles. Walking in for the first time, being hit by that smell was an amazing moment. Finally! A selection! Information!

Dispensaries, and the cannabis industry, have changed since then, and rightfully so. It’s important that it did! Handwritten menus with scant information have been replaced by THC percentages, lineages, and other information supplied in seed-to-sale systems in addition to the point of sale systems within the shops.

COVID-19 has also introduced even more, as dispensaries scrambled to get curbside delivery and online ordering available integrated with their systems and workflows.

There’s still a high variability in how these technological advances have moved into your local weedery. Some have brought high-tech monitors and iPads to display their menus and strain information, while others still rely on printed labels.

A few months ago, the mister and I popped into the closest dispensary to us to grab some extracts when a printed-out card caught my eye. It was for 54 Green Acres Purple Punch! As many of you know, I work with 54 Green Acres pretty often and have become close with them after falling in love with their Ultimate Purple during the early days of the pandemic. Throughout my life, I have learned what a fierce brand loyalist I can quickly become, and I am no different with my cannabis. The idea of being able to buy one of my favorite strains from one of my favorite brands within walking distance of my house got me pretty excited. I checked the label a second time, and while the placard had the Certified Kind logo on it, the flower itself didn’t have the same sort of trim I’d seen on the other flower from the farm.

Excited, we asked the lead budtender if it was 54 Green Acres and if they had gotten it through one of the wholesalers up in Portland. We went to this dispensary enough times that he knew that we both work with different farms in the area, and quickly admitted that it wasn’t THAT farm, it was just a mistake in labeling the new Purple Punch they just got in (because Purple Punch is a very popular strain now). The bud was actually from NakD Farms, which is not a Certified Kind farm. I was pretty bummed, but I tried it anyway. I do like to compare strains and figure out just what things introduce variability. I told the farm what was up.

The very next time we shopped at this dispensary, there was the label again! But this time, it was slightly edited.

This time I was even angrier. I implored them to watch their labeling, that I knew and cared about this farm and I knew they cared about and defended their brand. Once again, I was assured they’d change the signs, and as I walked out I sent the farm a picture message so they’d know what was happening. My 54 Green Acres farm friends let me know that once again, they had contacted the shop to ask them politely to stop.

A couple of weeks later, Darren Toth sent me a picture message with yet ANOTHER instance of them editing the logo. The irony in all of this is that Darren works for Green Acers farm (the cannabis they were selling under an edited 54 Green Acres logo). Here’s how that appeared on their shelf (and in YET another message to the farm):

Once again, I let my friends know. Once again, 54 Green Acres contacted the shop to ask them (less) politely to stop.

The next time we walked into the shop, the lead budtender while ringing up our order, told us we weren’t welcome anymore but ‘he would make an exception and told us we were awful for telling on them. I pointed out that they went so far as to edit the farm’s logo and I couldn’t understand what they would expect when I had told them the farm would very much defend their brand.

And that’s when he told me they didn’t edit the logo, they ‘just googled it.’ I may have one eye but it can still see, friends. They had edited the logo. I spend enough time searching and researching local farms that I know what comes up for them in Google image results. Sad but true, people.

When I was buying from a dealer, if I had told the police they were a dealer I’d deserve the sort of rage I was getting from this business. However, I was talking to a legit retailer who was lying to me about what product they had on the shelves, its content, and quality. To further explore that drug deal snitch metaphor, I wasn’t telling the OLCC, I had told the farm — the other injured party here. It was the farm whose branding and labeling were being stolen from that were also being ripped off. The other farm in the equation was Green ACERS farm (it’s not even Green Acres). It just so happens that my husband happens to work for them. Like other cannabis producers they, too, are trying to lift their brand and this is also counter to their efforts.

Of all the parties involved, the dispensary was the one wholly profiting from this situation. And there they were — accusing me of being the asshole.

As a medical consumer, I must be able to determine, as closely as possible, what my medicine contains. There are some cannabinoids and terpenes that trigger panic attacks and anxiety episodes, and I must be aware when I’m consuming them not to overdo it. I can not allow a retailer that lies to me to be within my regular rotation for many compelling reasons.

I’ve not been back since. The cannabis industry is expanding, and many other dispensaries are opening near us all the time, so it’s not an issue that I was blacklisted. But It was an important reminder that while these retailers may now be legitimate, many have a long distance to go to become ethical.