?? Took my dad to a dispensary

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Went slab-shopping on Saturday - just doin our thing, shopping for slabs - and brought my dad along to help wrangle the kids.

As we were headed home, I realized we were close to Sweet Flower Studio City. I asked if he’d be interested in stopping by with me. He said that might be fun, as he had never been inside a cannabis shop before.

Parked my wife and kids in the parking lot and took the ol’ man inside. Here’s how it went, and my takeaways.

Entering the shrine

As we walked up, I said something like “let’s go buy some drugs.”

It got a chuckle. I’m a firm proponent of normalizing the plant, as you all well know, but my dad is in his late 60s. Aside from hearing about cannabis from movies or, later, from me, he was absolutely soaked in stigma from his earliest memories. So this was a significant moment.

Sweet Flower is one of the upscale dispensaries that are profiled in magazines. Here’s what it looks like:

It’s well appointed. It’s minimalist. It has a calming vibe.

This location, and many of the same ilk, immediately removes any thoughts of illicit behavior. It’s top notch for traditional retail, let alone cannabis, and it more closely resembles an art gallery than, say, a liquor store.

He was pleasantly surprised.

A friendly budtender greeted us and scanned our IDs. I tried to stay as quiet as possible, so as not to spoil or bias the exchange between them. He asked what he could help us with, and we started our shopping journey:

“I’m looking for something that might help my daughter sleep. She doesn’t smoke, so a gummy or something is what she usually takes.”

[For those keeping score, that’s two data points: 1) something for sleep and 2) something you eat]

The budtender took us over to some edibles and suggested several things - including Wyld Elderberry 2:1 with CBN and Heavy Hitters Lights Out - and he also provided an overview of what CBN is and why it might help promote an efficient and pleasing sleep.

This is the only time I intervened - to mention that the Lights Out gummies were 20mg per piece, and that’d probably be too much for my sister if she gobbled a whole gummy. They can easily be portioned out, of course, but I wanted to make sure it was clear that each piece packs a punch (she’s a lightweight).

[This is another data point, btw: 3) tolerance]

We ended up buying the Wyld gummies.

Drinks on drinks on drinks

My dad strolled by the well-stocked cooler with cannabis beverages, and asked about them.

“Are any of these low-sugar / low-carb?”

The Cann Lites were, and the budtender let us know. He also walked us through Artet, Wunder, PBR seltzers, and traditional Canns. We ended up with Artet and some Canns.

We also admired the Heavy Hitters HVY Grand Tincture - a 1000mg of THC in a bottle. It comes in a nifty little gift box with shot glasses - I remember seeing mockups of it before it was launched, and it looks just as good in person. The budtender mentioned that a lot of people were picking it up for the holidays.

The flower

We moved on to the flower, for me. I had never purchased Houseplant, and I wanted to see what he would tell me about it. I told him I wanted something giggly and calming - good “watch a movie flower,” as I put it.

[Another data point: 4) intended effect]

He walked me through some options and we landed on Pancake Ice pre-rolls. To his credit, he mentioned caryophyllene, and how it may help with anxiety and create a calming experience. He knew his stuff and was able to tailor it to what I wanted, which was refreshing.

We checked out easily, got a first-timer discount, and my dad left a 25% tip (because “he was a really nice guy - not pushy at all, but super helpful”).

The takeaways

Remember the data points:

1. Something for sleep
2. Something you eat
3. Something for low(er) tolerance consumers

These are all filters in any cannabis eCommerce experience worth its SaaS fee. You can easily hop on a Jane menu and come to very similar conclusions, and purchase very similar products to what we ended up with.

1. Intended flower effect = giggly and calming

Again, this kind of a search is achievable via a worthy eCommerce platform - via verified product reviews, you can see if other people have tagged a product with these keywords, and make a decision that way.

But…

A segment of the population - particularly new-to-cannabis consumers - will always crave an in-person, curated experience. Always. A computer or tablet or phone won’t do it; they want to hear from someone, look them in the face, and get a personalized recommendation.

So, here’s what I learned:

• A well-appointed, comfortable, and upscale retail environment is vital for bringing new entrants into the space, and
• Budtenders still hold a lot of power. Good ones can open the doors to a wonderful alternative medicine; bad ones can create a bad experience that turns people off to cannabis forever

?? tl;dr         

• Went to a dispensary with my dad
• Budtender was great, and curated the experience
• We bought edibles for sleep, THC beverages for fun, and flower for movies
• Well-appointed retail is vital for new entrants
• Good budtenders make or break someone’s cannabis journey
• It is Thursday