Board Backs Legalizing Medical Marijuana In Iowa

The Green Crop Co-Op Demands Too Much Info!

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Green Crop is located on El Cajon BLVD, directly across the street from West Coast Wellness Farmacy, in the College area. This wheelchair accessible dispensary features plenty of parking right in front of the shop, as well as the back alley if you like to hide the wheels a little bit. After you tie up the horse, and start to walk towards the south end of the parking lot, you'll see the 2 green crosses with the word "MEDICAL" in between them on a large window. That's the reception office. It's pretty small, but it's fairly sterile, and functional for the purpose it serves. The guy who verified me was polite, and quick about it. The only thing I really hated and disapproved of, was the sign-up paperwork. The forms they give you require that you give your home address, phone number, email, drivers license number, and some more shit! Come on man, that is ridiculous. Of course I gave em fakes, but I'm sure plenty of people put their real numbers down. In my opinion that's classified information. Very bad form Green Crop.

Anyway, after the informational cavity search, I was led into the bud room. It's straight through the doorway, right across from the receptionist office. This too, was very clean, sterile, and seemingly well coordinated. They have a juice-bar styled setup, with 4 barstools, and a high counter, with some glass windows in it. On top of the counter there are approx. 20 medium sized glass jars with various strains, as well as some larger amounts inside the windows, underneath the counter. Though they kept most the strains on top of the counter, the jars inside the windows is where they kept the most desirable buds, which they had no problem pulling out for me to examine. Also they gave me the freedom to open any jar I wanted, so I could check out the stock at my leisure. Very comfortable and convenient for me as a patient. Now I must say I wasn't too highly impressed with the selection. It looked like some of the buds had been trimmed and cured a little too quickly, but there were some good choices no doubt. For example the Mazar - after all I've heard about this strain - I just wasn't feeling the Green Crop version. Neither was I thrilled with the Herojuana, which I really had high hopes for. However, all was not lost. The Blue Dream was an excellent representation. (Pictured below) I smelled that jar and new, some of it was comin home with me. I'm truly an indica smoker, but Blue Dream has earned it's place in my chalice. There are some decent strains here, though the lighting is pretty mild, so its hard to tell just by looking.


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The budtenders were relaxed, and knowledgeable. That's all I need from a dispensary, save all the small talk. The short guy, who also verified my rec, was on point with his strain knowledge. Some patient brought in a personal sack, and asked him to guess without looking. The tender took 2 big whiffs out of the bag, looked at the patient and said, "Bubba Kush". That's a guy who deserves his job. So naturally, when we discussed some of the other strains, he didn't show any slack.

Overall, I was almost satisfied with my visit to The Green Crop Co-Op. I had to really search for something I liked. Bud quality was probably, 7 or 8 out of 10. Which is OK. However, I don't remember seeing any clones, or concentrates, but don't hold me to it. They may carry. Also, as a first time patient I received 10 percent off my first visit, and a free gram of Super Silver Haze. They also gave me my choice of free rolling papers. But damn if they didn't ask me my full name again! They just have to write your full and proper name on the receipt, and staple that shit to your bag. That right there is a deal breaker for me. The herb is ok, the atmosphere is decent, and the tenders know their shit. I just don't like the invasive sign up paperwork, nor the paper trail receipt. Sorry guys I can't come back.

Located: 6957 El Cajon Blvd. Ste. 109, San Diego CA

iGrow - The Walmart of Weed?

Above: Zeta Ceti constructs a display at the iGrow warehouse in Oakland, a one-stop shop for medicinal marijuana cultivation.

Call it the Walmart of Weed.

In a 15,000-square-foot warehouse just down the road from the Oakland Airport, an entrepreneur is opening a one-stop shop for medicinal marijuana cultivation that's believed to be the largest in the state.

Don't know the first thing about growing pot? The folks at iGrow have a doctor on site to get you a cannabis card and sell you all the necessary equipment for indoor, hydroponic cultivation - from pumps, nutrients and tubing to lights and fans.

Don't know how to set it up? For a fee, on-site technicians will show you how to build it in your home and even maintain it weekly.

"A lot of people don't know much about growing pot," said Dhar Mann, 25, the owner, who stood in front of an array of Ikea-like displays, showing different rooms of cannabis cultivation systems. "Since there are no full-service resources like us, they take risks, like electrical fires."

This is hardly a fringe business. When iGrow opens today, at least three City Council members will attend. So will most of the leaders of the cannabis industry in Oakland, a city long at the vanguard of medicinal marijuana.

Today's opening also comes on a key day for proponents of a statewide ballot measure to allow recreational marijuana. They plan to turn in about twice as many signatures as needed to qualify the measure for the November ballot.

The supporters of that measure are being led by Richard Lee, owner of Oaksterdam University, an Oakland-based business that trains people for work in the cannabis industry.

The medicinal marijuana world is still unsettled. Cities from Los Angeles to Berkeley are grappling with how to permit and regulate medical marijuana dispensaries.

Oakland, where voters last summer agreed to have the city to tax and regulate "cannabis businesses," has allowed only four licensed dispensaries.

Though iGrow provides all the supplies and know-how for cannabis cultivation, they don't sell the seedlings - only dispensaries can. And even some of the vendors tread a delicate line.

Gabriel Goodhart, the owner of Easy Feed Systems based in West Oakland, was setting up one of the system displays at iGrow on Wednesday. His company has an explicit policy of not setting up any system where marijuana is visible when they show up - or even mentioning the word "marijuana."

"Liability is shifting," said Goodhart, a libertarian who is a registered Republican. "A small business like ours can't take the risk."

But, he believes, the issue is a moral one.

"It's not fair to medical patients to put them in a gray area where they have to be involved in criminal activity to stay healthy," he said. "That's like not having health insurance."

The cost of creating your own cultivation system or relying solely on a dispensary is vast.

At a dispensary, a patient might spend $120 a week for a quarter-ounce of marijuana.

However, it might cost $1,000 to set up an eight-plant system, said Zeta Ceti, one of iGrow's "indoor growing technicians." But in the course of a year, they might only use half of their harvest and be able to sell the remaining 3 pounds for $12,000 to a dispensary.

By Matthai Kuruvila, Chronicle Staff Writer
Photo By Michael Macor / The Chronicle

San Diego Green Care Collective, They'll Sell Your Mom!

First of all, SDGC is the latest addition to my very short, yet growing list of great shops! Located on Convoy & Balboa, in a small shopping plaza, a few doors down from The Sunglass Optical Warehouse, this collective is well worth visiting. It has plenty of free parking, is wheelchair accessible, and the black tinted windows are all positive aspects to this club. Once you get inside, you will see a large glass window with a receptionist waiting to verify your original recommendation. While you wait, there is a sleek flat screen on the wall, with some magazines and business cards for you to browse through as well. This place is clean like a dentist's office, from the front door to the green room, SDGC is sanitary and professional.

Now for the show! When you're led into the double locked doors, you're gonna notice a couple of mother sized plants, which are for sale! As well as various clones, nicely rooted, and quite healthy - looked to be pest and mold free. Strains like Super Silver Haze, Lambsbread, OG Kush and Grapefruit Kush, which really smells like grapefruit when fully matured! They had some for us to check out and it was excellent. I really liked that about this collective. To be able to peruse the clones, and then match some of them up to a final product really helps in the decision making process. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words, but a jar full of high grade buds is worth a lot more! The budtenders were very relaxed, seemed almost like friends rather than budtenders. They were calm, yet eager to show off all their powerful herbs. Lavender OG, GC Green Crack, and Platinum Bubba Kush were high on my charts. But, I chose that Green Care Batman OG which, needless to say, was very potent and OG smelling! After that, I had to look at the concentrates - plenty to choose from, including earwax! Instead of listing them, I'm gonna tell you the OG Herojuana full melt hash was what stood out to me, so I purchased a small piece. 30 a half G was kinda pricey, but I have a thing for Herojuana, so I felt obligated to check the oils she produces!

Overall, I was pretty happy with my visit to San Diego Green Care. The good parking, quick verification, and proper bud selection made this spot worth visiting. But I would say, if you're looking for clones, and especially a mother (around $80), to add to your garden, then you must visit SDGC. Buds and extracts are expensive here, but they are truly medicinal, and if you purchase clones ($15), they will replace a dead clone within a week of purchase, with receipt. That's really good business, and quite compassionate for the rookie gardeners! Oh yeah free gift for first time patients. Usually a pre-rolled spliff, but they were out. So, they gave us an edible. Cool, I guess. Next time you're in the area, be sure to hit this joint!

Located: 4488 Convoy St., Suite D San Diego California

Marijuana Prohibition In America

We The People Collective (4 Gram 8th's)

Located on El Cajon Blvd east of 70th street, with plenty of parking on the side, this building is quite inviting. However, if your recommendation is being verified at We The People during the evening as ours were, you'll be exposed to drivers, pedestrians, and bus riders as they pass by or loiter outside. Complete front street because this collective has clear glass for it's front wall, and front door, which was wide open. So the darkness outside, contrasted with the bright waiting room, kind of puts you on a stage for the outside audience to observe as they wish. Just a something to keep in mind when going to this dispensary. But it's not all bad, they do have an Xbox 360 and an old school big screen to stare at while you wait to be verified. And as I stepped I noticed how spacious and airy this place is, not to mention neon-green. At the front desk, we were quickly and politely verified, then led through a locked metal screen door, into the budroom.

We The People has a pretty good set up in this section of the collective. First thing you see is the jewelers glass counter, containing various strains and a glass cabinet holding some rather dry looking, yellowish clones. At $20-$35 a pop they seem like quite a risk, but you Kush gardeners might find strain you like. The budtender asked us if we were there for anything particular to which we simply replied, "Yes". So he started to take out his glass jars and present his personal favorites. I gotta be honest, we weren't highly impressed by the bud we looked at. The Skunk #1 had some interesting orange hairs, and their Deisel strains were actual. But I would say overall the bud quality was a 3.5 out of 5. Not too stinky, and a lot of the flavors were like blunt material, and looked semi-broken down. Like the bottom of the barrel as they say. I chose the Red Diesel, but I almost left empty handed, because I'm picky and I know where to get the Fire all over my hometown. Since Red was frosty, and caught my attention, I picked it up. But, I can't lie, the 4 Gram 8th's influenced my decision to donate.
We The People also has some concentrates, bubble hash & compressed keif, it's kind of pricey. But, we know you love Trichomes, so you gotta do it!

In our opinion, the mediocre bud selection is easily forgotten when you see the Star of The Show. The one thing that sets this dispensary apart from the others! Directly behind the budroom is a really clean, sort of contemporary room, with a flat screen TV in the top right corner, and 2 rows of tables with vaporizors on them. It's a "vape" lounge, free for patients to use! Although we didn't have time to blow, it looks like a decent place to relax for a minute. The budtenders and regulars, will gladly help you medicate if you've never used a vaporizer and are interested in trying one out! That makes this place a very unique and patient friendly dispensary, that you really should visit.

Location: 7200 El Cajon Blvd. San Diego

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