I don’t know about you, but people can’t help but whip out cannabis or CBD products or flower around me - asking what I think. “Is this good? Did I buy the right thing?”

And I gotta say - because we’re all precious snowflakes living in our own cozy corner of the world - not shopping the same products - it’s hard for me to give honest feedback without doing some homework.

I had a friend recently pull out vape carts that she grabbed at a dispensary near the airport. But when I was trying to look up the product the website was vague, I couldn’t find the COA and I knew she got it in California but I had never heard of the brand. Turns out, it’s not hard to end up in an unlicensed dispensary buying product that hasn’t been heavily regulated like legal cannabis products. So, I thought it’d be fun to unpack the cannabis shopping experience and arm you with some basics tools to choose products you can feel confident buying and consuming.

Joining me is Andrea Brooks, a cannabis advocate, lobbyist for social change, and an entrepreneur with a passion for health and wellness. Following a disabling injury in which cannabis played a crucial role in her recovery, Andrea was inspired to advocate for the plant and build solutions in the space; she founded Sava in 2015 which is now a leading online cannabis marketplace and delivery service in the Bay Area.

EXPERIENCE THE WINE & WEED COUNTRY WITH JO THIS FALL

And if you’re looking for a one-of-a-kind cannabis-infused getaway, I invite you to join me in the beautiful wine and weed country of Sonoma County, California. As a cannabis lifestyle guide, I’ve cultivated a one of a kind farm stay experience where you can enjoy the casually baked lifestyle and the magic of sun-grown cannabis farms and vineyards. If you’re into wine, weed, wellness or all of the above, get ready to have a high time customized just for you. Click the link to learn more.

Kumbaya and cannabis, -Jo 💚

This Potcast Is Covered By MJ Relief

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‘After the Show’ Notes

Looking For High-Quality Cannabis-Delivery in the Bay Area?

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The clearer you can be with your “why” in everything in life the better! But right now we’re talking specifically about your relationship with plant medicine.

So ask yourself - why am I consuming cannabis? Is it successful in helping me feel how I want to feel for specific things or moments?

Zeroing in on that sort of thing will make you a smarter shopper. You’ll intuitively know what questions to ask. And if you don’t find what you’re looking for you’ll feel confident asking for what you want. And everyone appreciates constructive feedback - so if you love or don’t like a product, speak up. And share rave reviews when the inspiration strikes.

When I mention putting yourself at the center of your shopping experience, what I mean is you do the heavy lifting when it comes to the decisions you make for your own health and wellness.

I overhear so many customers ask the budtender what their favorite thing is. The budtender might be a different gender, in a different age bracket, with a totally different lifestyle and different reasons for consuming cannabis. How products affect that particular budtender will likely be different for you. Absolutely ask budtenders questions - I ask a lot of questions.

Marketing can be alluring but look beyond that. Gather the relevant information and then listen to your body and choose for yourself.

I will admit that I can get choice paralysis. So a lot of times I’ll narrow a decision down to two things and then let the budtender, bartender, waiter, dressing room attendant, or random stranger - help me make the final decision. But in the end - we gotta own whatever that is.

The Sustainability Roll-up is presented by OCB Rolling Papers. In perfect harmony with natural, sustainable practices, it’s always been the OCB signature to provide the highest quality, responsibly sourced, and sustainably crafted rolling papers.

In my chat with Andrea, we talk about the importance of buying products from a licensed dispensary for cannabis and a licensed retailer for hemp-based CBD and Delta-8 products.

LEAFLY: How to tell legal from illegal cannabis dispensaries in California

In California, because many licensed medical dispensaries simply upgraded their old stores to become legally compliant after Prop 64 was passed, the differences between the two kinds of shops aren’t always apparent to customers. In California, the amount of unlicensed illegal cannabis dispensaries is estimated to be over 3 times higher than the amount of legal ones. According to the California Department of Cannabis Control,- also known as the BCC - the state has 7,297 active cannabis farm licenses as of Aug. 30, 2021. By contrast, the state reports 1,130 retail store or delivery licenses. Retail store licensing remains subject to local control in California, and slow growth laws. Between a bureaucratic nightmare with licensing, including obscene fees, limited availability, and other issues, going legal in California isn’t easy or cheap. This has resulted in a state filled with dispensaries that were previously legal for medical patients but are now illegal.

LEAFLY: California is growing more legal cannabis than it can sell

Aiming to make the distinction as simple as knowing if a restaurant is up to health code, in 2020 the BCC created an emblem to be placed on legal cannabis business fronts. These emblems have a unique QR code that pulls up the licensing information of the business. So if you don’t see one of those QR codes on the door or in the window, then the dispensary ins’t legal.

In addition to the QR code emblems, there are also subtle ways of telling if a dispensary is legal, like asking about taxes and testing, or looking for visual cues. If you see big bags and jars of cannabis on the shelves that the budtender is weighing from instead of individually packaged stuff, it’s highly probably that it’s not a legal shop.

And why does that matter?

The weed might be cheaper but it certainly won’t be cleaner. As an example, last year the BCC tested vape cartridges from 45 illegal shops—and 75% of them failed the vitamin E acetate tests, meaning they contained the commonly cited source of the vape crisis. You’re not going to find trust and transparency in an illegal shop so play the long game with your personal health and safety and support your local legal dispensaries and delivery services. We gotta look out for each other!

When it comes to rolling papers, I trust my flower to OCB. OCB is the largest rolling paper brand in the world and has been “One With Nature” crafting their papers naturally since 1918. And they continue to up level their efforts to this day. All OCB papers are “plant to puff” and made in a facility that’s powered by 100% green energy. With longevity like that - you know they’ve perfected the process for a consistently great session time after time. Of course, you must be 21 and older to buy OCB rolling papers and to follow the natural wonders of OCB on social @ocb_usa.

CA Cannabis License Search Tool

Welcome to CApotcheck.com, the official License Search Tool of the California Bureau of Cannabis Control. Use the search tool below to find California state-licensed cannabis businesses, including retail, delivery, distributors, testing laboratories, and more.

Roll With Me, a new video series launched on the Casually Baked YouTube channel in April 2021, is a collaboration with OCB Rolling Papers. Get lessons and insights on the craft of rolling while chatting about all things hemp and cannabis culture.

Complete This Form to Roll With Me On An Upcoming Episode

We all know practice makes perfectly smokeable joints so I’m engaging my cannabis industry friends to coach me. And if you’ve got some rolling tricks up your sleeve, perhaps you, too, can school me on an episode of Roll With Me.

If you too are a joint rolling novice and want to learn the craft alongside me, go ahead and get your supplies ready. Visit ocbusa.com/BAKED to get 4 booklets of OCB and a rolling tray for only $4.99! This bundle is worth 20 bucks and is around for a limited time. But the rolling skills and street cred we’re going to earn together, my friend, makes this bundle priceless as far as I’m concerned. As for you OG’s who can roll a joint one-handed, I challenge you to sample the entire line of OCB products and let me know your favorite.

Get 4 booklets of OCB and a rolling tray for only $4.99! This bundle is worth 20 bucks and is around for a limited time. But the rolling skills and street cred we’re going to earn together, my friend, makes this bundle priceless as far as I’m concerned. ✌️💚

Potcast 204: Unpacking the Cannabis Shopping Experience