we're your best buds Archives | The Grand Junction Greenery

How to Become a Budtender

Posted on December 30, 2019 - 7:42 pm

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Out of all the questions I get standing behind our bud counter, “how do I become a budtender?” is one of the most common. I guess there’s just something mystic about my job, something romantic or salacious, that makes everyone want to jump on board (or maybe it’s my employee discount). Either way, I get it, because being a budtender is awesome. We get to slang ganja all day and talk about it nonstop with the people who want it. Seriously, if you’ve always loved marijuana, the legal cannabis market is the place to look for your dream job, but most people already know that because we meet a jobseeker almost every day. So, this week, I wanted to write about what it takes to become a budtender so you’d have a resource if you’re one of the many people who are looking to jump into something perfect.

However, this all comes with a disclaimer or two. For one, we’re not hiring or accepting resumes as I type this. Selling legal weed really is a dream job for many, and since we’re the best Durango dispensary, and the highest rated dispensary in the southwest, people usually swing by here first, and our roster is usually full. But that’s not to say we won’t be hiring soon because employees are always moving up or out, so keep checking in. And two, please take everything I say with a grain of salt; just because I’m telling you “how to be a budtender” doesn’t mean you can actually be one. I’ll explain…

Step one in becoming a budtender is to get your badge. It’s the license you’ve seen around the neck of every budtender you’ve met because it’s an absolute necessity, and not everyone qualifies for one because the state does a background check. I can’t say for sure what type of recorded offence leads to a “no,” and I know it’s difficult to get a badge with a felony on your record, but you’ll never know if you don’t try. And I’ll tell you from experience that it’s pointless to walk into a dispensary looking for a job without a badge because the guy who came in right before you already had his, and dispensaries won’t usually waste time on someone who may or may not get a license.

So, click HERE or google “MED occupational license application” to find all the paperwork you’ll need to submit to get your badge. After you print and fill out your paperwork, there will be a couple hoops to jump through before getting your license (like driving to the closest MED office for fingerprinting and whatnot), but you can learn about all of the hoops HERE.

Once your badge arrives, make a photocopy of it and then staple the copy to the back of your resume. Then all you need to do is blanket all the town’s dispensaries with copies of your badge and resume just like you’d do if you were looking for a regular job. And that’s the key: “regular job.” Most applicants assume that because we sell marijuana, we don’t have the high standards held by other employers, but that’s false. Our business is a business plain and simple, and when we’re hiring, we’re looking for professional businesspeople. Just because we sell things that get you high doesn’t mean you should be high when you come in looking for a job; just because pot is associated with lazy stoners doesn’t mean that’s who dispensaries are looking for when it comes to employees. So, dress professionally, act professionally, and for the love of everything holy, don’t come in with red eyes and a pipe tied around your neck (it’s happened).

Now, here comes the part you wouldn’t expect: nobody cares that you don’t have any cannabis industry experience. Frankly, it’s not like they teach this stuff in school (although you can read a list of colleges offering pot-related degrees HERE), and it’s not like all experience is good experience. Many shops are like our own Durango dispensary, and we prefer applicants to have no experience in the cannabis industry because most of the shops out there don’t do things correctly—it’s easier to teach new behaviors than to correct bad ones. That being said, retail experience is definitely a good thing, but I’d never touched a cash register before working here, so it’s still not necessary.

However, if you’re the anxious type who feels naked without a hint of cannabis experience on your resume, there are resources out there for you. For instance, there’s a state-regulated program called “METRC” that all dispensaries use to track legal cannabis. METRC is used in many states, so experience with it is a boon no matter where you’re looking to work. “METRC,” which we pronounce “metric,” stands for “Marijuana Enforcement Tracking Reporting Compliance,” and if I’m being honest, knowing this fact alone will give you an advantage because I’d bet a few of my coworkers don’t know the meaning behind the acronym. And there are plenty of METRC tutorial videos on YouTube that you can watch HERE if you’d like to add a touch of “experience” to your resume, but remember, it’s not necessary, and these videos are for reference only and shouldn’t be taken as gospel.

Other than that, there are plenty of “how to” books out there about being a budtender, but I’d steer clear of them if I were you. For one, most of those books are written by ex-budtenders who are looking to make a buck (and there’s usually a reason for the “ex” part), and for two, this industry is constantly changing. Our regulations are always evolving. There’s a huge chance that most of the book you might buy is centered on the regulatory dos and don’ts, and they change so often that most books are irrelevant about a month after publication.

Lastly, if you want to work in the marijuana industry, it’s pretty damn important to like marijuana; most of us are downright passionate about it. And you need to know a lot about pot if you want a leg up, which is easy—you’ve obviously found this blog, and if you go back through our archives, you’ll find more than 100 blogs just like this one that’ll teach you more about cannabis than any resource I can think of. That, and please feel free to come in and chat with us at our Durango dispensary on 208 Parker Avenue. Even though we’re not hiring presently, any of our budtenders can give you the inside scoop as to what it’s like to do this for a living, and we’ll teach you anything you’d like about cannabis for free if you’re looking for free knowledge. Other than that, if you’re looking to become a budtender, we wish you luck, because We’re Your Best Buds!

Vaping Marijuana Flower

Posted on December 21, 2019 - 9:00 am

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Vaping Marijuana Flower

So… I owe you an apology. I’ve been writing these blogs for two years, and I thought I’d covered all the basics, but I’ve never written a thing about vaporizing dry marijuana flower, which means I’ve failed you. Oops. But hey, there’s no time like the present for reconciliation, so let’s do this…

I loved that book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury when I was a kid, and I’ll admit that I read it twice before my dad told me what the title meant: burning books was a central theme to Bradbury’s novel, and paper ignites at exactly 451 degrees Fahrenheit, so the title was clever. And if you think about it, paper is made from plant material, just like marijuana, so the two share relatively similar ignition points.

Now, the reason this is important is that when you burn marijuana, what you’re inhaling is smoke, but when you vaporize it at a temperature lower than 451 degrees, you’re actually boiling the oil within the plant and then inhaling the “steam” instead of smoke because the plant matter never ignites. It’s a much smoother experience, and the flavor that comes from the gently vaporized terpenes within the cannabis plant is simply superb. For real, it’s an entirely different experience that highlights each strain’s different taste in a way that you’d never achieve with flame. So, if you haven’t tried it, I’d recommend doing so immediately.

As I type this, we don’t have any “dry herb vaporizers” in stock here at our Durango dispensary, but we’re looking for one to offer. That being said, we don’t like to compete with the head shops in town because we work so closely together, so you’ll always be able to find a better selection of vaporizers elsewhere, and even if we did, the prices online for vaporizers will always be lower than you’ll find in a mountain town like Durango. See how honest I am? But regardless of where you get it, the first thing you’ll need to vaporize marijuana is a marijuana vaporizer (duh), and I’d recommend getting something nice because quality matters when it comes to something like this.

So, to help you in your shopping, I’ll show you a few of my favorites. For one, you’ll need to decide if you want a portable vaporizer or a larger “at-home” device. The portable ones are nice for obvious reasons (they fit in your pocket), but the larger ones that sit on coffee tables are much better because they vaporize the flower more fully, and you can get much larger vapor clouds; it’s exactly like the difference between a vape pen and a full-blown dab rig. In that vein, there’s really only one at-home vaporizer I’d recommend, and it was the first on the market, so it’s well vetted. All you need to do is google “volcano vaporizer” to find one because they’re sold everywhere, but you should expect to pay north of $600 for a complete setup (remember, quality matters). What you do with one of these devices, basically, is put a little flower on top of the volcano. The device vaporizes the flower right in front of you, and then it fills a large bag with all the good stuff. You then remove the bag and breathe in and out of it—doing so lets you take the same hit over and over, and then when you’re done, you blow the vapor out. It’s wonderful.

But if you’re looking for a portable option (or looking to avoid spending more than $600 to try something new), there are plenty awesome hand-held options on the market, and I’ll tell you about two of them. The most affordable of the two is the Eden from Lynx (that you can see HERE). Frankly, this is the only flower vape under $100 that I’d trust because you start to sacrifice flavor if you go any lower. Now, on the other end of the spectrum is the Pax 3 (click HERE). We used to sell these in our shop, and we might do so again, because there’s simply no better hand-held option on the market. A new Pax 3 will run you a little over $250, but you can also use it to vape concentrates, which is convenient. To use hand-held devices, it’s important to grind finely your flower, and then you pack it into a small chamber. Then all you do with your device is turn it on, wait for the preheat to complete (this is when the chamber heats up to a temperature that’ll boil the oil within the cannabis), and then inhale. Easy cheesy.

All that being said, we haven’t even gotten to the part that most flower vapers consider to be the best: AVB, or “already vaped bud.” As I’m sure you’ve figured out, since vaporizing your flower doesn’t burn it, quite a bit of the plant material is left over after you’ve vaporized it because all you’ve done is remove most of the oil from the flower. So, if you remove all the ABV flower from your device, you can use it for other things.

For one, if you were paying attention, you’ll remember that I said you removed “most” of the oil from the flower while vaping it. There’s still a bit left, no matter how good your vaporizer is, so you can take that AVB and smoke it like regular flower. It won’t taste that great, and it won’t get you that high, but at times, it’s better than nothing. But what most people do with the AVB is cook with it. Again, whatever you cook won’t get you as high as cooking with fresh flower, but it still works, and cooking with pot is fun. I wrote an entire blog on the subject that you can read HERE back when I thought I’d covered all the basics. Lastly, you can always make a salve or lotion out of your AVB if you know how to do such things, or throw the AVB into your compost heap.

There! I’ve addressed my failure to tell you all about vaping dry cannabis flower, and it only took me two years to get it done; please except my apology. And just as one more tip, most flower vapes have temperature settings that go well above 450 degrees, so remember not to go north of that mark. Doing so will burn your bud just like smoking it, and if that’s what you want to do, use a pipe. They’re much cheaper. And lastly, the most important thing you’ll need besides the vaporizer is the cannabis flower to put inside it (again, duh). If you’ve read these blogs before or if you’ve come into our Durango dispensary, you already know that The Greenery has the best flower in town. So come see us at 208 Parker Avenue right here in Durango, because when it comes to all things cannabis, We’re Your Best Buds!

Dabbing Temperatures

Posted on December 14, 2019 - 9:00 am

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Did you know that I take requests for blog topics? For real, sometimes it feels like I’m a DJ or a cover band, because regulars who actually read these things will come in to our Durango dispensary and ask me to write something in-depth about this or that topic, and if it’s something I haven’t covered, I never argue. And this week, that’s exactly what’s happening, because the “what temperature should I use when dabbing” question has come up more than once, so let’s get into it.

First things first, if you want a refresher on exactly what it means to “dab,” click HERE, but then again, if you’re at the point wherein you’re looking for the perfect temperature, it might be a bit redundant. Now, as to temperatures, there are two ways to measure accurately after heating your nail or banger. One, if you’re the type of dabber who uses a torch, you’ll need a temperature laser gun, and a savvy shopper can get one for about $30 online. With this gun, you heat up your nail or banger with your torch per usual, but then you shoot it with the laser to get a temperature readout. If it’s too cold, use more flame, if it’s too hot, be patient and wait, or blow on your nail lightly.

Yes, this is the most labor-intensive way of achieving a perfect dab temperature, but it’s also the most affordable, because an E-Nail can cost quite a bit (but it’s quite a bit better). Long story short, an e-nail is an electronic doohickey that you attach to the ribs on your nail or onto the bottom of your banger. Then all you do is flip a switch to turn it on, and then set the temperature on the electronic readout to the exact reading you’d like. The e-nail will keep your nail or banger at the desired temperature, so there’s no need for torches or lasers, and you don’t have to worry about cooling, so you’ll get consistent dab temperatures for each hit.

Now, before we get to the actual temperatures (we’ll get there, I promise), there are two peripheral things we need to discuss, the first of which is the material out of which your nail or banger is made. Most people turn to titanium because they never break, but I’d suggest rethinking this choice, especially if you’re the type of consumer concerned with quality (and if you’re worried about exact temperatures, that’s exactly who you are). Yes, titanium is durable, it heats up quickly, and it retains heat, but the taste isn’t nearly as good as it is with other materials, and there are many different titanium alloys on the market, which leads to inconsistences. So, that would leave you with two material options: quartz, or ceramic. Quartz heats up very quickly and it gives a superb flavor, but it also cools down quickly, and since quartz is transparent, you cannot get an accurate temperature reading with one of those fancy laser guns. So, I recommend ceramic. It’s not transparent, so a laser gun will work, but ceramic also goes well with e-nails. True, ceramic nails or bangers take the longest to heat up, but patience is a good thing, and they retain heat as well as provide perfect flavor.

The second issue is that internal temperature differs greatly from surface temperature, but you only need to worry about this with e-nails because the laser gun method reads surface temperature only, and that’s what matters. So, if you’re using an e-nail and you’re hunting for the perfect dab temperature, I’d recommend reading THIS study, because the e-nail regulates internal temperature, which is usually lower than the surface temperature. So, when using an e-nail, you’ll need to crank up the temperature by ten degrees or so to ensure that the nail’s surface is where you want it.

Alright, on to the numbers. There are five basic temperature ranges, which I’ll give in Fahrenheit, but don’t worry, I’ll break these down as well:

1.) 0⁰-300⁰: this is a very low-temp dab, and it will give the best flavor, but many cannabinoids won’t be vaporized at this temperature, so you’ll end up wasting quite a bit of your dab, which is no good.

2.) 300⁰-450⁰: This range is the goldilocks zone because it’s just right, so aim here. You still get all the flavor from a low-temp dab, but you also vaporize all the cannabinoids, so the intensity is there as well.

3.) 450⁰-600⁰: You need to be careful at this temperature because with the last two, all you’re getting is vapor, but when you get north of 450 degrees, you also start to burn your dab, so your hit will be a mixture of vapor and smoke. So, you’ll gain intensity at the cost of flavor, and if you’re reading this blog, that’s not what you want.

4.) 600⁰-1000⁰: Don’t do this. Just about everything you’ll breathe in is smoke, and you’ll get absurdly high, but the harshness will cover up all the flavor. This is like taking double shots of whiskey instead of sipping it, and with fine whiskey, or fine dabs, that’s completely pointless and superfluous.

Now, let’s get into exact temperatures. As you know, when you dab something, the heat from your nail or banger should cause the product to boil, not burn (which is why the last two temperature ranges are too high), so what you’re breathing in is the “steam” or vapor from the flash-boiled material. So, all you need to do to dial in your dab temperature is to find the exact boiling point for the cannabinoid or terpene you’re trying to enjoy. For instance, here are the three boiling points for three different cannabinoids:

THC: 315⁰

CBD: 356⁰

CBN: 365⁰

So, can you see why the “0-300” degree range will give you good flavor but not much intensity? You’ll boil some terpenes, but the THC itself won’t boil until 315 degrees, so you’ll be missing out on most of the high. However, (and this is where we get into the connoisseur stuff), quite a few dabbers are looking to enjoy specific terpenes, so I’ll provide those temperatures as well. And I’m not going to get into the terpenes themselves, because if you’re about to dab them, you already know (but for a refresher, click HERE). Here are the boiling points and tasting notes for six of the most famous cannabis terpenes:

Myrcene: 330⁰ This one tastes like cloves and funk.

Limonene: 350⁰ This one tasted like citrus fruit rinds.

Linalool: 388⁰ This is the floral-tasting terpene.

Caryophyllene: 390⁰ This one tastes peppery.

Pinene: 420⁰ Yes, it tastes like pine.

Humulene: 435⁰ This one tastes like the forest (trust me).

The last thing we need to discuss is hand-held vape pens. The affordable ones have low, medium, and high temperature settings, so again, I’d go with medium because balance is always best. However, if you spent the money and got a vape pen with a digital readout, go ahead and use the same degree settings as you would with a nail or banger because you’ll get the same flavor profiles, albeit with a smaller vapor cloud.

There! That’s just about all there is to know when it comes to vape temperatures, and if you’re one of the people who requested this topic, I kept my promise! However, if you still have questions, come in and see us at 208 Parker Avenue, or give us a call at (970) 403-3710, and we’ll answer them. Or, if there’s something pot-related you’d like me to write about, come in to our Durango dispensary and ask for Jesse and then tell me your idea. We’re always willing to take requests to keep you informed, because We’re Your Best Buds!

Different Kinds of Marijuana Vape Oil

Posted on December 7, 2019 - 9:00 am

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The CDC finally said something concrete about all the noise that’s been in the news lately about vape-related illnesses! You can read the full article HERE, but basically, they’re saying that Vitamin E Acetate may the problem, which only shows up in black market vape cartridges. It’s typical illegal drug dealer nonsense: when they have a bunch of cannabis oil, they want to cut it with an additive to stretch their product, and since vitamin E oil looks like cannabis oil, that’s what a bunch of them used thinking it’d be okay because it’s a vitamin. But, it’s not—the oil congeals in your lungs making oxygen absorption difficult (if not impossible), and then people end up in hospitals.

Again, and I’m going to use all-caps for emphasis, VITAMIN E ACETATE DOES NOT EXIST IN ANY OF THE VAPE PRODUCTS WE SELL, so it’s not something you need to worry about in our Durango dispensary. And really, it’s not even the reason I sat down to write this blog. Ever since vapes started showing up in the news, the people walking through our doors have more questions than usual (rightfully so), and many of them are centered on the different types of cannabis oil we sell. So, this week, I wanted to get proactive and write about all the differences to give you some reference material, and frankly, it’s a necessity these days because we sell six different types. Let’s get into them:

Ethanol Oil: This was the first type of commercial vape oil on the market, and even though it started to disappear a couple years ago due to the emergence of other extraction methods, we’re seeing a resurgence of ethanol vapes on the market because it’s an easy and cost-effective way of making oils. When ethanol is used, a bunch of flower is soaked in ethanol to make a slurry, and then the slurry goes into a purge oven to remove the residual ethanol. It’s as simple as that, and if you want to try an ethanol-distilled oil, try one of our V3 Cartridges.

CO2: The emergence of CO2 is one of the factors that led to the decline in ethanol distillation because CO2 is less caustic than ethanol, but it’s also a more costly process. First, the flower is ground as finely a flour, and then it’s baked to decarboxylate the cannabinoids. The baked flower is then put into a stainless-steel tube, through which supercritical CO2 is pumped (the CO2 acts as a solvent and strips all the cannabinoids from the flower). The resulting oil is poured out, and then it’s put through an ethanol winterization process to remove the residual lipids and whatnot. And if you’d like to try a CO2 oil vape for comparison purposes, come snag one of our Sweet Cartridges or Lucky Turtle Syringes; they’re both wonderful.

BHO: This is where we start getting into the three-letter acronyms, which can be a bit tricky, but “BHO” stands for “butane hash oil.” Most BHO products come in solid forms, such as shatter or wax, and they’re like the ethanol products in that the end product must go into a purge oven to remove the residual butane. However, the process is identical to CO2 oils, albeit with butane instead of CO2. Get it? We don’t sell any BHO carts in our shop, but we have plenty of wax and shatter, so we’ve still got you covered.

PHO: No, this isn’t the spicy Asian soup that everyone mispronounces; “PHO” stands for “Propane Hash Oil.” And for the record, please don’t be worried about the butane or propane used to make these products. They’re all purged out and the products are tested by state-licensed labs to make sure it’s done properly; that’s why legal products are better than the black-market versions. Anyway, yes, you guessed it, the PHO process is identical to the BHO process, except propane is used instead of butane. However, PHO products can be much tastier because propane strips the cannabinoids out of flower at lower temperatures and pressures than other hydrocarbons, and the end product is a much brighter yellow that’s richer in terpenes. We just brought on a new PHO cart from Shift that’s simply wonderful because all the cannabis terpenes contained in each cart are listed on the label. It’s next level. For real, if you call yourself a cannabis connoisseur but you’ve never tried a PHO cart, you need to come in immediately.

SHO: “SHO” stands for “solventless hash oil,” and this is the rare stuff. It’s exceedingly difficult and costly to make a vaporizable oil without solvents because the only things you’re allowed to use are pressure, heat, and water, and the end product usually ends up being lower in THC than the hydrocarbon counterparts. Right now, we have two SHO products in solid form, Rosin and Live Rosin, but there’s a chance we’ll add a SHO cart to our lineup in the near future, so stay tuned.

FSE: “FSE” stands for “Full Spectrum Extract,” and butane is used just like with BHO, but the source material is different. Instead of dry flower being used, FSE producers use fresh-frozen flower—this is when the marijuana is immediately frozen after harvest. The freezing process bursts the plant cells, making the cannabinoids easier to extract, but it also preserves the terpenes that can be lost in the drying process that’s skipped with FSE. The end product that goes into a vape cartridge is actually liquid Live Resin, which is the tastiest, most potent concentrate on the market. For real, if you want to jump straight to the top and try the best cannabis vape cartridge on the market, come into our shop and pick up a Green Dot FSE cart. I can’t promise a lot, but I promise there’s nothing else like an FSE cart.

There! That’s all you need to know about the different types of cannabis vapes, but please, if you have questions, come see us at 208 Parker Avenue (or call us at 970-403-3710) and ask whatever you’d like. It’s very important to us that you understand the difference between our regulated cartridges and the bad ones on the street, and it’s also important to us that you know exactly what you’re putting into your lungs, because We’re Your Best Buds!

December Dispensary Deals

Posted on November 30, 2019 - 9:00 am

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If you’re a regular reader, I hope you’re not getting tired of these promotional pieces because I know I’ve been throwing quite a few at you. We’ve had November Deals and Black Friday Deals and a couple random deals thrown in for good measure, and I know it’s a lot. But then again, every single one of these blogs is designed to save you money, so I don’t feel that bad. And frankly, these things are fun to write. I’m 40, so I come from the days when there was no such thing as a “special” on marijuana, let alone holiday discounts, so every time I write one of these, it feels like I’m normalizing legal marijuana, and that’s a good thing. So, without further ado, here’s a list of all the deals you’ll find in our Durango dispensary this December:

1.) We started this first deal on Black Friday, but since it went so well, we’re going to keep it going until we sell out of supplies. So, if you come in and buy any two Stillwater products, you can snag a Ripple Relief or a box of Honey Lavender gummies for $1.

2.) We’re offering a “2 for $40” deal on all our Dixie gummy packs and milk chocolate bars, and if you buy these products normally, you know that’s a spectacular deal. Usually, it’d cost you $48 for two of these products, so you’ll be able to save more than 16% throughout December if you buy in bulk.

3.) From 12/15 through 12/21, we’re running a BOGO 50% off deal on all locally produced Sweet Cartridges. Last month, we ran this special for just one day, and it was insane, so we decided to see what would happen if we did it for a whole week (it’ll probably be more insanity).

4.) And then the next week, from 12/22 though 12/28, we’ll be running a BOGO 50% off deal on all Incredibles products, because we didn’t want to leave you edible lovers in the lurch.

5.) This one is my favorite because it still blows my mind that you can walk into a dispensary and buy a gift card for someone who can then come in later to use it on marijuana. For real, isn’t that crazy? These things are bona fide gift cards with magnetic strips and everything, just like the ones sold at restaurants, and I love that we have a cannabis version. Anyway, if you come in and buy a $25 gift card for someone, we’ll sell you two, full-gram joints for $10, which comes out to 50% off. See what I mean? That guy I used to meet in parking lots never did anything like that for me!

There; that covers it. But I also want you to know that even though we’re packing December full of savings, we’re still going to honor all of our daily deals that you can read about HERE. We’re still offering a 20% discount on everything in the store to veterans, all day every day, and the same goes for those of you who have valid Colorado Medical Marijuana cards. And yes, I’d imagine that another deal of some sort pops up sometime during the month, because when it comes to saving you money on marijuana this December, We’re Your Best Buds!

Black Friday Marijuana Deals in Durango

Posted on November 23, 2019 - 9:00 am

Yes, we’re going to have Black Friday specials, and I mean, why not? We do everything else that a regular retail shop does, from providing coupons to giving birthday specials, so who says we can’t run a Black Friday special or two? And we’re not the only ones because quite a few of our vendors have agreed to run specials with us, but of course, since this is the cannabis industry, many of them are calling the day after Thanksgiving “Green Friday.”

At first, I thought is was a bit cheesy and cliché, but now, I kind of like it. The “Black” in “Black Friday” connotes a dark day of misery, fighting the lines in department stores just to scoop up “deals” in a frenzy of consumerism, and that’s not what cannabis is about. It’s about enjoying the plant and the relaxation in can provide, it’s about community and natural relief, it’s about honoring our roots and reveling in the fact that prohibition is over. But we must be realistic and admit that we’re a retail operation, plain and simple, which goes hand-in-hand with specials, which is a truth that’s spreading across the nation. Actually, did you know that residents in Michigan will be able to buy recreational marijuana starting December 1^st? They’ve joined the team, and they’ll get to walk the line between consumerism and the holistic nature of marijuana just like the rest of us, which is exciting.

I just hope they remember what it’s all about, because we got where we are today thanks to the community and culture that surrounds cannabis, and an easy way to do that is to embrace the cheesiness and call the day “Green Friday.” But regardless of what you call it, the deals we’re running that day are simply spectacular, and I promise that the day after Thanksgiving will be a fun one in our Durango dispensary. The people in our lines will be much happier than the ones standing in line at Walmart, because nothing at that “super store” gets you high. But I digress; let’s get into our specials:

1.) I put together a spectacular gift basket (making marijuana gift baskets might be my calling), and we’re going to have a no-purchase-necessary drawing. So, even if you planned on staying home on Black Friday just like you would during the zombie apocalypse, I’d recommend coming into our shop and dropping your name in the basket, because it doesn’t cost a thing.

2.) Just because it’s Black Friday doesn’t mean that we’re going to put our regular November Deals on hold, so you’ll still be able to pick up two Binske Gummies for $40, or two ABV Disposable Vape Pens for $60.

3.) And we’re still going to honor our regular Friday Deal as well even though we have a ton of other specials, so if you spend $50 before tax, we’ll sell you a one-gram joint for $1.

4.) Dixie has joined in the fun, so on the 29^th, you’ll be able to take advantage of a “buy one, get on half-off (BOGOHO?) with all the Dixie gummies, mints, and straight-up milk chocolates.

5.) We’re running a 30% off deal on Altus Tablets, and frankly, this product is awesome. The Altus tablets come in either Sativa or Indica, they’re as discrete as an edible gets, the shelf life is long if you don’t consume regularly, and each pack of tablets provides 100mg THC for only $16.80. This deal is bonkers (I hope that didn’t make me sound like a used car salesman).

6.) We’re running another BOGOHO deal on Sweet CO2 Cartridges and Syringes. This means you’ll be able to scoop up two locally produced 500mg carts for $60, and if you were paying attention, you’ll realize that taking advantage of this deal alone will get you a $1 joint, which is also bonkers.

7.) This deal is a good one because it starts on Black Friday, but it won’t stop until supplies run out: if you buy any two Stillwater products, you can snag a Ripple Relief or a box of Honey Lavender gummies for $1. Yes, that’s one dollar.

8.) And lastly, all our Green Cross products will be 30% off, which is huge. This deal applies to all sorts of edibles including the CannaPunch drinks, Highly Edible gummies (which are vegan), and the Stroopwafels from Dutch Girl (which come in caramel or strawberry, and I can’t stop eating these things), and the Nordic Goddess Salve and Wrangler Relief.

Man… this is the first time I’ve written down all our deals at once, and looking at the list, it seems a bit crazy, but then again, that’s what Black (or Green) Friday is about, right? We’re offering savings on everything from drinks, edibles, salves, vapes, and flower, so no matter how you like to consume, we’ve got you covered. Just remember to acknowledge how special it is to be able to buy marijuana legally while you’re rolling in the savings. Either way, even on Black Friday, We’re Your Best Buds!

Please remember that discounts and deals cannot be combined.

Live Rosin and THCa Crystals in Durango

Posted on November 2, 2019 - 9:00 am

My inner pot nerd is so, so excited right now, because the two products I’m writing about this week are both next-level dabs designed for the hashish connoisseur, and we’re the only Durango dispensary selling them. For real, I usually start these posts with a story or anecdote just to keep things fun, but I’m going to skip all that nonsense this time and simply jump right into it because I can’t wait. Let’s go…

Live Rosin is as good as a dab gets, and it takes a true extraction company to make this stuff properly—that’s exactly how I’d describe Kush Masters, who is our Live Rosin supplier. And the reason it takes a master to make this stuff is because Live Rosin is hash made from hash; let me explain. The first step is to make Bubble Hash, which is a touchy process. First, flower is put into an agitator with an ice-water bath. The ice water makes the trichome heads brittle, which are the THC-packed crystals on the bud’s surface, and then the agitation breaks them off. This creates a hash-filled slurry which is filtered through a series of micron screens, and then the resulting hash is put into a freeze dryer to remove the moisture, but all of that is just the first step.

Next, fresh-frozen flower is brought into the picture (this is when growers take their flower and freeze it immediately after harvest instead of drying and curing their crop). In fresh-frozen flower, all the terpenes are preserved via the freezing process, and the plant cells burst, which makes the extraction process much easier. Then comes the fun part: the fresh-frozen flower is covered in bubble hash, wrapped in steel mesh, and then put into a heated press. The combination of heat and pressure presses all the cannabinoids out of the mixture in the steel mesh, thereby leaving behind all the plant matter, and then boom, Live Rosin is born. In my opinion, Live Rosin is the pinnacle of dabs because it’s completely solventless, yet it has the potency of a hydrocarbon extract, which is rare indeed. Fun fact: rosin is called “rosin” because it looks like the rosin fiddlers use on their bows. Anyway, moving on…

THCa Crystals, or Crystalline, however, is the most potent concentrate on the market—this hash can come in at 99% THCa—and it takes a straight-up scientist to make this stuff. Once again, I’ll explain. First, more of that fresh-frozen flower is stuffed into an extraction tube through which supercritical butane is pumped. Butane is a hydrocarbon, so it strips from the plant matter all the cannabinoids to make an oil, which is poured out of the tube. Next, the oil (which is called “live resin” at this point) is put into a purge oven which removes the residual butane with heat and a vacuum pump. And then the live resin is put into a bath of acetic acid (the same stuff you’d find in vinegar) and hexane, which removes even more of the plant matter and impurities. The resulting solution is then put through a filtration system, and then into a roto-evaporator (which is a ridiculous machine that looks like R2-D2). The roto-evaporator uses heat and motion to separate out the THCa from the solution.

At this point, many crystalline makers take things a step further with a second bath of chloroform and methanol, which strips out all the terpenes to make a pure-white hash that’s 99% THCa, but that’s gross because terpenes give hash its wonderful taste. That’s why we chose Viola Extracts as our Crystalline supplier. They use only the first bath to make their crystals, which are referred to as “unwashed,” because skipping the second bath preserves all the flavor, which is a good thing. Their crystalline is in the 96% THCa range, and it still contains enough terpenes to give it a spectacular cannabis flavor as well as a nuanced high. Honestly, this stuff is simply insane.

Can you see why any pot nerd would blow a gasket over these dabs? Concentrates such as these simply didn’t exist before legalization because you need labs and chemists to make them, and even now that they exist, they’re exceedingly difficult to find in mountain towns like Durango because all the demand for crazy dabs lives in the big cities. And yet here they both are, sitting on the shelves at our Durango dispensary, because that’s how we roll. And please, don’t be put off by how complicated these two concentrates sound because they’re both easy to smoke—to learn two new ways of doing so, click HERE. Either way, please know that at The Greenery, we’ve always striven to bring the newest and best cannabis innovations to Durango, exactly like we’ve done with Live Rosin and Crystalline, because We’re Your Best Buds!

November Dispensary Deals

Posted on October 26, 2019 - 9:00 am

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Retail establishments always seem to rush the holidays, and it seems to get worse year after year. Know what I mean? Pumpkins and Halloween decorations appeared at the grocery stores this year in early August, and even though the holiday hasn’t yet arrived, I saw the same decorations on clearance yesterday to make room for the Christmas stuff. The stores keep jumping ahead to push products associated with what’s on the horizon instead of what’s happening now, and the consumerism behind it all makes the holidays fly by when we should be taking our time with the season to savor each individual holiday. That’s what it’s all about.

In that vein, I feel a bit guilty about this post because cobwebs still adorn our Durango dispensary, yet here I sit, writing about the deals that are coming next month. Granted, that’s only one week away so it’s not like I’m jumping the gun like the stores already selling fake Christmas trees (yes, they’re already here), but I’m still going to keep December’s deals to myself to slow things down a bit (that, and I’m not sure what we’re doing in December, so it’s not like I could tell you anyway). So, here’s most of what’s happening this November at The Greenery (I say most because the holidays wouldn’t be holidays without surprises):

1.) We’re running a “2 for $40” special on Binske gummies (which would usually cost you $48, so this deal is awesome). Just so you know, when it comes to edible companies, Binske is as good as they get. In fact, Leafly named Binske their “edible brand of the year,” Binske is now the largest marijuana brand in the world (ranked by territory served), and the company has even been featured in Forbes magazine. Binske takes quality to a higher echelon with their craft edibles, and the artwork on their packaging is next level. Their gummies are vegan and delicious, so they fit everyone’s needs, and frankly, we couldn’t be happier about the deals this November because these gummies are newer than most, and plenty of people are about to discover something awesome when they take advantage of this sale.

2.) We’re also running a “2 for $60” deal on the ABV disposable vape pens (for which you’d usually pay $70). Now, before I get into this one, I want you to know that we’re aware of all the bad news that’s out there regarding vape pens, but ABV went so far as to send us a letter detailing the additive-free formula of their ethanol-extracted oil, and if you’re worried, please come in and ask to read it. Anyway, each of these disposable pens contains 300mg of terpene-enriched oil that’s potent and wonderful. If you’re traveling and you don’t want to invest in a complete vape set up with a battery and cartridge, a disposable is the way to go. That, and the only thing better than one disposable is two of them, which is why this deal is so awesome.

And that’s that. We’ll get extra-festive and run a Black Friday special, so make sure you’re enrolled in our Loyalty program for the exclusive details. Also, we will indeed do something special for December because the entire month is the cornerstone of the holiday season, but you’ll need to wait to see what it is (because I have to wait, too). Either way, please come see our dispensary this holiday season because the munchies make any Thanksgiving feast better, I promise that gifts bought here will please anyone on your list (so long as they’re 21+), and because We’re Your Best Buds!

Marijuana Recall

Posted on October 19, 2019 - 9:00 am

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I bought my daughter a cheap and used Ford Taurus for her first car because I didn’t want to spoil my teenager, and because I know her. She’s the type of child who doesn’t value things unless she has to work for them (which, I suppose, is like all teenagers), so I figured it’d only be a month or two before her free car exploded due to neglect. But then one day, she called me while driving on the highway with panic in her voice because that Ford Taurus wouldn’t stop. I got her to put the car in neutral and pull over, so this story has a happy ending, but I ended up sitting with that car in a shop for at least an hour while they fixed a recall that should’ve been taken care of by the previous owner. That’s why it was so frustrating—the “recall” Ford sent out didn’t do anything to keep my daughter safe, because we found out about it after it almost killed her.

Would it blow your mind if I told you the same thing just happened across Colorado with marijuana? Well, it did, but I should back up a bit before I get to that. The best part of a legal recreational marijuana market is the fact that it’s all regulated: every grower in the state must submit samples of their marijuana to a state-certified lab so it can be tested for pesticides, heavy metals, and microbials (or mold). Now, I’m not saying this is what happened with the company I’ll tell you about in a moment, but there have always been nasty rumors out there about grows that microwave their test samples (or soak them in chemicals) to kill the mold before it’s sent off to testing. As I’m sure you’ve already figured out, that’ll make it so the test sample passes, but that small sample came from a very large crop, so it’s still possible to put moldy pot on the market. Before we go any further, I want to swear up and down to you that The Greenery has never done something like this, nor would we, because we’re a steward of legal cannabis, and we follow the regulations as if there were commandments from above. We also work exclusively with Aurum Labs, a Durango based state-certified lab, who shares our profound respect and loyalty to the state’s safety regulated testing.

But, moving on, what would happen if the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment went around to dispensaries, purchased small amounts of marijuana that had already “passed,” and then retested the retail samples? Well, that’s exactly what happened, and on October 14^th, they released a bulletin stating that they had found tons of moldy pot. Uh oh… As it turns out, there was a largescale grow called Bonsai Cultivation that distributed moldy pot with yeast in it (so, so disgusting) to 144 dispensaries across Colorado, and all of it had to be recalled even though a good deal of it was already sold to the public and consumed.

Do you see how this is exactly like my daughter’s first car? That marijuana recall didn’t do anything for all the people who already put moldy pot into their lungs, but I guess it’s better late than never. Anyway, the important thing here is that there were multiple dispensaries right here in Durango that were affected, but THE GREENERY WAS NOT ONE OF THEM. Most of our pot is grown right here in Durango at our own Greenery Grow, and we don’t cut corners. Ever. And I’m not going to tell you which of the shops in town were affected because I don’t want you to think that all of their products suck, but I will tell you how to figure out if you’ve been affected personally. One of the other regulations in this state is that every container of retail marijuana (recreational or medicinal) must be labeled with the license number for the grow from which the flower came. So, bust out your stash, and then look at the labels on your pot for the license number 403R-00228. If you find that number, don’t smoke the pot. Simply call the dispensary from which you bought it (again, it won’t be ours), and then tell them you have marijuana affected by the state-wide recall. Easy cheesy.

Just to let you know how big of a deal this is, I heard recently from a Bonsai employee that the company has closed permanently, and that they laid off every single one of their employees this week. See what happens when you cut corners? And frankly, that’s the real reason I wanted to write this blog: I want you to know that you can trust us because we follow every regulation rigidly in our Durango dispensary, because we want you to smoke our boutique flower. We don’t want you to smoke mold, because, you guessed it, We’re Your Best Buds!

Lowest Ounce Price in Durango

Posted on October 12, 2019 - 9:00 am

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In a dispensary, the phone is always ringing, because as it turns out, marijuana is awesome. And given that I sit at my desk for most of the day, it’s usually I who answers the phone with a friendly, “thank you for calling The Greenery, this is Jesse, how can I help you?” I love this because it means I have a front-row seat when it comes to figuring out what customers want thanks to these phone calls, but lately, I’ve noticed something new.

A couple months ago, most calls were focused on simple questions: “Where are you located?” “How late are you open?” “Will you please ship marijuana to Texas?” Frankly, those calls are kind of boring because the answers are so simple (we’re at 208 Parker Avenue, we’re open until 9:30pm except for on Sunday, and for heaven’s sake, NO, we cannot ship pot to Texas). But lately, I’ve been getting call after call from people who are looking for affordable ounces of flower because they all seem to have disappeared. I’ll tell these callers the price for our most affordable ounce, and more often than not, they’ll start to complain. As an aside, I always think it’s a bit odd when I encounter these complaints because I’m pretty sure people don’t call into grocery stores to complain about prices, so it’s weird to do so at a Durango dispensary, but on the other hand, I get it. If I were a customer who bought ounces, the recent state-wide price increase would’ve caught me off guard as well. So, this week, I decided to write a lengthy explanation as to exactly why flower prices across Colorado are climbing higher than a Sativa buzz. Let’s get into it…

About a year ago, the cheapest ounce of quality flower you could find in Denver was in the $120 range, and life was pretty stable. But then, something changed (imagine ominous music playing in the background). A very large conglomerate purchased a 180,000 square-foot grow in the heart of Colorado, and they started pumping out flower like you wouldn’t believe (they can harvest more than 100 plants a day). Next, this conglomerate purchased a few dispensaries in downtown Denver, and then they started selling their own flower for around $60 an ounce before tax, which was half of what their competitors charged (just so you know, I’m not going to mention names because most of this is conjecture anyway). And, just like a rock dropped into a pond, the conglomerate’s price drop sent ripples throughout Denver, and everyone had to lower their prices just to keep up—this was the beginning of the “race to the bottom” that got us into this pickle, but I’ll get to that in a second.

Now, at the time, there were about 530 dispensaries in Colorado, but we also had more than 700 grows. As you can imagine, the grows that weren’t vertically integrated with a dispensary also had to lower their wholesale prices to meet the demand for cheaper ounces, and then slowly but surely, these standalone-grows started to fold because they weren’t profitable. The availability of flower across the state started to dwindle. And then came the spring of 2019 wherein we had a late freeze in the plains, and many outdoor cultivations lost their crops; I’m sure you can see the storm clouds gathering.

Next, the summer months brought waves of tourists and travelers, all of whom wanted Colorado dispensary flower, and then demand started to catch up with supply. To make things worse, the state enacted tougher and more costly testing standards for flower, and retail prices went even higher as a result. As another aside, I want you to know that at The Greenery, we agree with these tests wholeheartedly because the best part of a legal, regulated cannabis industry is the fact that everything we sell has to be tested for microbials and pesticides, and that’s a good thing. It means flower isn’t tainted with chemicals or mold, and that means everybody wins. While the newly regulated tests didn’t affect The Greenery’s grow, the regulations did impact the grows cutting corners. Anyway, moving on…

All the cheap ounces around Denver started to disappear, the trend spread across the state, and then prices started to climb exponentially because availability wasn’t what it once was given all the shuttered grows. See what I’m getting at? In the end, the wholesale price of recreational flower more than doubled during a single tourist season, and even the shops purchased by that conglomerate have raised their retail flower prices by more than 60%, which is ironic, when you think about it. The “race to the bottom” brought us to a wholesale price point that wasn’t sustainable, and when demand started to climb, nothing existed to correct the market because we’d lost too many grows. That’s what happens when you race to the bottom: eventually, you get there, and there’s a price to pay. It sucks, but it is what it is.

But, for the love of everything that’s holy, I want you to know that none of this really matters to us, because here at The Greenery, quality has always mattered more than cheap weed. Our vertically-integrated grow is still alive and kicking, and we’re still churning out the best flower in Southwest Colorado. You can still walk into our dispensary and then walk out with an ounce of craft small-batch flower for roughly the same price you’ve always paid, because we grow the stuff ourselves. So please, come see us (and please feel free to call and ask where we are; I’m used to it). Please come look at the ounces we sell and then compare them to the ounces around town. You’ll see that our flower really is the best, and that our dispensary’s prices are fair. And, if quality matters to you more than quantity, you’ll also see that We’re Your Best Buds, just like we’ve always been.

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November Dispensary Deals

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