By Sarah Bradley & Danny Loose
Here in Washington, weed dispensaries have become a welcome addition to otherwise typical shopping centers. The sale of recreational marijuana to the public began on July 8 2014. Even though it has been a while since initiative 502 passed, which licenses and regulates the production, distribution, and possession of marijuana, it has taken a while for new retailers to open. Pot shops continue to open up around the area for folks over the age of 21 to purchase cannabis products to be consumed in the privacy of their home.
As a WA resident, long gone are the days of awkwardly lingering around your dealer’s apartment, unsure of when ‘polite conversation’ has maxed out and desperately hoping you don’t get pulled into a two hour affair when they start reminiscing about their favorite scenes from Pineapple Express. No longer will you loiter around a 7-11 parking lot to score some over-priced and questionable bud! Welcome to the days of regulated weed sales, aided by a ‘budtender’ who is ready to soothe your stoner sorrows and find a product just right for you. Aahhhh, the sweet specialization of late capitalist society.
Two new shops recently opened on the Westside of Olympia. The CPJ staff undertook this mission to check out Olympia’s dispensaries out of dedication to providing information about local establishments. Consume carefully and stay safe, stoners.
Green Lady has opened a second location on Harrison Avenue. It is affiliated with the Green Lady located on Pacific Ave on the Eastside, however, if you are a member of the Green Lady rewards program at that location, it does not carry over to this new spot. Which isn’t a total loss because it means you can receive 10% off your first purchase. In addition to an assortment of strains available to select from, Green Lady also sells to various types of glassware. They sell pre-rolled joints and have a small selection of edibles like candy and chocolates. The staff is friendly and open to answering whatever questions you have. This store carries a similar selection to the Eastside counter-part, the main difference being that the Westside store is situated as one large room, whereas the Eastside location has a waiting room.
THC West is on Martin Way. Visiting it for the first time felt a lot like what buying weed in the 1970s must have been like: We had to drive to the outskirts of the west side by the wetlands to buy weed from a location operating behind a car garage in a huge bunker. The vibe inside was really mellow and less hectic than that of a place crowded with customers like Green Lady Eastside, most of the employees seemed to be chatting amongst each other and having fun and were really eager to talk about the products. Many of the edibles and topicals are from the same suppliers of Green Lady so if you’re making the trek out there, get bud because it’s more worth it.
The other new dispensary to open on the west-side, the horribly named G*psy Greens, can be found on the corner of Division and Harrison.The budtender working at G*psy Greens checked my i.d. before showing me their selection. The selection is similar to other dispensaries, with slightly more edibles and other novel items like THC “breath spray,” and dab rigs modeled after Starbucks cups and emblazoned with the words “dab-acino.” They have a daily deal for a $6 dollar pre-rolled joint, and they are working on setting up a customer reward system.
The addition of two new dispensaries on the West side is pretty exciting for folks who live in the area. The convenient location of theses two locations provide access to plenty of weed friendly activities, like bowling, eating pizza, laying on your back in a park, or wandering around Grocery Outlet on the verge of a panic attack—just kidding! Stay calm, chill out, toke up, whatever. The Eastside has dispensaries as well, so no matter where you are in Olympia,if you are over 21 years of age you can get some legal recreational weed.
To give you an idea of the type of selection you can find, the CPJ Weed Correspondent Team reviewed some of the hella dank strains you can find inside Olympia’s dispensaries:
Blue Dream: Sativa
For those who are unfamiliar, Blue Dream is probably the Coca Cola of weed strains. It’s an amazingly popular sativa characterized by its “giggliness” and it’s body high. Much like drinking a Coke, it feels hard to describe it in detail to someone that’s never had it, but I’ll take a stab at it:
The flower smells heavily of pine and blueberries and is probably about as hairy as my legs. It’s covered in pollen and isn’t super sticky, so much so that I basically crushed it between my fingers and sprinkled directly into the bowl like fairy dust. I am not wild about sativas, they usually make me feel paranoid and overly analytical, but this weed gave me the mental stimulation of a sativa and the relaxed and docile feeling of an indica with the last hour of being stoned. I recommend doing what I did while smoking this: wrap yourself in a blanket, eat sour haribo gummy bears, and watch “The Pervert’s Guide To Ideology” on Netflix just to laugh at it. 3.7 trashcans of ideology out of 5 for this strain only because I’ve had Blue Dream more times than I can count so it’s boring to me at this point. If you’ve never smoked weed in your entire life this is a good place to start, but otherwise there are a bajillion other strains you could try instead.
3.7/5 STARS
Cookie Monster Pre Roll:
Indica
I’m going to be perfectly blunt here (haha get it? “Blunt”?): never buy a pre-roll from a weed store, recreational or medical. Despite the convenience of not having to do it yourself, Pre-Rolls are most always (or partially) made of trim, which is an industry term for “shitty weed”. Trim is the excess plant matter when the “buds” have been harvested, which can be turned into hash, weed butter, or in this case: tightly rolled joints stores can use to get rid of and make a bit of money. 1 gram Pre Rolls at Green Lady are usually $5 when a gram of bud is $10, so that should probably raise a red flag. A red flag that I totally ignored when I got talked into buying this pre roll.
This joint was kinda weird, it has a sticker on the side encouraging you to lick the joint before smoking it, which is something I had never encountered before. I did and I don’t think it did anything to help the burn of the joint, if anything it made it burn unevenly.
It was not the strongest smelling weed, but after I smoked it I got chocolate and hazelnut notes which I guess is how it got the name “Cookie Monster”. Because the quality of the weed was considerably less of a joint that I could have rolled myself with buds, I really had to nurse this puppy. It was harsh in my lungs, not super strong, made me feel especially thirsty, and didn’t do much to relax or put me to sleep which is what I expect from an indica. Overall, don’t be fooled just because it’s half price, it’s cheap for a reason.
1/5 STARS
Big Wreck: Indica
Big Wreck is a mix of Trainwreck, one of my all time favorites, and Big Bud which I have never heard of before and is frankly a super uninspired name for a strain.
Big Wreck is a real doozy, opening it once meant that any backpack I carried it in was doomed to smell like weed forever, which I guess is both a blessing and a curse. When I bought this the budtender told me that I should be sitting down somewhere, so I took his advice and sat on my couch to try this strain. If you’re trying to go to sleep I highly recommend this strain because it really knocked me out despite only smoking half a bowl of it while watching cartoons and eating pasta. If you get this be sure to stock your fridge because this strain really awakened my hunger and I pretty much ate everything that was in my possession when I woke up. Overall super great turn down weed that pairs well with alfredo pasta.
4/5 STARS
Sour Kush: 50/50 Hybrid
This weed was packaged in a super weird way: the ziplocked package containing the bud was filled with nitrogen in order to keep it fresher, which I guess if you’re some kind of weed snob would be a cool addition but to me it seemed extraneous. I will mention that opening this weed made my entire house thick with the scent to the point that the air felt thicker so maybe this nitrogen packaging this makes sense.
Even though this weed smelled extremely dank, I was a bit underwhelmed by its delivery. Smoking it alone was alright, I mostly used it to stay focused on my homework (which I don’t recommend for everyone) but when I smoked it in a group setting I saw its worth. Sour Kush is good for mellowing a group of people out and having existential conversations, If you’re all tired from doing something strenuous together this is excellent for decompressing. I expected to get really hungry from this weed but it just made me super thirsty and I pounded three la croix’s in an hour when I smoked it. Overall fun for a group but made me feel a bit listless when I was alone.
3.5/5 STARS
Harlequin Cross: Sativa
This weed is clearly well grown, the bud is really tight, compact and covered in a brownish pollen. It smells a lot like green tea but not in a way that’s really pleasant, it sort of leaves a urea type smell in my nose which in any other circumstance would be grossed out by, but this smells like it means business. As far as smoking goes, it’s pretty amazing, tastes delicious, and you don’t need to use much to really feel it. When I was inquiring about the effects the budtender told me that it’s perfect “after work” strain, which I totally agree with. It’s stimulating enough that I was able to participate enthusiastically in a conversation with minimal “y’know man”’s or “uuuuuuuuum”’s and delivered some intense munchies. Perfect pairing for hanging with your roommates and making a salmon-based dinner.
It’s relaxing but not to a degree that it makes me feel lazy, and stimulated but not to the extent that my heart feels like it’s about to explode. If anything I felt focused and super hungry. I seriously only took 1 hit and felt like it was totally enough, which makes it a seriously economical choice. If you are able to drive out to THC West, it’s a super amazing deal for $8 a gram.
4.5/5 STARS
It should be noted that marijuana is a subjective product and your experiences may vary from those of our reviewers. We hope you found this guide helpful as you navigate the dispensaries of Olympia.
