Our criteria for pot shops that are more than just dispensaries and worth making long trips for
Already jumping into the new year enthusiastically, we’re back to visiting particularly special cannabis facilities and retailers across the Bay State to see how they grow and sell their magic seeds.
And while all the places we explore have something noteworthy that lures us with our notepads and recording equipment, there are certain operations that we’re starting to distinguish as destination dispensaries—and not only because the phrase has a ring to it.
Destination dispensaries are just that—pot shops that are worth taking a long drive to get to. The lure could be due to its products, niche, location, or some other standout trait—but in the best cases, they have all of the above. We’ve thought about this quite a bit as more spots close and new ones open, more often than not without distinguishing features.
Without further ado, here are the qualifying criteria for those that really stand out and deserve this designation. In the coming months, we’ll show you which stores fit the bill, and we encourage readers to share their favorites with us as well …
It should be cozy, maybe even with some couches
Though aesthetics are hardly the most important thing for a destination dispensary, and we wouldn’t count it as a strike against a place that had charm due to being small or strange, we may want to briefly hang out once we arrive, perhaps for a quick game of cornhole before hitting the road.
It’s great when you can actually smell weed in the air
Have you been to Harbor House Collective in Chelsea? How about Suncrafted in Middleborough? They’re both extraordinary for a number of reasons, many of which align with this checklist, but what you notice first upon stepping out of your car is the unmistakable punch of loud weed aromas. We understand that Massachusetts regulations don’t exactly make it possible to take a whiff of every bud and dab before making a purchase, but it’s definitely nice to bathe in the sweet potpourri of cannabis in cultivation while we’re shopping.
Five words: deals, deals, and more deals
There are few bigger turnoffs in craft beer than when a taproom overcharges for the beer made right on their own premises. A similar thing can be said of dispensaries selling their own brand of weed; in short, hook that shit up! Give us your best, give it to us dirt cheap, and send us on our way to tell the world how unbelievable it is, instead of complaining to our friends and social media about how we drove all that way and got ripped off.
There should be significant product variety
Did we mention that these places should have excellent assortments and top-notch products? Because they should. It’s understandable if a vertically-integrated company is focused on its own weed and edibles, but really we would also like to see goods from small independent producers and maybe even a few high-end staples from larger suppliers. Deli-style weed, as found at CNA Stores in the Merrimack Valley and High Profile X Budega locations in Boston, is like icing on the destination cake, since part of the selection experience is more than just picking names off a menu.
It should have medical and adult-use sales
Not all destination dispensaries need to have medical and adult-use menus, but it’s certainly a bonus to have the option. As the Bay State loses more and more stores where patients can shop for high potency products and steer clear of taxes, this demographic is already used to making longer trips for weed than most, and is generally willing to drive extra miles for their meds. The best destination dispos make it all worthwhile, hopefully with some of the herein mentioned accouterments and certainly with the accessibility and consulting some patients need.
And there is hopefully some solid grub nearby
Listen, we aren’t going to deprive a shop of destination status just because it is surrounded by fast food establishments. But it’s a bonus if there’s even something as charming as a roadside hot dog stand close by where we can grab a bench and roll up.
And while we’re talking about social consumption…
You may have noticed that some dispensaries have awkwardly large atrium areas, or in several cases, nearby, attached, or adjacent spaces that are currently unused. Fortunately, the proposed regulations for social consumption in Mass provide opportunities for those rooms and buildings to become places where people can actually get stoned. And when those lounges and establishments finally open, they’ll give the destination concept a new overdue dynamic that should lure canna consumers from as far away as other states.
