Legal marijuana no longer a pipe dream

Welcome to October! Anyone 21+ in Oregon can now stroll into one of its fine medical dispensaries and purchase up to 7 grams of dried flower. If you’ve never been into a dispensary, there are a few things you should know to make your experience both pleasant and educational.

Check before you go

Many dispensaries have been offering medical patients certain kinds of flower, but might have something different stocked up for the recreational side. You can check popular sites like Leafly and Weedmaps ‑ many places keep updated menus of their current offerings.

Be cool

The folks working at your nearest collective know a ton and they’re happy to point you in the right direction, if you let them in on your experience level. Do not, however, act like they are that dude you used to buy weed from on the wrong side of town. Dispensary workers aren’t drug dealers, so don’t use slang, show off your own stash, or tell them about what you saw somewhere else. Also, prices are fixed, so no bartering.

Look around

There are hundreds of skilled bakers, extractors, and growers in the area and soon, they’ll be even more. That means every shop is probably going to have something a little different, and it’s important to shop around and see which places have the flower you’ll enjoy.

Bring your I.D.

Big Brother is very interested in finding out how old you are. Bring your I.D. and cash — the federal government is making it difficult for shop owners to have bank accounts, so most places are only going to take cash.

No concentrates for you

Recreational cannabis users won’t be able to purchase edibles or concentrates until 2017, if even then. Hopefully, most dispensaries will have these goodies out of view of the regular user, but it’s good to be informed about your limitations. You can, however, buy pre-rolled joints, rolling papers, grinders, glass, and all other smoke accessories.

Keep it to yourself

Once you’ve acquired that precious 7 grams of flower, grind it up and pack it into your favorite piece and don’t smoke it around children, nonsmokers, or in public. Etiquette is important – in the fast-changing Oregon culture, we need to set the best example for other states to follow suit. You now have access to some of the finest ganga in the country. Don’t let it go up in smoke!