The aroma hits you the moment you open the door.
The distinctive sweet smell of marijuana permeates the bright, spacious showroom of The Artist Tree, a legal cannabis dispensary that opened May 31 in Laguna Woods, the first in south Orange County.
Shelves line the walls displaying all sorts of cannabis products – edibles such as gummies, lozenges, chocolates and gum, plus beverages, topicals, tinctures, lotions and potions, pre-rolls, vape pens and more.
Tables are filled with sensory pods containing marijuana flowers grown throughout California. The clear plastic boxes allow customers to inspect the pot up close through a magnifying lens and get a whiff of it with a puff button.
“If you can’t get it here, you probably can’t get it anywhere,” said Laguna Woods Village resident Alan Wall, who with his wife, Terry, was perusing the edibles. “It’s a whole lot different from the ’70s – it’s legal, the variety and the quality.”
On opening day, a steady stream of customers visited the shop, according to Lauren Fontein, one of the founders of The Artist Tree chain of dispensaries, to browse, buy and maybe just sniff the products. Edibles were big on shopping lists, especially sleep products – “not just to get high,” Fontein said. Many of the customers were older and came from the Village retirement community, she said.
That’s no surprise: The Artist Tree is just outside Gate 3, next to the mortuary on Moulton Parkway.
And for many residents who showed up Friday, the big draw was the location. No longer did they have to drive far afield to get their pot.
“I’m thrilled that it’s here,” said Maureen Mehler, who suffers from spinal stenosis. “The drive to Santa Ana (dispensaries) is a nightmare.”
Mehler bought vegan fruit gummies.
“It makes the pain manageable,” she said of cannabis. “I can walk for a mile, mile and a half, and I don’t have pain in my back. And I prefer this to living on Tylenol.”
Peggy Edwards, who picked up some sleep gummies, also prefers cannabis for relief, saying it helps with the shaking and tremulous voice brought on by her essential tremor, a neurological disorder.
“I don’t use Big Pharma,” she said, adding, “It’s excellent that it’s so close to home.”
Susan Harris was perusing the marijuana flowers on display. She says she smokes pot for medical and recreational reasons.
“This is wonderful for the community,” Harris said of the dispensary. “It’s wonderful for an older person to be able to sit down and relax in the afternoon. And not have to rely on opiates or any other forced medications for pain.”
Laguna Woods City Councilmember and Village resident Annie McCary agreed: “It’s a wonderful opportunity for residents to be able to get their needs met locally,” she said. “It’s also a good revenue generator for the city with the sales tax.”
Resident Dianna Bolen and her husband, Michael Pontecorvo, bought gummies, pre-rolls and vaping paraphernalia, but she also had another reason for appreciating the new dispensary: “It’s an informal way to meet people with similar interests,” she said.
A special guest on opening day was Anna Boyce, author of Proposition 215, which legalized medical marijuana in California in 1996. She called the dispensary in Laguna Woods a long time coming, though “anything good takes time.”
Boyce began her yearslong journey in the cannabis field when an attorney she knew needed marijuana for medical reasons.
“I felt he had a right to use it,” she said. “We knew it had benefits – it took the pain away and encouraged people to eat.”
Though Boyce said she never used marijuana herself – “didn’t have to,” she said – she would if she needed it for medical reasons.
“I don’t know what the hullabaloo is about marijuana,” Boyce said. “It’s less of a threat than codeine and morphine.”
The Artist Tree chain bills itself as “an art gallery that just so happens to sell cannabis.” Artworks are displayed on a rotating basis. Currently on display in Laguna Woods are works by Village artists Phil Eaton and Jim Gibson.
Gibson has three abstract pieces among the paintings, which he describes as flowing, spiritual and meditative, in line with the nature of the shop.
“Have you ever indulged?” he asked. “Then I don’t need to say any more.”
The dispensary may eventually branch out further, Fontein said, perhaps offering educational events such as talks on the wellness benefits of cannabis, classes on growing plants at home, with plans to sell live plants, and even a cooking with cannabis class.
A grand opening celebration is scheduled for Saturday, June 15. Though the dispensary is not allowed to offer food, drinks or live entertainment, Fontein said there will be “free merchandise/swag, discounts, penny items and other activities.”
Beginning Monday, June 10, the dispensary will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For those who can’t make it to the shop, delivery service is scheduled to launch on July 8.
And for now, the dispensary takes only cash, checks or debit cards.
Leave a Reply