Meet me at the station
Story & photos by Gretchen Ammerman
Oregon Coast TODAY
From pure plants to tasty tinctures and adorable edibles, the variety of methods for partaking in cannabis are almost mind-boggling. And no place on the coast presents an opportunity to experience all of this variety like the Medication Station.
The huge shop, located in the heart of Newport’s Deco District, opened seven years ago as a medical dispensary. And though the business transitioned to carrying recreational products when Oregon legalized that use, it is still “committed to compassion,” offering those with medical cards higher discounts, recognizing that many medical users are on fixed budgets or losing their savings due to the costs of things like cancer treatment.
And right now, to celebrate the “Christmas for cannabis users,” the shop is having a huge 4:20 sale from Wednesday, April 20, through Friday, April 22.
Urban legends abound about the origin of 4:20, a time of day many people choose as a time to partake. The one most believable is that back in the 1970s, a group of kids in Northern California regularly met at that time to smoke and the practice grew enough that the Grateful Dead referenced it. Now, 4:20 festivals happen all over the world on April 20.
Even when not celebrating 4:20 day, the shop offers special sales all week long, like Slow Down Sunday, with specials geared toward relaxation and sleep, Wellness Wednesday, with special prices for topicals and tinctures and storewide sales on Happy Fr-high-day.
If you like buying really fresh bud, you’ll find that the shop does it “deli style.”
Instead of prepackaged amounts, your picks will be weighed at the time of purchase, so that nothing is sitting around. And, you’ll find that everything is labeled with the lineage, THC and CBD content and even the experience you can expect.
For example, the new strain “White Truffle” comes from a mix of GG#4 and Peanut Butter Breath, has 26.85 percent THC and gives a high that is “Euphoric, calm, couch locked.”
The owner of the shop has a history as a traditional florist, but decided to open the dispensary after one of her children suffered a traumatic brain injury. She saw how the careful use of cannabis helped him overcome the challenges he was facing enough that he was able to return to and then graduate from college.
Never on her radar before this experience, she now counts learning about cannabis and opening the dispensary as one of the best things she has ever done, not only enjoying the experience of seeing people seek and then find relief, but also finding a great staff of “bud tenders” who go to great care to listen to customers’ needs and ensure that they leave with the right products.
She also goes to great lengths to create a place where there is still plenty of fun hippy vibe, but is still full of light and professionally run so that a soccer mom or quilting grandmother will feel just as comfortable walking through the doors.
And if for some reason you still don’t feel comfortable with the chance your neighbor will see you entering or leaving, Medication Station has you covered: offering online ordering so you can order ahead of time and have staff bring it out to your car.
And because the online menu, also on big screens in the shop, is connected to the point of sale, if they sell out of something it drops off the menu right away.
Humans aren’t the only ones who benefit from the healing properties of CBD, the “non-hallucinogenic” part of the cannabis plant; many pet owners use tinctures to relieve joint pain for aging cats and dogs. The Medication Station even has people tell them that their vets referred them. Though there are many CBD products for pets that haven’t been tested, the shop only carries those that have undergone rigorous testing, so you can feel confident giving them to your best fur friend.
So visit in person or online to experience the shop that Newport-News Times readers have voted “The Best” dispensary in 2020 and 2021 and, thanks to its large inventory, has the best prices in town.
The Medication Station is located at 454 SW Hwy. 101 in Newport and is open from 9 am to 8 pm, Sunday through Thursday, and from 9 am to 9 pm, Friday and Saturday. For more information, go to themedicationstations.com or call 541-265-9170.