Doobie, or Not Doobie
That is the question at Pete’s Farm Dispensary
By Eliot Sekuler
For the TODAY
The green-cross cannabis flag is visible to Highway 101 traffic towards the north end of Depoe Bay. Just beside it, on the front wall’s wood and stone façade, is Pete’s Farm Dispensary’s distinctively folksy red barn logo. The shop’s interior is light and airy, with gleaming glass counters displaying an array of cannabis edibles, smokeables and tinctures. And standing behind those counters, manager Jo Fisher offers a broad smile, a welcoming presence and advice on her products.
In the seven years since the state gave a green light to recreational sales, cannabis has been embraced by a broad swath of the Oregon public. According to various estimates, about a fifth of Oregonian adults consume cannabis products some of the time. More than 750 licensed cannabis dispensaries operate in Oregon and the state’s pot market is enormous, estimated at close to a billion dollars annually. Cannabis might be big business in Oregon, but for local dispensaries like Pete’s Farm, it’s all about face-to-face interaction and personal service.
“You have to have a good rapport with your customers,” Fisher said. “You have an opportunity to be very personal, to build relationships and help them make choices that are just right for them.”
As varieties of cannabis products proliferate, creating an extraordinary number of products to choose from, cannabis consumption has become a matter of different smokes for different folks. In the competitive arena of retail sales, a successful “budtender” must be able to match customers with their preferred products.
“If a customer is looking for advice, the first thing I ask them to tell me is the kind of experience they’re looking for,” Fisher said. “Then I can tell them about the different kinds of cannabis that we offer. We have indicas, which have a reputation for being very relaxing and chill. We have sativas, which are more uplifting and energizing. And we have a variety of hybrids that can be either a 50-50 cross or can lean in one direction or the other.”
Shelves along the wall are laden with clear-glass jars of cannabis flower.
Displayed within the cabinets are cookies and gummies, tinctures and premade cannabis cigarettes or “pre-rolls,” some infused with hashish, tincture or the cannabis concentrate known as “shatter.”
“Some people come in looking for a little extra `oomph,’” Fisher said.
Although a majority of Pete’s Farm customers are recreational users, especially during the summer months, the dispensary serves a good many medicinal clients.
In the winter, Fisher estimates that two-thirds of her customers are looking for recreational products. The others are seeking relief from chronic pain or sleep issues.
“We’re coming into the ‘aches and pains’ season, when the weather turns and arthritis is kicking up and people with chronic conditions are really in discomfort,” said Fisher, who is enthusiastic about ongoing research that has identified and isolated additional components of the cannabis species with medicinal value. “There’s a lot of really good, very comprehensive research going on.”
The research might discover additional therapeutic uses for cannabis products for those seeking relief from a variety of maladies. CBD and THC/CBD products are already familiar to consumers, but new cannabinoids may well prove to be even more effective for those experiencing pain and sleep issues.
“There are several new products developed just in the last few years that are formulated specifically to deal with sleep issues,” Fisher said. “I have people coming in looking for relief that they can’t find through conventional medicine. And they’re finding that cannabis products really address the issues that modern conventional medicine doesn’t.
Among her customers, the recreational and medicinal users tend to favor different products.
“Our most popular products for recreational use are pre-rolls, both singly and in packs, and cannabis concentrates in cartridge form. Flower is also very popular,” Fisher said. “Our most popular products for medicinal use are edibles, especially those formulated for pain management and sleep issues, and topicals that are applied directly to the skin.”
In the small coastal community of Depoe Bay, customer loyalty and repeat business is the lifeblood for any business, and Fisher takes pride in the way that “cannabis culture” figures into her business equation.
“There’s a spirit of generosity that goes with the cannabis culture,” she said. “It’s something that has always meant a lot to me and I want to share it with my customers. Cannabis culture is about sharing: you pass the joint, you don’t `bogart’ it. And what we share here is our knowledge, our passion and enjoyment.”
Loyal customers also extend beyond the local community.
“We have a lot of regular local customers but we also have regulars from other states who come back time and time again because they know they’re going to get a welcome here,” Fisher said. “They’re going to find good products and good people behind the counter who are really committed to what they’re doing. If somebody comes into the store and buys a $4.20 pre-roll, they get the same welcome and treatment as the customer who spends hundreds of dollars for an ounce of our finest top-shelf product, because we value them all.”
Pete’s Farm Dispensary is located at 433 N Hwy. 101 in Depoe Bay, open daily from 9 am to 8 pm. For more information, call 541-614-4085.