It has been about 3 years since they legalized weed in NY state. I've been shopping some nice dispensaries at First American (native American) shops. It took the state a while for them to get licenses out to people in our area. So the First American shops were the first to open. On top of that, the prices on reservation are just incredible if you shop around.
With that said, a lot of dispensaries began popping up in the local area. Licenses are being issued and the state has promised to issue more. Compared to First American shops prices are crazy.
I haven't shopped on the street for several years now so I have no idea what street prices are going for right now in my area. The NY licensed dispensary was about the same as street prices though from a few years back. $10 grams well .70 so not quite a gram. Ounces around I think he said $240 and up depending on the strain.
At many First American shops you can find ounces of shake in the $20 range, mid-grades starting around $30 or $40 an ounce. Then some serious rockstar stuff for anything over $100. HUGE DIFFERENCE.
My favorite reservation is almost 2 hours away. So it would be nice to have a local dispensary to shop at. After driving past a local spot for the last year, I finally decided to stop in and see what they had to offer. Like I said, the prices to me are crazy, but the convenience is still nice. They also had no shortage of business. While I shopped around several people came and went.
I told the budtender that it was my first trip to a state licensed dispensary and he welcomed me with a smile and began giving me the lowdown on all they had to offer. Hash was around $45 a gram. That's insane. He assured me they had the best prices locally though.
I passed on the hash, and the budtender gave me some space taking care of other customers while I perused their goods. After about 20 minutes I decided on a dime bag $10. Considering the prices I just wanted to test out the product. I picked out an indica, sorry forgot the name, but unfortunately they were out of stock. So I ended up selecting a Burnt Orange hybrid.
The Budtender took my money, and then rings up a receipt on the cash register. He takes the receipt and slips it into a metal door attached to a massive vault behind the register. It's like a revolving door about 12 x 18 inches. A minute later, the door spins back around with a tiny pouch of product.
"Brilliant" I mutter and the budtender laughs then replies, "Security first" with a devious smile. Sorry, no pictures allowed inside the shop.
So I love the packaging. .7 of a gram though. I mean it's really a little over a half gram if were rounding down. ☹️ 27% THC is a respectable potency. That's one of the things I liked about the licensed dispensary compared to my favorite First American shop. Each product had potency listed. My favorite First American shop knows all the potencies, but you have to ask, they're not listed on the labels or packaging. So yeah, great packaging.
So the image came out a little blurry, sorry about that. On a final note about the packaging, you have to cut it open with scissors and there really isn't anyway to reseal it. That's kind of a bummer. I really don't want to smoke the whole thing in one sitting, would be nice to be able to reseal it to keep that freshness.
The product itself was very nice though. You can't tell by the picture but it's nice and sticky with lots of trichomes that are visible to the naked eye. Color is a bright green, with hashy orange veins running through it. Smell is dank and crisp with hints of citrus.
Unfortunately, I'm just getting over a bout of Covid so my taste and smeller are little off. It did have a nice fragrant taste though a little on the skunky side with a musty aftertaste that was quite pleasant.
If I were to buy this at a First American shop, I'd suspect I could find a similar product in the $100 an ounce range. Still, having access to this locally is nice in a pinch.
Final Thoughts
Prices would have to come way down for me to shop here regularly. However, in a pinch or just wanting to switch things up with something locally, I'd shop here again.
I was happy to see other customers too. I know some of the local dispensaries are crying that business is a little slow. Between the taxes and prices, they're having a hard time competing with the street, so I'm guessing street prices must have come down a bit.
Still, I like the security and choices available at the licensed dispensaries and First American shops. I'll never shop on the street again. I think taxes are around 13% at the licensed dispensary and it's baked into the price. They did have some impressive looking 1/8 ounces starting at $20. 1 gram pre-rolls for $10. Again, seemed expensive to me, probably a better deal than what I got, but I like the quality of what I purchased too. Maybe next time, I'll try a pre-roll.
With all that said, I'm glad the local dispensaries are finally popping up all over the place. I'd love to see better prices, but at least the convenience and quality are there. I'll definitely shop local again. The entire experience was quite enjoyable.