It’s 4/20, so you know what that means! (Just in case my mother is reading this, April 20th is a day that we recreate the time God Facetimed Moses via a burning bush.)
And to celebrate this holy day, we have provided a list of 10 black-owned cannabis dispensaries where you can buy your supplies — only where it’s legal — for this sacred day of reverence and communion with the Most High — Snoop Dogg.
1. SimplyPure
SimplyPure was the first black woman-owned dispensary in Denver. Wanda James and Scott Durrah, both military veterans, opened their dispensary in 2010 and serve vegan edibles, flowers and operate a small-batch farm that was voted the Best Flavor Champion at Colorado’s 2018 The Grow Off Competition. One of the owners, Scott Durrah, is currently running for city council in Denver.
2. Apothecarry
Apothecarry Indo-Lifestyle designs and sells “high quality, high-end herb & tobacco accouterments for the discriminating connoisseur.” Basically, they offer products for people who want to keep their weed in something nicer than a Mason jar. The company was started by Whitney Beatty, a mother who quit her job and started a company so that your ganja could sleep in a luxurious case.
3. Mary and Main
Mary and Main is a team of medical professionals in Capitol Heights, Md. who also operate a dispensary featuring some of the best cannabis that George Clinton hasn’t smoked up already. The collective also offers classes on marijuana but don’t worry, there are no pop quizzes (You know why).
4. American Cannabanoid Clinics
A family of black physicians founded the American Cannabanoid Clinics that now operate in 19 states. They specialize in endocannabinology — a natural-based approach to disease management and reversal — and offer consultations, medical marijuana cards and alternatives to traditional medicine.
5. Blunts and Moore
The first black-owned retailer to open under Oakland’s social equity program, Blunts and Moore is a dispensary that bills itself as “the happy store.” The company was started by Alphonso Blunt and Brittany Moore so the name is not just a clever turn of phrase.
6. Botaniq
According to Botaniq’s website, when television reporter and anchor Anqunette Sarfoh was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis in 2013, she decided to try cannabis therapy and went from taking nine pharmaceuticals a day to taking none. The company grows its own plants and partner with local farms to supply its Detroit, Mich. location.
7. Viola
Viola was founded by 16-year NBA veteran Al Harrington. The company sells vapes, flowers and extracts at locations in Colorado, Oregon, Michigan and California, with plans to expand into Arizona and Nevada in 2019.
8. 99th Floor
Imagine a world-famous chef showing up at your door to cook a five-course meal that will make you feel like you’re floating on cloud ten (Cloud nine doesn’t have a VIP section). That’s exactly the idea behind 99th Floor, the brainchild of Doug Cohen and chef Miguel Trinidad. They offer personal meals as well as sell their cannabis-infused products in dispensaries around the country.
9. iCANN
In May 2016, retired Catholic school principal and grandmother Sue Taylor was unanimously selected by the Berkeley, Cali. city council to receive a permit to open a dispensary. As the first black-owned dispensary owner in the Bay area, iCANN hoes to fuse the culture of cannabis use with healthy lifestyles.
10. Your weed man
Everyone knows a recreational product concierge with an entrepreneurial spirit, also known as “the plug” or your weed man.” He operates in all 50 states and he always takes a long time to get to you, even though he says he’s just around the corner.
This brother or sister really gives back to the community, spreading happiness and joy in a cloud of smoke wherever they go. They have superior mathematical skills, can judge weight with their eyes and often calculate grams to ounces in their heads.
But as marijuana becomes increasingly legal across the country, this industry is being taken over by fair-haired investors who don’t spend their money in black communities. That’s why — if you live in a state where marijuana is legal — you should only shop with black-owned legal businesses. In most cases, legal dispensaries also advocate for the legalization of marijuana, which will lessen the War on Drugs and make marijuana legal everywhere.
Happy 4/20 and praise Dogg for the burning bush!