Pubdate: Wed, 03 Jul 2013
Source: East Bay Express (CA)
Copyright: 2013 East Bay Express
Contact: http://posting.eastbayexpress.com/ebx/SubmitLetter/Page
Website: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1131
Author: David Downs
Column: Legalization Nation

LAST STOP BEFORE BAN LAND

The East Bay's northernmost legal dispensary, Holistic Healing
Collective, is a bare-bones mom-and-pop establishment with some hidden
deals on top-shelf Hindu Kush.

Holistic Healing Collective
15501 San Pablo Ave., Richmon, 510-275-3365 or HolisticHealingCollective.org
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Hundreds of medical cannabis dispensaries have closed in California
since the state Supreme Court ruled on May 6 that cities and counties
can ban them. Currently, about 85 percent of local jurisdictions
statewide have cut off access to medical pot, even though it's
supposed to be legal.

Luckily for East Bay residents, Oakland, Berkeley, and Richmond still
permit pot clubs and have done a pretty good job of regulating them.
But travelers take note: If you're heading out of the Bay Area to
points north this summer, your last chance to get city-sanctioned
medical cannabis in the region is at the exceedingly well-run Holistic
Healing Collective in Richmond. From there, you can see the North Bay,
where the dispensary bans begin.

After Richmond experienced a dispensary boom in 2008 and 2009, the
city council declared pot shops a nuisance and closed them in 2010,
pending a permitting process that began in 2011. Four permitted
dispensaries re-opened in 2012: Seven Stars in the Pacific East Mall;
Grand Daddy Purp Collective and Green Remedy in the Hilltop Mall area;
and Holistic Healing Collective in the Vista Del Mar Village Shopping
Center.

HHC occupies the corner slot of the bland strip mall; its neighbors
include a taqueria, a Thai restaurant, a gas station, and an empty
real estate office. HHC has tasteful, yet subdued, signage, and its
mirrored-glass facade obscures the view into the dispensary reception
area.

A rush of air-conditioned, cleaning-product-smelling air enveloped us
as we walked into the lobby. With the thin commercial carpeting, the
fluorescent light banks, the muted wall tones, and the water cooler,
we could have been in a small insurance office. A set of chairs and
benches lined the perimeter. Even the reggae music emanating from the
sound system was tasteful and low-key. "" style="border: 0px none;
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The place was empty on a recent Friday, and joining the club took five
minutes with a valid state ID and physician's recommendation for
cannabis. We got buzzed into a small, very clean and organized sales
area with a couple of display cases and one sales station.

In contrast to the stereotypical laconic stoner girl in her twenties
at many dispensaries, HHC's salesperson was a little older, clad in
gym gear, and full of energy. She turned out to be the club's owner,
and was happy to give us the run-down on running a regulated club in
her city.

She rented the space for two years until she got a permit and could
open, and has put $300,000 into it, she said. She said she pays
Richmond police $5,000 per month in fees and the department regularly
inspects HHC and the other clubs. If police don't like what they see,
the city will shut her down, and make her pay thousands of dollars
more to re-open, she said. Customers pay a 14 percent sales tax and
all buds are tested for potency and labeled, as mandated by Richmond's
strict regulations. She runs a tight ship.

HHC's weed menu - displayed on a single, small flatscreen on the wall
- - consists of about fifteen flowers and as many types of hash, plus
lots of edibles. HHC's online menu, however, proved to be inaccurate.
Although it listed "Sherbet," a coveted variant of the trendy Girl
Scout Cookies strain, as being available, it wasn't when we arrived.
The in-store menu also has a bunch of buds that aren't online due to
technical issues. On the upside, new HHC patients get a big,
pre-rolled cone joint fortified with keef. They're very potent.

We were also shown strains, one at a time, in their pre-packaged
zip-lock foil pouches. HHC has a solid lineup of purples and OGs.
Standouts included the Platinum Girl Scout Cookies, a sedative hybrid
that has notes of mint and vanilla, and the Tangerine, which was
everything we'd hoped for - as citrusy as a funky tangelo.

Eighth-ounces cost as much as $60 elsewhere, but HHC had quality
products for as little as $25. The $35 eighth-ounce of Blue Dream was
a steal. We got fixated on a $25 deal on Hindu Kush, which smelled way
better than plenty of top-shelf bags.

The southern Himalayan varieties of pot - the Hindu Kushes - are
renowned for their pungent incense smell, and potent, narcoleptic
stone. The zip-lock bag couldn't hold back the Kush's sharp, dank
bouquet. The dark, dense, resinous buds were like looking back in time
to a less-hybridized weed world. After scoping the whole menu, we
couldn't forget Hindu Kush's piney, astringent, and hashy smell. For
centuries, people have used such pure indicas as a sleep aid and
muscle relaxant.

The club is cash-only due to the fact that the US Department of
Treasury has cut off banking services to marijuana businesses, but
there's an ATM onsite. The entire experience was quick, clean, and
professional. As you leave, make sure to drink in the gorgeous view of
the North Bay, and say a prayer for those stuck in ban land.
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MAP posted-by: Matt