Hundreds of dodgy weed stores exist among the licensed dispensaries in California and everywhere medical use is legal. Luckily, you can order weed delivery online in Santa Monica. You only need a bit of cash, the Internet, and a state-issued Medical Marijuana “green” Card. In the early days of legalization, it was easy to open a dispensary, and while some operate responsibly, many disreputable weed shops sprang up in unsafe neighborhoods.
The Drug Enforcement Agency has since shut down most of these operations through Proposition D, approved by voters last year. Improperly licensed or non-complying businesses suffered most, with many proprietors punished and stores closed forever. However, although these efforts furthered political agendas and looked good on paper, they did nothing to curb marijuana sales.
Instead, enforcement efforts altered the method of cannabis delivery. Former shop owners and cultivators found themselves with huge mounds of buds and nowhere to sell them. Business went mobile and led directly to this era of marijuana delivery services. Over the last three years, the number of delivery companies has tripled nationwide and nowhere is it more obvious than in Santa Monica.
Using an Online Weed Dispensary in Santa Monica
You need to be a California resident to buy weed online. You will also need a state-issued prescription, which will cost around $150 and reward you with a medical marijuana “green card.” Although this is legally optional, you absolutely must have a letter from a physician. Any one will do, provided he or she has a California license to practice in the state.
The legality of marijuana deliveries is just as patchy. California allows individual counties to make their own decisions about it. This is why finding a cannabis dispensary in Santa Monica is becoming more difficult, as delivery services are operating increasingly without storefronts. Legislation is contradictory between counties and cities, but Santa Monica permits delivery for medical patients.
Finding Marijuana Delivery in Santa Monica
Once you have your doctor’s letter of recommendation, and your green card preferably too, then you are ready to start ordering weed online. However, with such an abundance of these services available, which are the best? How do you even find them? Not all are legitimate and many con people of their much-needed medical funds. There are websites indexing reputable delivery services these days:
Weedmaps
Weedmaps is an extremely useful pot locator. Simply type in your location and you will have instant access to every delivery service, marijuana doctor, dispensary, and even laboratory facility within a radius of 20 miles. It has its own Android and iOS apps, and lists every store’s contact details, operating hours, latest menu items, and even customer reviews.
Leafly
Leafly is the go-to resource for all things marijuana throughout the United States and Canada. Not only does it list nearby dispensaries and delivery services on a user-friendly map, but it also provides exhaustive strain guides, feature articles, and even latest news. You can create your own account and get special discount offers and coupons to use with your purchases.
Where’s Weed
Similar in many aspects to Weedmaps, Where’s Weed also provides graphic visuals for local doctors, delivery services and dispensaries. What sets it apart, however, is that patients can narrow their search results according to their preferences, such as type of edible, bud, concentrate, or even topical cream. This store locator also has its own downloadable apps.
Ordering Weed Delivery Online in Santa Monica
Once you have your chosen delivery service, the process could not get any easier. The law requires dispensaries to provide marijuana to members of their co-ops exclusively. You will have to join up the first time you use a service. Registration involves uploading a copy of your doctor’s letter, a photo I.D., and a green card, if you have one. Once done, you will not need it again, even if you lose the letter itself.
Payment is also a factor to consider. Recent crackdowns by the DEA ban using credit cards to buy weed. Most dispensaries cannot accept Mastercard, Visa, Amex, and others anymore, so everyone deals on a cash-only basis. You may be lucky enough to find some accepting debit cards and willing to add a withdrawal fee to it, much like using an ATM. Most delivery services offer this option.
Then you must also think about how the company bills you. Naturally, you are at a clear disadvantage if the service takes money from your card before you even see the flowers you are buying. If you get bud full of seeds and stems, then you lose out because the company already has your cash. Wherever possible, always use a service that offers more sensible payment options.
When in doubt, you should always have cash, but there are services that will either permit you to swipe a debit card through a Square-style reader or at least pay the driver cash on arrival. That way, you get to see what are getting before you pay for it. If the buds are unsatisfactory, you have instant recourse to get your money back.
There is no obligation to tip your delivery person, although it is good etiquette to do so. This is particularly true in strange and unusual circumstances, such as the poor driver trekking through miles of snow to get to you. Remember, these tortured souls spend days navigating horror film-style traffic and deal with the most absentminded goofballs imaginable.