Dispensary Review: Safe Harbor (Dana Point, CA)

[TheDuck]

This week I visited a highly-touted shop in beautiful Dana Point, CA called "Safe Harbor" (Safe Harbor Collective: Patient Challenge (http://www.Safeharborcollective.com)) This particular place has been there for over a year, one of the older pot shops ive visited.

Walking in, the patron is greeted by a nice young lady behind security glass. While she verifies the medical creds, the security guard gives the patron his schpeal about etiquette: please use our driveway, keep quiet, dont let people who are with you sit in the car and wait. the guard seemed nervous, but he was very friendly and gave out pamphlets on the medical cannabis movement. i got the sense they are working hard to change the stigma that the pot shops at large carry with them. the speech and the personal attention were a nice touch.

After getting the nod from the helpful receptionist, patrons head upstairs to the showroom floor. They are greeted by a large, strapped security guard and two volunteers behind display cases that house about 30 strains of medicinal foliage. A large white board gives the breakdown of the taxa of cannabis offered (indica, sativa or hybred), along with the per-gram and per-eighth prices.

I spent about 15 minutes checking out their flowers. Some strains were on the chemy side, but after sticking my beak in 20 or so jars, i went with an indica called "Danny Boy." This strain exudes hints of grapefruit and berry and at $55 for an eighth it seems like a comparative steal as their prices go as high as $75 per eighth.

Along with hearty buds, Safe Harbor offers a wide variety of cannabis extracts and edibles. My hommie picked up some "Silver Bubba" bubble hash that smelled, burned and tasted great (true bubble hash is soft, has a very low boiling point and has a sweet aroma...theirs defiantly made the grade).

Safe Harbor offers far more edibles than most dispensaries. Medicated chocolate bars, lolly-pops, peanut butter cups, brownies and cookies adorn a large cooler. I get crazy sleepy with edibles, so i didnt pick one up. their selection and the professional packaging, however, gave the impression that they have a lot of good stuff going on for pot candy lovers.

want to grow your own medicine? Safe Harbor would be a good place to get your starter plants from. They had nine or ten smallish, healthy clones of 3 different strains for $15 a pop. I got the impression they go through a lot of live plants as they mentioned they had more coming in later that day. The low cost of the healthy clones combined with the top-shelf strains and high turn-around make this dispensary a great shop to get your clones from.

All in all, it was a memorable, positive experience. The clean, professional staff and the level of service make this dispensary stand out. While their prices were a bit steep, deals can still be found and they hook it up. i will defiantly be going back if i am ever in the area or need some clones.

Bud: 7/10
Edibles: n/a
Clones: 9/10
Extract: 10/10
Overall: 9/10

[MeLoco]

I walked into my very first dispensary today, Club Compassion is Spokane Washington. There is still a very heavy stigma here about MJ, I don't even think most people know that Washington is a Medical Marijuana state.

All of the 7 dispensers are pretty new as far as I know, and regardless of your "medical status" you can still be arrested for any amount of marijuana. You probably won't be convicted, but you can still be arrested, at least until someone sues the state for wrongful imprisonment under Washington state Law (RCW63.5a040(3)(b) / WAC246-75-010). At any rate, by saying that, I hope to impress upon you that the legalities of MJ are still very much being tested by local law enforcement & caregivers.

OK so back to the review. The building that houses CC is very old, large cinder block structure with a dark yellow paint :wtf: it was vacant for years prior to CC occupying it. It sits on a busy street in a more or less residential neighborhood. I entered into a recently remodeled lobby area with nice comfy couches a central coffee table with a few of High Times magazines on display. I seemed to have surprised the receptionist, who was straightening up one of the coffee tables.

"Hi" she said with a smile "Have you been here before?" she was a bit nervous and like I said, I startled her. She got my paper work and handed it off to another older gentleman that appeared from the back room. While I waited for verification, there were a surprising number of people that came in. It was empty when I got there and then they got a big rush of people, probably just getting off work like me.

The environment was pretty casual as you might imagine, the guy verifying my eligibility had long grey hair, probably in his late 40's. The back room is where all the action takes place, very carefully documented, only one customer at a time, and they clock each person in and out to prove it. Upon entering, there is a desk just off to one side where you can sit and choose your poison. The selection was pretty small, only 5 strains to choose from. The prices ranged from $12 - $15 a gram. no discount for larger quantities from what I could tell. Club Compassion is just that, a club, I payed a $5 yearly membership fee and was given the opportunity to put my name on a list of activists willing to write officials and protest should another member of the club fall victim to the home invasion force we affectionately refer to as the Spokane Police Department. There were several employees in the back. One guy focused on the CCTV. while a few other employees looked busy shuffling papers and whatnot.

I chose a strain they called Boom Daddy! It was packaged in a regular zip-lock baggy and stapled shut inside a brown lunch sack. $12.50 a gram and I'm telling you it was a bargain, nice big buds properly harvested and cured. When I got home I broke up the 2 ginormous buds (2 grams) and found myself looking at a bag I would typically pay $40 for. It has a little bit of a harsh taste, but it packs a pretty good wallop.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience, and I will definitely return many many times.

MeLoco.

I guess I should mention, they did have one option for hash but no edibles visible. Small shop, but very laid back environment.:thumbsup:

[TheDuck]

I walked into my very first dispensary today, Club Compassion is Spokane Washington. There is still a very heavy stigma here about MJ, I don't even think most people know that Washington is a Medical Marijuana state.

All of the 7 dispensers are pretty new as far as I know, and regardless of your "medical status" you can still be arrested for any amount of marijuana. You probably won't be convicted, but you can still be arrested, at least until someone sues the state for wrongful imprisonment under Washington state Law (RCW63.5a040(3)(b) / WAC246-75-010). At any rate, by saying that, I hope to impress upon you that the legalities of MJ are still very much being tested by local law enforcement & caregivers.

OK so back to the review. The building that houses CC is very old, large cinder block structure with a dark yellow paint :wtf: it was vacant for years prior to CC occupying it. It sits on a busy street in a more or less residential neighborhood. I entered into a recently remodeled lobby area with nice comfy couches a central coffee table with a few of High Times magazines on display. I seemed to have surprised the receptionist, who was straightening up one of the coffee tables.

"Hi" she said with a smile "Have you been here before?" she was a bit nervous and like I said, I startled her. She got my paper work and handed it off to another older gentleman that appeared from the back room. While I waited for verification, there were a surprising number of people that came in. It was empty when I got there and then they got a big rush of people, probably just getting off work like me.

The environment was pretty casual as you might imagine, the guy verifying my eligibility had long grey hair, probably in his late 40's. The back room is where all the action takes place, very carefully documented, only one customer at a time, and they clock each person in and out to prove it. Upon entering, there is a desk just off to one side where you can sit and choose your poison. The selection was pretty small, only 5 strains to choose from. The prices ranged from $12 - $15 a gram. no discount for larger quantities from what I could tell. Club Compassion is just that, a club, I payed a $5 yearly membership fee and was given the opportunity to put my name on a list of activists willing to write officials and protest should another member of the club fall victim the home invasion force we affectionately refer to as the Spokane Police Department. There were several employees in the back. One guy focused on the CCTV. while a few other employees looked busy shuffling papers and whatnot.

I chose a strain they called Boom Daddy! It was packaged in a regular zip-lock baggy and stapled shut inside a brown lunch sack. $12.50 a gram and I'm telling you it was a bargain, nice big buds properly harvested and cured. When I got home I broke up the 2 ginormous buds (2 grams) and found myself looking at a bag I would typically pay $40 for. It has a little bit of a harsh taste, but it packs a pretty good wallop.

All in all, it was a fantastic experience, and I will definitely return many many times.

MeLoco.

great review. should start your own thread! that way all your local peeps will have easy access to it and it will be more searchable ;)

how are the clubs up there, in general?

[MeLoco]

Thanks.

This was the first club I'd been to, I just became legal recently, but I look forward to doing more reviews.
I do know that the prices are pretty much standard as the dispensary owners are a tight knit community here, they set the prices together, and they pool their resources for any legal battles.