Becoming a Member of a Dispensary
When you first get your red card, which is purple in reality, you will be able to go into any medical dispensary in Colorado. The choices are endless, and it can be hard to know where to start. You need to find a shop that is not only close and convenient, but also one that offers the best member benefits. The quality and variety of the products they sell should also be considered when choosing the dispensary you’d like to be a member of. So what does being a “member” mean?
Being a member of a dispensary means that you are offered special pricing in that specific clinic. Most of the time, members will pay two to five dollars less than non-members, and receive a monthly credit to spend each month or a free eighth of flower. Members also typically get credit to use on their birthday. When you decide to sign up with a dispensary, you will be asked whether or not you would like to give them caregiving rights on all of your plants or some of your plants. Regardless of your choice, you will receive the same member benefits.
Chain dispensaries tend to be a smart choice for memberships because they offer the biggest incentives, and you have the option to go into different locations. The best benefit we have seen so far from chain dispensaries in Colorado Springs is a twenty-five dollar credit on a fifty or more dollar purchase to use in the store every month. These dispensaries also typically offer a free eighth of their flower upon signing up and a free eighth or store credit on your birthday.
Although it seems as though quality may be somewhat compromised when it comes to flower and chain dispensaries, some of them do grow their own marijuana locally and provide higher quality buds. Avoid clinics that wait for their shipments to come in from Denver, by the time it does get to the Springs, the buds tend to be dryer and lose their potency. Keep in mind that being a member of a dispensary does not mean you have to solely shop at that dispensary. Therefore, if the flower provided at a particular store is not very good, but their membership benefits are, you can use their credit to purchase other products such as oil cartridges, edibles, concentrates, or topicals and go somewhere else for higher quality bud.