It’s Already Popular

Many dispensaries reported large increases in sales during the first week of recreational purchases in Oregon. At many stores, doors opened for recreational purchases at 12:01 a.m. and customers lined up around the block. 

Photo: Customers lined up outside of Oregrown in Bend on October 1, the first day of recreational marijuana sales in Oregon. via Oregrown's Facebook page.

Not Just Stoners and Slackers

Leah Maurer, co-chair of Portland’s Women Grow chapter, said she was surprised by the diversity of cannabis consumers. “It isn’t just your stereotypical marijuana smoker. There’s older buyers, people who fall into the ‘soccer mom’ category, really just any type of adult in the area."

They Want More

Maurer said she was also surprised by the adventurous tastes of some first-time buyers. “People are coming in and asking ‘what’s this’, or ‘what’s that’ or how do I use it,” Maurer said. “Most are very curious about concentrates, which they’ve probably never seen before, or edibles, which I didn’t really expect.”​

Photo: A marijuana-infused cookie via Wikimedia Commons

No Pot on Campus

Despite the new law, Oregon’s college and university students will still not be allowed to smoke marijuana on their campus, including from within the privacy of their own dorms.

Welcome to Oregon

Some of the first recreational marijuana customers in the state were not Oregonians. According to Aviv Hadar, owner of Oregrown Dispensary, customers from California, where marijuana its still only available on a medical basis, Washington, and from states as far as Florida have come to the Beaver State to try the newly legal product.

Fast Sales, Slow Profits

Despite eager customers, sales have not increased at a rapid rate. Brad Zusman, owner of Canna Daddy’s dispensary on SE Division, said that recreational customers are only spending half of what medical customers typically spend on a visit.

What Are You Doing With My Info?

Hadar said that most frequent, and surprising, question from customers regarded what dispensaries do with check-in info they are required to collect from customers. “There’s no list you go on, although people have the idea that there is,” Hadar said. “It’s really just a record that a recreational sale was made."

What Do You Want to Do?

Hadar said that since the transition from medical sales to recreational, the strategy for helping customers have changed. Now, rather than asking what has been ailing customers, Hadar and his staff ask them what they are looking to experience or do while consuming marijuana.

Sellers Behaving Badly

Jonathan Modie, a spokesman for the Oregon Health Authority, which is in charge of early sales of recreational marijuana, said he was surprised by dispensaries that disregarded some of the rules regarding recreational sales. Some dispensaries, he said, did not have proper signage posted in the stores, while other gave away free product, which is against regulations.

More Inspectors Coming

Dispensaries that are bending the recreational sales rules should be careful. Modie said the OHA is expanding their team of inspectors from just two inspectors to more than a dozen, aimed at enforcing rules surrounding recreational sales throughout the state.