As we highlighted in our recent article on the San Francisco Cannabis Buyers Club, the LGBTQ community and the cannabis industry have been linked for decades. In honor of Pride Month, we’re highlighting five dispensaries and retail shops that are either LGBTQ owned or co-owned, or running specials or other specific promotions for Pride. This is by no means an exhaustive list, so check with your local dispensaries and retailers to see what kind of specials are available near you!
As Leon Mostovoy, owner of Pride Cannabis and Wings of Wellness Delivery Service, observed, “Queer bodies are biologically the same as everyone else, however, our community endures more physiological stress, financial disadvantage, physical abuse, drug abuse, and emotional abuse. Therefore we look for solutions to cope. I believe cannabis is the best all natural and non-addictive medication we can use to heal our community.”
Is your favorite dispensary celebrating Pride? Tell us how in the comments!
Washington
Dockside Cannabis
Located in: Seattle, WA and Shoreline, WA
Year opened: 2011
Fun fact: Dockside is a member of the Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA), which promotes equality through its member businesses and is the largest LGBT and allied chamber of commerce in the world.
Pride specials: All month, Dockside will be running a Pride edition of its Cannabis + Cinema program, which pairs movies with the perfect strains and products. Movie pairings will include the likes of But I’m a Cheerleader and Oleum’sGirl Scout Cookie Honey Crystal; Brokeback Mountain with Spot’s 1:1 CBD Milk or Dark Chocolate Squares; The Kids Are All Right with Doc & Yeti’sBrandywine; The Birdcage with Lazy Bee’s Jillybean; and Milk with Western Cultured’sCascade Connie pre-rolls.
Uncle Ike’s
Located in: Seattle, WA
Year opened: 2014
Fun fact: Uncle Ike’s employs multilingual budtenders.
Pride specials:5% of all profits from all Uncle Ike’s locations will be donated to Entre Hermanos, a non-profit whose mission is “to promote the health and well-being of the Latino Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and questioning community in a culturally appropriate environment through disease prevention, education, support services, advocacy and community building.”
California
Wings of Wellness (Delivery Service)
Delivery locations: Inland Empire, Newport Beach, and Oceanside
Year opened: 2016
Their story: Owner Leon Mostovoy is a trans man and has been an artist, photographer, and activist in the LGBTQ community for over 30 years. He’ll be creating a new art project with trans elders using a generous grant from West Hollywood City this year. He previously created two intergenerational projects with the homeless youth and elders at the LA LGBT Center, where he got to know and love the elders in the LGBT community.
Fun fact: Mostovoy’s product company, Pride Cannabis, gives $1 per sale back to the LA LGBT Center’s Senior Services Department. “The money is to help our LGBTQ elders who created the visibility and rights we have today and are literally dying alone and in poverty,” he says. Another fun fact: Mostovoy’s business partner, Buck Angel, is an internationally known artist as well as a motivational speaker for the LGBTQ community.
Pride specials: None apart from the above.
SPARC
Located in: San Francisco, CA
Year opened: 2010
Their story: SPARC is proudly gay-owned and -operated by president Erich Pearson.
Fun fact: The dispensary hosts a monthly Dab Bar/Drag Show event (“Dab Queens”) hosted by local drag performers Trangela Landsbury and Punky Pebbles.
Pride specials: Between June 21 and 25, you can buy two SPARC cartridges for $70 total, two SPARC pre-rolls for $20 total, or two SPARC cartridges to get a limited edition Pride battery for $10.
Oregon
Panacea PDX
Located in: Portland, OR
Year opened: 2015
Their story: Several years ago, co-owner Melissa Egan (who identifies as queer) worked as a mediator and facilitator, and wanted to build affordable housing for LGBT seniors. She spent time raising money for this goal and wound up working in cannabis.
Fun fact: 100% of Panacea’s profits go to social justice and the community. From the company’s website, “Panacea’s objective is to generate profits from cannabis sales to support projects, organizations or businesses that promote social justice and address problems that threaten people and society—not to maximize profits for a small group of individual investors. Panacea is a no-dividend company. Investors get back only their investment amount plus a small amount of interest. No annual dividend is given beyond that amount.”
Pride specials: None apart from the above.
