Ask a Stoner: Why Do We Need to Wait so Long at Dispensaries?

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Dear Stoner: I waited at a dispensary for an hour to see a budtender yesterday, and there were TWO people in front of me. The employees tried to make me feel like I was being impatient, though. Am I the asshole here for just wanting to grab an eighth and GTFO?
Baker

Dear Baker: Popular dispensaries, especially a certain medical marijuana shop in north Denver, get packed during happy hour, but those waiting times are caused by deal-searching hordes. Without taking sides here — waiting at the pot shop is lousy, but your all-caps gives me pause — I agree that the budtender-and-waiting-room model is outdated.

click to enlarge

Jacqueline Collins

People might consider us entitled for feeling this way (and in non-legal states, they might be right), but sitting in a waiting room as budtenders serve one customer at a time is a recipe for needless waiting. Tourists and newbies ask tons of questions, but they also spend a lot of money, so budtenders are incentivized to be patient. Budtenders could still do that in an open retail area as we all shop, but since the current dispensary shopping model is required by state laws, the waiting room stays put for the foreseeable future.

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