With such a wide selection of cannabis dispensaries in Silicon Valley, the diversity of experience that goes along with visiting a new medicinal cannabis outlet often begins—at least for me—with the kind of excitement I imagine a foodie would feel before checking out a new restaurant. Unfortunately, these experiences just as often end in disappointment, as I leave with a lighter wallet and wishing I’d somehow been able to see into the future and exercise better judgement.

Sometimes luck of location and personality leads to less-than-stellar dispensaries standing out on merits of convenience and atmosphere, while falling short in arguably more important areas. This is not the case with Harborside Health Center in San Jose, which makes no compromise in any regard—mindfully avoiding the pretention that often accompanies successful and self-aware businesses.

Housed in a spacious and easy-to-find business park, Harborside fosters a pleasant dispensary experience without losing sight of providing a diverse selection of quality cannabis products and services for its patients. Security and patient service staff greet patients warmly, staying professional and courteous throughout the ebb and flow of patients and wait times, as is typical for many popular dispensaries.

Forced to comply with new city regulations passed in 2014, Harborside is moving locations in August and undertaking the sizable task of sourcing all their products from cannabis grown in house. While planning to surmount this challenge without interruption of service, Harborside also provides free acupuncture and Reiki healing for all patients.

Harborside’s main bud room is well organized—laid out with multiple counters and a dedicated corner holding a number of healthy looking and well rooted clones, an offering that is unfortunately becoming less common due to regulatory pressure and, one presumes, a desire on the part of dispensaries to simplify an already complex web of gray-area legality. Providing affordable access to grow cannabis is a great service for patients and the local cannabis community, and a half dozen varieties of vibrant clones really round out Harborside’s intentional, yet broad, menu.

Budtenders are very accommodating of new patients, and are happy to offer well-intentioned and personalized strain guidance. Notably, the staff at Harborside are very welcoming of all ages (over 21) and to the delight of my girlfriend, all genders. Worthy of recognition, Harborside’s inviting atmosphere is a quality not always present, although rarely intentionally missing, in the predominantly young, mostly male dispensary-going population.

With strains ranging in price from $30-$60 per eighth, along with a very well stocked concentrate and edible selection, Harborside is undoubtedly a one-stop dispensary. All strains are lab tested for mold, parasites, and pesticides as well as listed with both THCA and THC concentrations. This distinction allows patients to contrast the relative conversion proportions of each strain’s non-psychoactive primary cannabinoid, THCA, to it psychoactive liquid or gaseous form, THC, as a result of controlled heating, or decarboxylation.

Providing this information enables Harborside’s customers to experiment purposefully with numerous strains and gain a better understanding of which types of bud breeds are the most suitable for their needs. Harborside deserves recognition for doing its part to move the industry forward by providing patients with quantifiable data.

Looking for a relaxing strain targeting muscle tension, I was drawn to two variations of the same classically reliable Indica—Grand Daddy Purple (GDP) and Ken’s GDP. Both varieties were priced at $50 for an eighth. The regular GDP won out with its darker visual aesthetic and noticeably more potent jar aroma.

Grand Daddy Purple, an indoor Indica, from Harborside Health Center.

Harborside’s GDP is an unmistakably potent Indica with a couch lock and marble smooth smoking experience to match. With every minor disturbance of the GDP’s dark violet and forest green buds, a thick bouquet of sweet, breakfast cereal-esque earth was released. While the bud density is not entirely up to expectation, in light of the sensory spike accompanying the initial jar opening, it is by no means airy. The GDP broke apart easily despite it’s high resin content.

Upon combustion, the GDP emitted an almost vapor-like smoke. The inhale felt extremely light, regardless of volume and was completely free of any acrid notes. Although the draw was easy, this batch of GDP lacked a strong taste to its inhale. It was rounded out, however, by a welcome earthy and sweet exhale. As the rolling paper  dwindled, the inhale of the GDP picked up in its complexity, trading a slight decrease in the smoke’s smooth profile for a quite noticeable increase in flavor with each pull—likely due to a buildup of resin.

Harborside’s GDP produced a very relaxing headspace that was great for anxiety, but lacked in the subsequent euphoria and boost in productivity that can accompany an anxiety-free mind, courtesy of some sativa-dominant strains. With a heavy couch lock and moderate—but not great—myofascial pain relief, this GDP is not very creatively inspiring or conducive to facing a day with a lengthy to-do list. In fairness, however, the strain cannot be faulted for what it lacks, as should be the case when weighing a strain that is so clearly intended to behave as a heavy indica, rather than an energetic or complex sativa, for its user. Focusing on the intent and mildly narcotic-like profile of GDP, this batch from Harborside stands strongly as a recommended and potent strain for insomnia, relaxation, pain relief, and given a clear calendar, anxiety relief.

THE BREAKDOWN

Dispensary: 9/10
Harborside Health Center | 2106 Ringwood Ave. | San Jose, CA 95131

• Pros:
  • Warm and helpful staff deserving of praise.
  • Diverse selection of products, including clones.
  • Free alternative healing services.
• Cons:
  • Edible, concentrate, and preroll selection could be better, and is without as much price or quality diversity as flowers.

Strain: 8.7/10:
Grand Daddy Purple – Indica, Indoor | $16/gram, $50/eighth | Rolled in ¼” Raw Hemp Paper

• Pros:
  • Very potent indica, worth the requested donation.
  • Great at addressing insomnia and anxiety.
  • Attention grabbing aroma and jar presence.
• Cons:
  • Buds could be more dense.
  • Inhale flavor of smoke should match the great bud aroma.
  • Couch lock could be undesirable for those looking for less narcotic-like pain relief.

Among the numerous cannabis dispensaries in the South Bay, Purple Lotus Patient Center possesses a familiar yet individualistic character through its distinct balance of highly diverse and reasonably priced cannabis, coupled with a convincingly unintentional outward ruggedness. With an entrance at the tail end of a narrow and discrete business lot, Purple Lotus’ prompt and courteous staff does a great job of utilizing their limited space, efficiently guiding a continuous stream of patients to a relatively large bud room accented by a dedicated concentrate bar. While Purple Lotus offers cannabis products only, and does not delve into the larger holistic healing community, it solidly succeeds in its sole offering.

For a patient without a clear idea of what they are looking for, and with a color coded selection of more than 60 quality strains, the bud tenders I encountered at Purple Lotus excelled at condensing an otherwise directionless journey of inconclusive choice into a productive back and forth dialogue. This personal attention to my preferences rapidly honed in on a top shelf classic, the predominantly sativa Platinum Maui Wowie.

Platinum Maui Wowie from Purple Lotus Patient Center.

With well manicured dark green leaves and plentiful orange pistils overlaid with a deceptively modest coat of resin, Purple Lotus’ Maui Wowie is visually on par with expectations for a classic strain focusing more on quality of experience rather than breathtaking jar appeal.

Attention to experience, however, is not an excuse for the initial hint of fresh cut grass the Maui Wowie emits, indicating an unfinished cure. This smell of grass lingers as a result of chlorophyll decomposition in recently harvested bud that has not completely gone through the last step in cannabis harvest of curing—or slow drying—after being initially trimmed and dried of a large part of its water content. Overall, the bud is without a particularly strong scent profile, but features a flat, earthy and musty composition beyond its detracting chlorophyll-laced start.

Upon lighting up I immediately noticed a very heavy skunk in the initial hit, free of a complementary sour element. In the secondary inhale a pleasant mango and orange mixed with an intermittently harsh, moderately chemical tasting throat hit that confirms my suspicions of an incomplete cure.

While this batch of Maui Wowie definitely has room to improve in bringing out its otherwise positive smell and taste characteristics, the headspace of its experience grazes a unique and ideal asymptote. Possessing a high THC content while still maintaining CBD’s calming effects, Maui Wowie excels at filtering out passing ripples into negative territory, and accomplishes this with an almost physically tangible push upwards. Coupled nicely with the strain’s superb anxiety relief, this same resistance towards experiential oscillations drives a very fluid stream of lucid creative consciousness. With time, Maui Wowie transitions to a relaxing, natural feeling of contentment that, while absent of sedating physical pain relief, rounds out a very well done classically sativa-dominant experience that makes for a great daytime strain.

THE BREAKDOWN

 Dispensary: 9/10
Purple Lotus Patient Center | 903 Commercial St, Ste 50 | San Jose, CA 95112

Pros:

• Diverse selection, friendly staff
• Fair prices, tax included
• Very generous with free rewards for returning and first time patients

Cons:

• Limited, cramped parking
• In a commercial zone and hard to see from the street
• Cash only

Strain: 8/10
Platinum Maui Wowie – Predominantly Sativa Hybrid | $20/gram, $60/eighth | Rolled in ¼” Raw Hemp Paper

Pros:

• Very uplifting without inducing paranoia
• Not foggy, very lucid
• Fosters rather than attenuates motivation

Cons:

• Grassy smell and inconsistent taste due to incomplete cure
• Not particularly pleasing to smoke, despite positive head change

On Gabriel Reeves’ brawny left calf, just above the pink sock emblazoned with a pot leaf, is a tattoo of Ferdinand the Bull. Sitting in a room just off the lobby at Elemental Wellness, a medical marijuana collective in San Jose where Reeves teaches a weekly “Cooking with Cannabis” class, the chef talks about how he identifies with Ferdinand, the bull who would rather smell flowers than fight.

For those who aren’t familiar, ultimately the moral of the story is to always be yourself. Reeves, who has a bushy red beard, ink twisting up both arms and today wears a double-breasted chef’s coat, has embraced this concept as he makes a name for himself in cannabis culinary circles.

“I used to hide it,” the 31-year-old says about his hemp habit. Before coming to work at the wellness center, Reeves spent almost a decade in mainstream restaurants, including a stint in Google’s famously epicurean kitchen. Though he had been baking pot brownies for even longer, it wasn’t until the California native was diagnosed with testicular cancer several years ago and experienced firsthand the medicinal impact of marijuana that he reevaluated his career path. Reeves now dedicates his time to teaching others how to treat their ailments through what he calls the science of consumption. “It’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done,” Reeves says. “I’m helping people feel better. If that means I smell like kush, so what? I’m happy now.”

It’s sunny and warm, and Elemental Wellness is bustling. Grey-haired women, a middle-aged man wearing a puffy blue vest and loafers and stereotypical 20-something stoners filter in to fill their prescriptions. Just about every 10 minutes one of those patients gets a glimpse of Reeves through the glass window and pops in for a handshake or hug. “You have get to know each person, because you have to find what works for them,” Reeves says.

Reeves starts each dish by infusing the processed bud, usually in the form of hash, into a base such as oil or cream. Each marijuana strain has a different effect, due to different combinations of cannabinoids, THC (the psychoactive component), terpenes and other compounds. Some are calming, others are energizing. Unlike other chefs, Reeves not only pairs flavors but also healing properties. To treat inflammation, he may make a curry with turmeric, or a lavender tea to ease stress.

Because of possible negative side effects of smoking, Reeves sees edibles as the way of the future. But right now it is still the Wild West in the medical marijuana industry. That’s mostly because there aren’t any dosage regulations. Reeves is a vocal proponent of lab-testing every batch of cannabis for potency and labeling every edible in milligrams. One of the reasons he started teaching classes was so he could offer people standardized recipes. If someone wants to bake cookies, they’ll know exactly how many cups of flour to use per milligram of hash and exactly what dosage they are ingesting with each bite.

Paula Walter, founder of Kind Medicine Cannabis Products, sees Reeves becoming the Rachael Ray of the medical marijuana community. “He’s into quick foods,” Walter says. “He can make something simple into a gourmet meal.”

Walter has watched Reeves evolve over the past several years. She says what has always differentiated him is the way he is able to connect with people. “He’s the man you want talking to your grandma who just found out she has cancer and doesn’t know what to do,” Walter says.

Reeves also envisions hosting his own television show on a cooking with cannabis channel. But, he says, that’s after publishing a cookbook, which is in the works, and creating a line of edibles, as well as opening a restaurant alongside his personal farm. “We’re just at the beginning,” Reeves says. “You can’t just eat at one restaurant. You can’t just have one outlet. My goal is to make cannabis boutique and gourmet and accessible.”

Despite federal raids and local land-use fights plaguing marijuana dispensaries, the industry will soon go from medicinal to outright legal, says Freddy Sayegh, an activist and criminal defense attorney. California will join the ranks of Colorado and Washington, he says, and it’s only a matter of time before the federal government reclassifies the drug from a Schedule I controlled substance, deemed to have no medical benefit, to a Schedule II, which recognizes clinical properties and allows researchers to legally study the plant.

“That’s a future we should all prepare for,” says Sayegh, the keynote speaker at HempCon in San Jose this week. “Things will change drastically. This will move from a non-profit to a for-profit market, a competitive market opened up to recreational uses. I believe 2014 is the year to talk about what future distribution models will look like and look back at what we can learn from other states that have legalized it already.”

Sayegh will join a host of other speakers and about 10,000 attendees at the fifth annual HempCon, which kicks off a four-city tour Friday at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center.

The convention runs through Sunday, and it is both festival and educational event, showcasing the latest in smoking accessories and hydroponics.

On the educational side, there are workshops and lectures on topics ranging from starting a delivery business to making THC-based lotions and elixirs. On Friday, cannabis consultant Ralf Rainer will talk about patient dispensary management, Cannabis Career Institute’s Robert Calkin will discuss legal compliance in California and hemp historian Gary Maciel will explore the weird past of the psychoactive plant. Weekend workshops include Sayegh’s keynote speech and more lectures from the Cannabis Career Institute on advanced cultivation, dispensary management, growing opportunities and investing in the marijuana industry.

Sayegh encourages attendees to learn about the laws surrounding THC wax, the super-concentrated butane hash oil, which is legal to possess with a cannabis card but illegal to manufacture.

“There have been a lot of new cases and arrests from people trying to make wax out of butane,” he says. “There’s so much vagueness in the law around concentrates in terms of what’s lawful to possess. But I’m fighting some big cases where people are facing up to six years in state prison for manufacturing butane-based concentrated cannabis. A lot of people don’t know the risk.”

Among the 90-plus vendors registered for the event, physicians from San Jose 420 Evaluations will conduct cannabis consultations on site. Attendees can find options for local treatment, learn about new ways to ingest the plant and ask for legal advice from several attorneys on hand.

Of course, HempCon is as much a haven for medicinal users as it is a celebration of marijuana culture, with clothing, souvenirs, scantily clad booth babes and live performances. Entertainment will range from a standup comedy lineup and THC oil cooking demo to a variety show and musical acts starring Addey Lance and Sour Diesel.

If you are the kind of person that celebrates 4/20, and you’re looking for something better to do than get high in your sister’s inexplicably dusty apartment with her weird boyfriend and their horse-size dog that keeps eating your munchies (or was this just me?), then you’ll want to check out Hempcon 2013, “America’s Largest Medical Marijuana Show.”

Coming to the San Jose Convention Center’s South Hall this weekend, the convention promises to be an “educational event as well a full weekend of seminars and presentations by industry leaders, advocates, and attorneys.” The three-day lineup features seminars such as “How to Start a Delivery Business,” “Small Space Cultivation” and “How to Be in Compliance in California.” This last item will probably be especially important for dispensaries and patients until California follows Washington’s and Colorado’s leads in legalizing marijuana, which may be sooner rather than later given that a Pew Research Center poll has for the first time found national majority support for legalization.

The keynote speech will be given by Freddy Sayegh, “celebrity criminal defense attorney” of the Foxx Firm. According to the Hempcon website, the firm covers the A through W of criminal defense, everything from Arson to Wire Fraud. This wide area of expertise of course includes the common legal defense needs of medical dispensaries and patients.
In addition to the various seminars and speeches, Hempcon will host performances by Wu-Tang Clan member Cappadonna and the Los Angeles–based dubstep DJ and producer 12th Planet. Virtuoso Jordanian percussionist Hani Naser will also make an appearance.

Fortunately, this year’s edition of Hempcon will not coexist at the convention center with any teenage girl volleyball tournaments, as it did last year. The San Jose Mercury News published an article last summer about the odd coincidence, quoting a couple of parents concerned about “degenerates” peddling “grass” and “dope” to their daughters. However, this year the Leigh High School prom looks to be scheduled at the San Jose Civic Auditorium across the street on the Saturday of the conference. No word yet on whether concerned parents are in need of interviewing.

Hempcon
Friday, 3–9pm, Saturday, 11am–9pm, Sunday, 11am–7pm; $20
San Jose 
Convention Center

The aroma was noticeable about two blocks before walking through the doors of the San Jose Convention Center, where HempCon was held this past weekend.

Attendees were presented the immediate option of a medical marijuana card evaluation for the price of $60. For folks willing to wait in line—sometimes more than 100 people long—and pay the fee, there was the unavoidable yet strangely endearing presence of Henry Hemp.

No, Henry Hemp is not a new strain or nickname for a piece of paraphernalia. Henry Hemp has become an icon at medical marijuana expos due to the large marijuana plant-shaped foam hat he wears that says “HEMP” on the back. The spray-painted leafy details of his hat stand out even against the vibrant green of the foam.

“There are countries that want to cut my head off; there are people that support what I do,” said Hemp, whose real name is Magic Ellingson. “I’m just trying to spread peace, love and harmony.”

Ellingson’s energy was high Saturday, and it needed to be considering he had an hour on stage, which turned into a talent show and motivational talk for those who were listening.

When asked why he thinks events like HempCon are important to attend, Ellingson said that “it brings out the truth and education, and brings people together.”

There is some truth to this claim, as HempCon’s diversity was fairly apparent in its patrons and vendors, which included everything from pipes, bongs and vaporizers to artwork and clothing brands affiliated with legalizing and/or enjoying marijuana. There were bail bonds companies as well, for those who might enjoy themselves a little too much.

Most booths outside of the area restricted to people with medical marijuana prescriptions were centered on the contributions of hemp, such as oils and clothing. There was also a booth from THCFinder, a company that works to help patients find dispensaries either online or through the app they have created.

But on the other side of the HempCon wall, a large partition that separates an area for people with a medical card, the landscape is entirely different. Vendors aggressively pushed special deals on grams and eighths, while others more leisurely offered samples of pot-infused sugar cookies.

Mixed in the mesh of models and megaphones advertising “Purple Martian Kush, bro!” was the overwhelming feeling that everything must go, and everyone must get stoned. And people did, just 50 feet from the side entrance of the Convention Center’s South Hall.

But the overall vibe was somewhere between mellow and joyful. Everywhere Henry Hemp went, people wanted a picture or autograph, or they just wanted to step outside and medicate with him.

“How many cops do you see surrounding this place?” Ellingson asked. “Oh wait, I don’t see any.” And he was right. There was security for the building but no added presence by the San Jose Police Department, or girls volleyball players for that matter, who had an event of their own in the same building.