Cannabist - Lowell (Medical)

Went from one of the best dispensaries to one of the worst.

As a long time customer (as old as some of your most senior staff), I would hope that this appraisal of the Lowell Patriot Care facility will not fall on deaf ears. In my past few visits, since going recreational, I have felt an almost palpable change of mood in the building. The staff, though performing like the well-oiled machine that they are, are clearly struggling with the drastically increased workload without infrastructure to support them. The sheer volume of recreational clients is staggering and the professionalism shown each and every day by the staff is nothing short of incredible. They are working their bottoms off, and I have no doubt, are not being paid enough, nor given proper recuperation time to appropriately deal with the stresses of the increased workloads crammed into an already busy work day. All this to say nothing of the compromises made to the medicinal patients. Since going recreational, while there has certainly been no shortage of product made available across the board, the staff have clearly been directed to deal with the large volume of recreational clients (which the facility is not equipped to deal with in my humble opinion) before the medical patients, exemplified by the multiple days when there were fewer tellers operating on the medical side than recreational, and the three or four queues worth of rec patients to the one line for medical on the sales floor. Say good-bye to quiet and any semblance of privacy. Thanks. Yes, I understand the line is long, but that doesn’t mean I need to wait 15-20 minutes in queue, with 1 person in front of me, even with making a pick-up order on the internet beforehand. All the while, three or four tellers were turning over rec. clients by the minute, and the noise, it’s highly anxiety enducing and discomforting. I am 1,000,000% in favor of recreational access, but I would also appreciate PC doing what they actually said they would do and prioritize the medical patients over recreational. Basically, I love the staff, they are doing the very best job they can considering the situation. They deserve better pay, time off, something VERY special for all their continued hard work and effort. I sincerely hope this reaches the right people further up the chain-o-command with the power to do right by the incredible staff that call Patriot Care Lowell home. Respectfully, Your Friendly Neighborhood Stoner

It's obvious that these "great" and "wonderful" five star reviews are from people who work there.

DO NOT trust the Leafly menu, if you can find it! You can't order on-line anymore anyway. for the second time in a row, I drove up there to get some CBD/THC flower and, when I got there they didn't have it. VERY ANNOYING!! of course, when I got home, it was still on the menu. As soon as places start to go recreational, medical goes down. CBD is hard to find, except for cannatonic which has no THC. very disappointed again!

No flower on a Tuesday morning before the place has even opened. They have lost my business for good

Completely unreliable for medical patients

Maybe the Fox news can help find out why medical is being neglected

Everything has changed since Patriot Care started selling recreational marijuana. Before you started selling recreational marijuana, YOU (PATRIOT CARE) WERE A PHARMACY FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA. NOW Patriot Care rather sell Recreational marijuana instead of Medical marijuana and it's a GREEDY SHAME. PATRIOT CARE IS HURTING ITS PATIENTS, NOT HELPING. I hate to say that, but it's the truth. I'm just stuck with them because there's nowhere else for me to go. AND IT SUCKS WHEN YOU ARE SICK.......

Most of the time only 1/16ths available. Pre-ordered bags not prepared..twice. No edibles or stale edibles are the choices. No cartridges either. Friendly staff but poorly managed location. Probably going to location further away from now on. Oh and recreational menu is better than medical...nice

I have to agree with all the recent review that since recreational opened, medical is gone. Waiting 45 minutes just to get to the counter in the hopes that what you came to buy hasn’t sold out since you arrived isn’t worth it.

Functionality of their online profile is garbage, it is hard to find a time where you can reserve product when the rest of leafly is working. Medical patients are treated like second fiddle when at the counter. Actively looking for a new dispensary near my house as this location has precipitously fallen off in the last year. Strongly recommend going to a different location if possible.

1 strain available at only 13% THC. What a joke.

Not sure what is going on there since recreational started. I have not been able to get any of the flower I need for my conditions. The menu on the is not reliable any more. There has been a very small selection of flower available for the medical patients. And when you do have flower I find it to be harsh. It's definitely not up to par as it was before recreational adult use started. I wish you would give us an explanation of what we are to expect in the future. Should we look for another dispensary further away? Thanks Patriot Care

long wait, overpriced flower full of seeds and extremely dry. my edibles did nothing for me and the one shatter that was available was convinietly sold out. I can't believe I even gave them my money. going back to my delivery service asap. (watch how many long paragraph 5 star reviews they get after this posts) conveniently pushing the truth away so that the patients who need to know, won't. This storefront is Profit over Patients, all day.

I've been to this location a number of times, and can confidently say I've never been disappointed. In fact, the quality and variety of products, amazingly friendly and knowledgable service, and clean and welcoming atmosphere seem to get better with each visit and I LOVE how there are so many specials and opportunities to save. I'd recommend to anyone in a heartbeat! Thanks Patriot Care :)

They took away all the discounts Medical customers were getting without even telling us ahead of time! They used to reimburse us for the $3.50 transaction fee charge when using a Debit Card. Discontinued March 18, 2020. No advanced notice or email. They discontinued the Prize Wheel on June 9, 2021. No advanced notice or email. Recycling was "temporarily" suspended on March 16, 2020. I was recently told they will not be restarting the recycling. No advanced notice or email. I will be paying , at a minimum, $1,000.00 more a year. That's a lot of money for me. They do not understand that the majority of medical people are low income. Sometimes we go in with the exact amount of money we need including anticipated discounts. To find out the last minute when we get there that a discount is no longer available is poor customer service. Maine takes our medical cards and they treat us much better. Worth the ride.

I have spine issues. The wait is to put it mildly..not pleasant. I have almost an hour drive. You have to wait outside before they open 30-45 early because a line forms. Computer problems(wasnt the first day either). Cant use my psc points. They didnt let us know about it till we were in front of the register. Still took 20min at the register (printer problems) then i have an hour drive home. They are supposed to be helping me right? Well i always dread the day i have to go to Lowell. Getting harder to justify the trip. Very expensive and too dry.

I love this location I was shopping around a little to see what location best fit my needs and it looks like Patriot care Lowell is where it's at

What a JOKE of a dispensary... very different once they went Rec. Lost my business and hundreds of others I’m sure.

Let me be clear it's not about the budtenders that work at Patriot Care Lowell its about the corporation as a whole in the people that make decisions How can there be that you have absolutely no medical marijuana the only thing you have is 13% THC active and you want us to pay $100 for that you people are neglecting the patient that have paved the way for you in Massachusetts and I thought this was supposed to be a medical facility how can you allow people off the street go into a medical facility just shows the medical people that you guys do not care it's not right people should be making a real big stink about it again this is not about the bud tenders that work are they very pleasant and very nice this is about the people that make decisions at Patriot Care Lowell neglecting the medical marijuana patients the ones you paved it for you thanks a lot

With all the CoronaVirus stuff going on you would think this dispensary would stop having so many customers come in at once??? Came in and there were 35+ people!! Good luck trying to keep the germs away with this many people in such a crowded area!

Alternative Therapy Group was doing the same thing, and under the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, All MEDICAL PATIENCE HAVE TO BE OFFERED ALL PRODUCTS ON THEIR MENU, WITHOUT LEAVING THE LINE OR PAYING MORE.PLEASE WRITE ALL COMPLAINTS TO THE MASS CANNABIS CONTROL COMMISSION.

All these reviews really do speak volumes. Not only were these changes made with ZERO heads up from the company; they even changed the name of the dispensary without letting their patients know. These other reviews are right on the money: all the reasons to bring patients in the door are now gone. No more prize wheel, no more money off for a review, and VERY inconsistent pricing and quality. I have also noticed a big difference in their staff as of late. These few perks that Patriot Care offered was enough to get me in the door at least once a month. Now, I have no reason to set foot inside their again since they don’t give recertification vouchers either. I feel like this will be the general consensus for the foreseeable future until Patriot Care or whatever they call themselves now starts to get back to what made them a good dispensary in the first place. Until changes are made; I will not be back. 🤙🏼🤙🏼

Sad to write this review, from where the place came from when it was just medical when it first opened to now recreational and no BUD for the guys who paved the way. $100+ a week adds up and loyalties don't last long either. A regular medical buyer fixing to change destination