O........o

Based on a single visit, I think this is a great shop. Now it is really small--but apparently they're about to move to a roomier location. Knowledgeable, friendly staff. Kaleigh helped me make selections that were great matches for my taste. If you're on the island, check this place out.

This is a big, spacious operation…after showing ID just inside the door, customers enter a big open area, with counters around the edges for sativa, hybrid, or indica flowers, or pre-rolls, or edibles, or shatter. There is a case of discounted items as well (worth checking out!). Staff complete a shopping list on a white board, which the customer takes to one of four windows along one wall to complete the transaction. It’s very efficient, but still friendly. There’s comfortable seating in case you get overwhelmed (the menu is really extensive). Customers who know exactly what they want can just go to an express check-out, but in the three times I’ve visited it was never busy enough to require a wait at any stage of the game. The prices on the menu are a bit of a shock, but they include all taxes, so it’s not nearly as spendy as it looks. Very good product, very friendly service!

My visit to this dispensary—this virtual outpost in the wilderness—was on a Saturday. Having read the reviews, I was prepared to wait, and wait I did. The business appears to have been a filling station at an earlier time, so it’s not huge. There is some seating in the check-in area, but more than half the space is for merchandise (three or four customers at a time). I found the staff very patient, and the budtenders were both knowledgable and friendly, especially considering the crowd of customers they had to deal with. I have seen the negative comments about this place and feel that some reviewers aren’t giving 420Ville a fair shake. At the time of my visit in September 2016, this was the only dispensary in the eastern half of Oregon, and judging from the license plates in the parking lot it has to serve the entire state of Idaho as well as half of Oregon. It’s a surprise that the local government was persuaded to permit this operation—this part of Oregon is extremely conservative. Getting product to this place is probably not easy either, and there must be some logistic problems in dealing with the huge demand on the weekend. If the product is a little expensive compared with that sold at dispensaries close to their sources, it should be no surprise.

If you’re crossing central Oregon and don’t necessarily want to drive into Bend, which is suffering a little from boom-town growth, Cannabend is very conveniently located near the north edge of the urbs. Merchandise is well-organized at three or four stations, and the staff seems well-informed. I may have tried the patience of my budtender a little—it may be hard for youngsters to appreciate what a kid-in-the-candy-store experience a well-stocked dispensary is for a relic from the 1970’s! The range of flowers available was good, at several price points. Other merchandise included clones, shatter, and edibles, but we were shopping for flowers and took home a taste of Chem Dawg and Durban Poison.

This place is close to the water in Newport’s funky Nye Beach district. Not much to look at from outside; the check-in area is painted in a wild fashion (can’t remember exactly how, 3 months later). One of the employees said they were trying for an informal, non-clinical look. Budtenders were very friendly and seemed to know their product. Paid a couple of visits, leaving with a nice assortment of buds to try at home. Funky or no, OCD is worth a return visit.

We were vacationing in Depoe Bay and happened to be staying about a block from The Flower Pot, so we decided to drop in and check it out. This was my first experience with any kind of dispensary, and I had no idea what to expect. Quite a revelation, compared to college days of anonymous pulverized dried herbs in beat-up baggies—the outer room, where ID’s are checked, was almost sterile, and the staff courteous. The room with the budtenders and products was also clean, and the aroma of 21 different flavors welcomed as warmly as the staff. Our budtender (whose mother had dropped in to visit!) explained the ups and downs of the various strains, and the particulars of Oregon Law. A white board had summaries of the characteristics of each flower. We departed with a small assortment of flowers to sample. Several months later, after visiting half a dozen other dispensaries, I believe that the Flower Pot is a very nice, professionally-run, if smallish, operation. I will definitely return the next time I’m at the coast.

The day we were at Newport’s historic bay was unusually warm. This dispensary seemed kind of cramped and cluttered, and stuffy, and undoubtedly because of being trapped in a windowless, humid room, the staff seemed a little wrung out. The special was Borderliner XTRM, and it has proven to be a really good deal. Maybe on a cooler day my overall impression would be better. I’ll check it our again next time I’m in Newport.