LA is a city made for tourism, whether you like to see historical buildings or famous landmarks. But LA is increasingly becoming known for another tourist sector: marijuana. Indeed, the city is now a hotspot for novel weed strains and unique dispensaries that offer their products only to locals or people stopping by.
Want to know where to buy weed in LA? This tourism guide will break everything you need to know about how to get the best weed LA has to offer without overcomplicating your travel plans.
A background to CA weed legalization
The story of just how weed was finally legalized in California is winding and complex, but here’s a brief rundown:
- Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize recreational cannabis use in 2012. This led to many other states reviewing their own anti-cannabis legislation, especially since hospitals around the country already prescribe weed to people with various ailments
- Only two years later, in 2014, Washington DC, Oregon and Alaska legalized recreational cannabis use as well
- Finally, in 2016, Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts, and California legalized recreational marijuana through ballot measures. Public support was overwhelming despite some opposition
This has led, in short order, to cannabis dispensaries and legal weed stores to pop up throughout the state. Naturally, you can find more variety in stores and suppliers in big metropolitan areas like LA. Since LA is already a prime tourist destination with a lot to see, it’s easy to imagine going on a “cannabis tour” throughout the city, sampling all that it has to offer.
Why enjoy weed as a tourist in LA?
There’s a lot to see and do in LA. But LA, along with San Francisco – already two of the biggest Californian cities – also have the widest variety of cannabis suppliers and dispensaries in the nation. In fact, with the exception of a couple of Pacific states (Washington and Oregon), California is arguably the best place to try new strains of full-spectrum or other cannabis.
That’s partially because California is one of the best places to grow marijuana due to its climate. Previously, growers had to be careful since producing the plant in large quantities was illegal. But now, cannabis farms are sprouting up everywhere, offering unique opportunities to experiment with strain quality, THC concentration, and much more.
The result? Lots of new smoking experiences for cannabis enthusiasts. It’s no stretch to say that you can experience over a dozen different dispensaries and their offerings in the course of a single day (though be careful about dosage!)
Where to buy weed in LA
If you’re already in LA and looking to take a tour of its cannabis offerings, you first need to figure out where you’re going to buy that weed. There are two main places you can get high-quality cannabis: brick-and-mortar or retail dispensaries or cannabis delivery services. Let’s break down both solutions so you can decide which you want to use.
Regular dispensaries
Regular dispensaries are what you’d expect: stores that sell cannabis in various strains and formats plus any required accessories, like bongs or vapes. Stores are great to check out since you can stumble onto a great place just while walking through LA and taking in everything that the city has to offer.
Brick-and-mortar stores also give you the opportunity to check out a retailer’s products in person before making a purchase. For things like cannabis, it’s often wise to ask questions about a strain or bong before taking the plunge.
Retail stores are also great since they come with tons of variety. There are hundreds of different stores and dispensaries just within the larger LA metropolitan area alone, so you could theoretically spend years trying out different stores and dispensaries before running out of new places to check out.
Even better, new dispensaries are constantly popping up since weed’s legalization. It’s no surprise, either, since there’s some evidence to indicate that legal weed will be worth around $50 billion nationwide within the next decade.
However, brick-and-mortar dispensaries aren’t always the best choice. For instance, they require you to make a physical trip to the store, which can be tiring after a day on your feet. Furthermore, you won’t be able to make any late-night runs for extra weed – current California laws stop stores from being open between 10 PM and 6 AM.
Even worse, there’s a 15% cannabis tax in California at this time, plus another 60% markup rate. Bottom line? Those costs usually get pushed to consumers like you. So purchasing weed from a retail store could be pretty expensive compared to the alternative.
Pros:
- Lots of variety
- Always knew stores opening
- Opportunity to check out products before purchasing
Cons:
- High markup rates increase costs
- Limitation on selling hours
Cannabis delivery services
What exactly is that alternative? Cannabis delivery services.
You read that right. Everyone loves the convenience of ordering a pizza and having it show up at your door 15 minutes later. What if you could do the same thing with cannabis? Turns out, you can!
Weed delivery services have a few big advantages over their brick-and-mortar counterparts. For starters, there is at the same limitation on order time – many stores are open 24/7 to give their customers exactly what they need, even during late-night hours.
Furthermore, these services usually have lightning-fast delivery times. Take Emjay, for example, which is one of the best cannabis delivery services in the LA area. We offer lightning fast delivery, usually between one and two hours at maximum. If you live near our shipping center, we can even get your cannabis to your door faster!
To make things even better, we allow you to schedule weed delivery for a later time or date, and we don’t have any delivery fees to speak of. The result? A wide selection of cannabis products and accessories without the high costs or markups common with brick-and-mortar cannabis stores.
Weed delivery services like Emjay are fantastic alternatives for these reasons and more. Stores like Emjay, for instance, are vertically integrated – this means that we own all of our infrastructure, as well as hire and train our own drivers. This allows us to keep costs relatively low and pass those savings on to customers.
If you’re a tourist in LA, it’s easier than ever to get cannabis delivered to your door. It’s also one of the best ways to sample the different strains of marijuana that LA has to offer, but without the hassle of having to deviate from your tour schedule or family plans.
In short, delivery services like Emjay make enjoying cannabis easy without having to hop in your car!
Pros:
- Fast delivery in most cases
- Usually cheaper than brick-and-mortar cannabis due to lower/no markups
- Better delivery hours, such as late at night
- Broader selection since you aren’t limited to what’s in a physical store
- Timed deliveries are available
Cons:
- Can’t see/try some products in person
Summary
Ultimately, any tourist in LA would be smart to try California marijuana by using a weed delivery service as opposed to running all over the city and trying to step into all the best retail stores over a single vacation. Not only is this time-consuming, but it’s also likely to be expensive!
Delivery services are convenient and well worth the time it takes for the driver to arrive. Try out Emjay today – we bet you’ll be so satisfied with our service that you won’t want to try anything else!
