Michelle Tippens (Slim S.
Google
HORRIBLE!! I have been a medical patient for a decade and have had cannabis in 8 or 9 countries; I was saddened by the experience here. I arrived and was initially enchanted by the well manicured shop, smiling staff and carefully arranged displays. I did not enter or use the Smoking Room, as we were just stopping in while we were nearby (everything in Jamaica is hours apart due to traffic).
At this point, you may be asking, "If it is such a nice place, what's the problem," right? Read on...
We arrived and parked in the private parking lot, which is great because there's no need to worry about theft while the car is parked. We checked in at the outside reception, registered our medical status and were welcomed inside to the store. We smelled each of the 4 strains available and found only 1 that really stood out. So, first negative, only 4 strains to select from and misleading advertising of 6 other strains that would only be available on 1 specific day. We were advised we could prepay one of those strains and return the scheduled day to pick it up. Uh, no.
Moving on. We chose the strain we liked and my friend and I agreed to split an ounce (we're here over a week). 195 American dollars for an ounce!?!?!?! Ok, some of you think that is an alright price so let me expand a tiny bit. The exchange rate for US to Jamaican dollars is currently 1:132, making the cost of that ounce in Jamaican dollars come to over $25,000. The average MONTHLY wage for a Jamaican is less than 20k Jamaican dollars, exchanging currently to about $150 US. So, the price for 1 ounce of cannabis at this shop is more than what most Jamaicans make in a month of work. Pretty sure that money doesn't go to the growers, trimmers or retail workers. Second negative: preposterous pricing. (side note: 2 hours later I bought a half ounce of beautiful buds from a local for 20 US dollars/2k Jamaican)
Alright, now we get to the main reason why I gave only 1 star for this review: the cannabis itself. While the store can be pretty and prices are what they are, the cannabis offered by the store is where the quality/value of the store is truly seated in my mind. Everything else, even the price, falls secondary if the cannabis is high quality.
It isn't. The weed packed in the jar was almost half stem, some of the stems didn't even have buds, there were just stems in the jar to make fake weight. I took several photos that I will post of this disappointing product and want to leave you with one warning ringing in your ears: MAKE THEM OPEN THE JAR YOU ARE ACTUALLY BUYING WHEN YOU PURCHASE IT. We chose our cannabis strain but failed to check the actual contents of our jar before it was put in the bag, which is stapled shut at the time of purchase. That one tiny mistake is not tiny in a foreign country, it is major. The cannabis we were shown was beautiful and to a standard we expect (we're from Hawaii) but the cannabis in the jar we bought felt like a "bait and switch" for sure. Stems should be small and unassuming; the buds crammed forcefully into the jar we bought looked more like long stemmed roses than the cannabis we are used to in legal markets throughout the world. Thankfully I made local friends and the experience I got from this shop will not define my visit to Jamaica or be my only impression of Jamaican weed.
If you are a tourist that has never smoked legal weed, this might be a good shop for you to try but I think they only sell to patients - NONE of whom would be happy with the cannabis coming out of this shop. Basically, this shop is fine in an emergency but is WAY overpriced and their sales practices are SHADY; so make sure you check the actual product that will be leaving with you BEFORE buying. Once the purchase is made, there is no going back.
Good luck and Aloha ohana!
