“What kind of high you looking for?” asks a man standing behind a case of cannabis concentrates that only a year ago would have required a doctor’s note to purchase.
As sunlight streams into the steampunk-themed lounge at Urban Pharm in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood, the “budtender” offers a few options to a young woman visiting from New York and allows her to sniff each one before making a purchase.
“Welcome to a non-prohibition state,” he says gleefully.
“Great to be here!” she replies.
Just a year after San Francisco and other California cities began issuing permits for recreational sales and on-site consumption of marijuana, retailers like Urban Pharm are working hard to change the image of a plant that was illegal for generations, and convince people to come in and give it a try.