To my knowledge Oklahoma Roots, just west of the Blackhawk Casino, was the first MMJ dispensary to open it's doors in the Shawnee area. I'm almost certain they were among the first to actually have cannabis stock in-store to sell. I can also remember first seeing the sign on the Wolfe's Vapor Shop building, above a back door which led to an area set aside as a dispensary. The sign read "OK Roots, Medicinal Marijuana Dispensary", with a pretty green neon outline and an artistic representation from a map of our now great state, with a much-smaller-than-scale rendering of the great cannabis bud growing out of the center, the tip of it's stem likely stabbing the map drawing of a position somewhere between Paden and Prague on State Highway 62, a dividing line of sorts, a point of no return if you will, a line of demarcation, surely, as many forces east of where that stem rises are turned against the legal right to buy and use medical cannabis.But where was I? Oklahoma Roots. OK Roots. Plantin' roots, ain't we? Got the pioneering spirit, but who can blame us? We never fell for the prohibitionist crap. New frontiers, in so many ways...the final frontier? No such thing. This plant is like a gift from God, there are so many potential beneficent uses to be exploited from it. The fact that human beings have always had endocannabinoid systems that respond to cannabinoids (and more specifically, now, to THC & CBD) is telling. It will not be many generations down the road when the negative connotations about marijuana which still remain from prohibition days will be gone and forgotten, with good riddance, and by then we should really be beginning to see what bounty is still left in THC as medicine and as more than medicine.
But wait...Oklahoma Roots/OK Roots...such evocative appellations often make me get carried away, if I apologized every time it happened that's the bulk of what you'd be reading...but I only bring them up because I have patronized both of them. I do prefer one over the other when it comes to the quality of their bud but that's not for me to divulge here. For that matter it probably wasn't kosher for me to divulge the fact that I have a preference, I'd like to think there was a reason but if there was my short term memory has eaten it. I was going to say...the people who work in both of these Shawnee dispensaries are something that is hopefully being noticed as a trend among all of our Oklahoma MMJ dispensaries, the super friendly yet authentically friendly and most definitely genuinely friendly budtender. These people are the face of MMJ to the broader public and I hope the people on the outside are taking notice. This is the kind of person who uses marijuana (medicinally AND recreation-ally), these people are laying waste stereotypes that were disseminated by anti-cannabis extremists, lies such as "stoners are all stupid and lazy" and other such bs. I've rarely seen workers so motivated as the dudes at OK Roots. Same at Oklahoma Roots, where I've always felt very welcome, where they've worked with me when the occasion warranted it, you want to talk about motivation, just take a look at what they've done with their storefront. Inside out, everything about it is awesome.
All this space dust floats through my mind this afternoon as I contemplate the news that Oklahoma Roots is now in litigation with OK Roots in a dispute over the name. It's one of a few black eyes the OKMMJ community has ridden or is riding out in the last couple of weeks. But this one leaves me conflicted. OK Roots earned my patronage and they'll continue to be my go-to dispensary. But I really like Chance and his crew, the shopping experience at Oklahoma Roots is without equal. I will say that the first time I saw OK Roots sign, you remember the one with the green neon outlined OK state? The first time I saw it literally the first thought that came to mind was, "Aw, man, somebody is going to get sued!" My prophecy having come true I admit I have no idea who came up with what or when or how many trademarks and copyrights had been dutifully bought and paid for, for all we know the dude at OK Roots might have foreseen the situation with all the clarity in which I saw my vision. He could have registered that name a year ago and said, "Now just wait until somebody comes along and names their store Oklahoma Roots! They'll try to sue my ass and I'll bring 'em down with all the bad publicity!" Okay, so maybe that's not as realistic as it seems when written under the sway of Green Crack from Herb in Country, on the outskirts of the main city of Seminole... This is not an advertisement or a paid promotion. I wasn't even finished talking about the OK/Oklahoma Roots squabble.
Let's just say I hope it gets settled out of court with no hard feelings on either side. I can see a little bit of both side's logic on this one, I will say that it's about a 3 mile drive from Oklahoma Roots on the highway to OK Roots on Beard & Farrall, I don't see either one stealing the other's business on the basis of distance, although it is easy to conceive of a situation in which one might steal the other's business because their weed is superior (and may it be understood and known that often this measurement of weed's superiority is very subjective, one man's blah is another man's Ground Control to Major Tom). Oklahoma Roots, surely it must be conceded, is a great name for a MMJ dispensary, especially one that actually broke ground on getting the ball up and running in Shawnee. OK Roots, on the other hand, is a mediocre name and would be so even if the name 'Oklahoma Roots' did not exist. People see "OK Roots" they think, oh, they're just "okay". Nothing special, just okay...and man, oh man, would they be WRONG. It's not worth fighting for, and that's the stone truth. You guys (now addressing the imaginary OK Roots guys in my head), you guys are very creative people, you know you are and so does everyone who comes through your doors. You might even step up your game by brainstorming together a wild, funky, unforgettable name. Then maybe we can step up your game another notch or two by addressing your storefront's parking situation.
Yeah, I know. Complaints, complaints, complaints.
But listen to this...you saw I brought up Herb in Country, a relatively new dispensary in Seminole...y'see, I didn't mean to bring them up then, I wanted to wait and surprise you until now but you know me, I get on a roll and like butter I'm slippery. Or something almost as retarded.
Talk about retarded. The owner of Herb in Country is getting some unreasonable complaints. She has booked the American Legion building where the store (and it's annexes) will be hosting a patient/doctor recommendation drive. Apparently some guy became distressed that she was not offering veteran's discounts...not knowing, of course, that she herself is a veteran.
This is just my own opinion...it's very likely many will disagree...and I just want to know at want point do people EXPECT a discount FOR ANYTHING? It's a courtesy that is extended by SOME (not all) business owners as a promotion and service to a sector of their patronage. For every store that offers a discount there's likely another that doesn't and the requirements of each discount fluctuate as well. Senior discounts have been around since I can remember but these veterans discounts are fairly new. I can easily remember a time before they were the norm. The price the Herb in Country owner is asking actually IS the veterans discount where I had mine done, she's just passing it on to everyone, why would anyone have a problem with that?
I'll see you next time on
OKLAHOMA MMJ PERSPECTIVES
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