The first legal cannabis retail shop in South Orange County has opened, adding Laguna Woods to the short list of cities in the region that have allowed local sales.
Laguna Woods was the first city to pass an ordinance allowing medical marijuana dispensaries in 2008, but with pushback and few commercial storefronts even available or landlords interested in renting it would be years before serious conversation happened about a store opening.
Between then and now Santa Ana and Costa Mesa have allowed dispensaries to open, but that has meant a drive for the county’s more southern residents. The Artist Tree’s opening Friday makes access to legal cannabis products much easier, especially for the large nearby senior population.
Most of the city of Laguna Woods falls withing the gates of Laguna Woods Village, a nearly 4-square-mile community for those 55 and older. Many of its more than 18,000 residents are seniors dealing with chronic pain and hindering illnesses. The dispensary opened on Moulton Parkway, just outside its Gate 3.
“So many of our residents are so excited to be able to shop and buy locally, without having to drive,” Councilmember Shari Horne wrote in an email. “I, too, am very excited to see this finally come to fruition … I think we’ll be the only dispensary you can get to in your golf cart.”
Maureen Mehler, who has spinal stenosis, called the drive to Santa Ana “a nightmare.”
She took home some vegan fruit gummies Friday, saying, “It makes the pain manageable. I can walk for a mile, mile and a half, and I don’t have pain in my back. And I prefer this to living on Tylenol.”
Peggy Edwards, who picked up some sleep gummies, said cannabis helps with the shaking and tremulous voice brought on by her essential tremor, a neurological disorder. “I don’t use Big Pharma,” she added.
Lauren Fontein, co-founder of The Artist Tree, said a very large percentage of customers at her other locations are also seniors. Laguna Woods is the group’s eighth dispensary, most are in the Los Angeles County area.
“There’s a lot of evidence now that cannabis can be very therapeutic for pain relief or arthritis or if people are going to chemo, (have) anxiety, or a number of other health conditions,” Fontein said. “I’ve talked to a lot of our patients directly in-person as they’re shopping, and this is something that people really rely on to have a good quality of life. To them it’s the same as any other type of medication that they might need to take. So it’s really important that people do have the option to get cannabis and they get it legally.”
In the past, residents opposed to a cannabis dispensary in the city of Laguna Woods expressed concerns about the potential for increased traffic and security issues. Fontein said the store has security measures to make sure customers and the surrounding community never feel unsafe.
“We have very strong security features in our store, and we have to have onsite security 24 hours a day,” she said. “We have cameras on every inch of the space so we can view the cameras at any time of day. We have a lot of systems, and so it actually helps with the safety of the surrounding areas as well, because our guards are also monitoring the parking areas.”
And, The Artist Tree is unique, Fontein said, in that it is a dispensary and an art gallery.
“We wanted to do something that was unique and different, that would give people a new perspective on what cannabis retail could be. We wanted to break stereotypes surrounding cannabis use and cannabis shopping and create stores that didn’t look like the typical dispensary, but looked like any other high end retail shop,” she said.
“So, we designed our stores to look like art galleries in the sense that there’s multiple areas for displaying art, not just on the walls, but we also have freestanding art displays throughout the space,” she said. “And all of the art is by local artists.”
Fontein said the first exhibit will feature pieces from Laguna Woods-locals Phil Eaton and James Gibson.
Susan Harris, a resident who was perusing the cannabis flowers on display at the shop’s opening Friday, said she smokes marijuana for both medical and recreational reasons.
“This is wonderful for the community,” Harris said. “It’s wonderful for an older person to be able to sit down and relax in the afternoon. And not have to rely on opiates or any other forced medications for pain.”
Staff Writer Anita Gosch contributed to this report.
