Evergreen Health Center, which opened June 1, was the very first storefront medical-marijuana dispensary in Bremerton’s history. They held that distinction for all of a month, until competitor Emerald Coast Collective opened just down the street (both access points are on Waaga Way). And while Evergreen Health is a perfectly respectable shop, a couple of factors work in Emerald Coast’s favor in the head-to-head (pun intended) match-up.
Those are, quite simply, pricing and selection. While Emerald Coast (reviewed here in the July 31 issue) has an across-the-board $10-per-gram rate for flowers, the four best strains at Evergreen Health are all $12 a gram. And while Emerald Coast typically has about 15 strains in stock, Evergreen Health had a scant six available the day I visited—in other words, just two $10 strains in addition to the four at $12.
Roger, who really is a very good budtender, apologetically told me that Evergreen usually has a few $8 strains in stock as well, mentioning that the shop was “getting ready for the High Times Cannabis Cup,” which, when I visited, was two days away. But if a shop values serving its customers more than taking part in a superficial, glitzy glamfest (after all, ganja-fied glitz is still just glitz), something as trivial as the Cannabis Cup competition shouldn’t affect the medicine inventory.
There may have been only half a dozen strains to choose from, but Roger knew the good points of each. He guided me to a $12 pre-’98 Bubba Kush (the reason pre-’98 matters is because after that year, other genetics were introduced into the mix), an exemplary indica, and to a $10 Cinex (also known as Cinderella X or Cindy X), an 80 percent sativa-dominant.
The Cinex would make excellent driving-and-listening-to-music weed—if Washington state’s benighted “legalization” law didn’t criminalize driving with anything over 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood. As it is, you can still enjoy the musical part of Cinex’s effects without the risk of negative legal consequences; if you do, your homework is some stoned, attentive listening to Seattle’s own Supersuckers, in particular the song “Killer Weed.”
The pre-’98 Bubba Kush left a delightful catch in my throat with each toke; these are deliciously potent flowers that produce profound relief from body pain. The Bubba also lends a pleasant soft-edged fuzziness to the thinking process. It makes a good nighttime smoke, with each toke increasing your relaxation level all the way past the point where your eyelids get heavy.
Evergreen Health also has a good selection of reasonably priced medibles, many of them for $6 (mostly cereal bars of the Rice Krispie Treats ilk), as well as tinctures and concentrates. Notably, the shop has its own CO$ID/aalt32 hash-oil extractor right there onsite; the impressively scientific-looking chrome-covered machine is behind some plate glass found just behind the bud counter.
tokesignals@seattleweekly.com
Steve Elliott edits Toke Signals, tokesignals.com, an irreverent, independent blog of cannabis news, views, and information.
EVERGREEN HEALTH CENTER 1405 N.E. McWilliams Rd., Suite 103, Bremerton, 360-377-0192, evergreenhealthcenter.com, evergreenhealthc@gmail.com. 10 a.m.–7 p.m. daily.
