Navigating through a Utah medical cannabis pharmacy is significantly easier when you know how to communicate with your budtender.
For those many first-time visitors in Utah, one look at the menu board can make the head spin. Even having a casual conversation with a cannabis-savvy friend can feel like speaking a foreign language to the inexperienced.
A budtender (we call them pharmacy associates in Utah, but some habits are hard to break at Salt Baked City) is a sales associate responsible for helping you select the best cannabis-related products to suit your medical needs. Most Utah pharmacy employees are highly trained professionals who can help with product information and consumption recommendations. Their goal is to help you become a loyal customer by matching you with products that meet your needs, and the best way for them to help make that match is through meaningful conversation.
Here are some things to ask yourself, and your budtender, before your next pharmacy visit.
Personalize your visit
Medical cannabis consumers in Utah come from all walks-of-life and visit their local pharmacies for a variety of reasons. Some are patients undergoing chemotherapy looking for specific relief, while others are simply looking for rest and relaxation. Whatever spurred your visit to one of the state’s new cannabis shops, going in with purpose can help you and your budtender select the most effective products.
If you’re not visiting with a product already in mind, planning your search and questions before visiting can help significantly. Is there a consumption method you prefer? Are you looking to vaporize, eat, or apply your medical cannabis topically? Are you a seasoned consumer searching the dankest of the dank, or a novice looking for a low dose? Do you want speedy and strong effect, or a lasting impact that creeps up on you? There’s a lot to think about so read on, Green Scene.
Let the Budtender Know It’s Your First Visit
It’s always a smart idea to let your budtender know if you’re a greenhorn to cannabis – you’re not alone in Utah. Once informed, they can suggest lower THC doses and recommend various tools they sell for easy consumption, like vaporizers and distillate cartridges.
How Do I want to Consume?
We all know smoking cannabis isn’t as bad for you as smoking cigarettes, but it’s still illegal to consume your cannabis with an open flame in Utah. Not everyone likes to smoke; however, especially if you have compromised lung health or are using cannabis for medical reasons. Vaporizing is a popular choice of consumption by Utah patients, but there are plenty of other smoke-free ways to consume cannabis and product selection is growing every day in our state’s market.
We recommend using your specific medical needs as a guide to choosing your consumption method. For example, if you suffer from arthritic pain, a topical cream might be the best selection. For headaches or inflammation, a tincture or vaporizer can provide instant relief. Insomnia? A high-THC concentrate or some potent cannabis flower might do the trick. If you want to just get relaxed without vaporizing, edibles could be an excellent choice.
How Do I Want to Feel?
Forget everything you’ve ever heard about Indica, Sativa, or hybrids. Indica strains are known for their relaxing, sedative effects and are recognized for helping relieve pain and anxiety, while Sativas have been identified as more uplifting and energetic. All of those feelings are dependent on the individual cannabinoids and terpenes found in each cannabis strain. We learned in a past Salt-Baked article that Indicas, Sativas, and hybrids have many differences, but we only dealt with appearance, growth, and origins. Interestingly, it is still difficult to gauge possible effects until after testing for cannabinoids and terpenes is done. Go into your medical cannabis pharmacy and express to your budtender the general sense of the feeling you’re hoping to achieve, and they will help guide you to the best products. Leave the Indica, Sativa, and hybrid discussion for your grower.
How Long Do You Want the Effects to Last?
Each type of product you’ll encounter in a Utah medical cannabis pharmacy will have its own timeline of impact. Edibles, for example, sometimes take 1.5 hours for the full effects to kick in – once your liver has broken down the THC – and those effects can last up to six hours. Tinctures, vaporizers, and cartridges will have more immediate effects that last for only a few hours.
Order Online
You won’t be able to ask your budtender for advice when ordering online, but if you’re feeling anxious about visiting – this can be the best workaround. All of the various Utah medical cannabis pharmacies have websites with online menus available, and product descriptions, for instore or curbside pickup. Utah patients will need to register online with the pharmacy they want to use before their orders can be completed. Registration with these friendly pharmacies usually comes with random product discounts texted to your phone – so why not?
Don’t Be Shy!
Don’t be shy, this is a new industry for everybody in Utah. Medical cannabis products are changing by the day, new science is being discovered, and the Utah pharmacy shelves are ever changing – so there’s never a bad question. The happy budtenders you’ll meet are knowledgeable and eager to answer any inquiries you may have. Stay medicated and educated, Green Scene!
