The Coastal Wellness cannabis dispensary in Vista, California, kicked off the past weekend with an in-store Veterans Day event.
On Friday, November 11, the veteran-owned shop honored service members with product specials, food, games, and education.
Smokin J’s BBQ provided the food for the event.
The shop greeted dispensary visitors with free donuts, Gatorade, and coffee in the waiting room.
A Day of Spotlighting Veterans and Cannabis
Throughout the day, customers enjoyed 20 percent discounts on select items and BOGO deals on products from veteran-owned brands.
Weed for Warriors Project partner Revenant was in attendance, with a stand inside the dispensary.
Retired NFL players Kyle Turley, Jim McMahon and Eben Britton founded Revenant in July 2021.
The three started the company with the goal of relieving mental and physical suffering through quality cannabis products.
With the spread of legalization, more veterans can access cannabis medicine, which many use to replace opioids.
For many, cannabis provides a safe, effective, and natural alternative to potentially deadly opioids.
Reginald Green and His Art
Inside the dispensary’s front area, veteran Yeoman Reginald Green had a table set up to showcase his various hand-sculpted art pieces.
Green says working with ceramics is a direct result of the COVID lockdowns.
“Being in isolation brought out my art skill level,” says Green. “I’m just creating, I’m just doing whatever comes to mind. I don’t usually use any images or anything, I just create.”
Previously, Green had done castings of veterans’ faces in bronze.
Green says fixing things in the castings trained his hands.
“I guess my fingers started getting a memory because I had to fix their little noses and their ears and any imperfections inside the wax,” says Green. “And then I just started creating my own stuff in ceramics.”
Green says he was one-hundred percent disabled after his military service.
Art and cannabis are two things that Green says provide relief from chronic migraines and keep him level.
Outside, Battle Brothers Foundation, Veterans Walk and Talk, and Helmand Valley Growers Company had booths where they provided information and education.
The tables also had freebies like buttons, lanyards, and Myco Lyfe mushroom capsule samples.
From Vietnam to Scoliosis
Speaking with Army Weather Observation Instructor Robert Dates, he says he began using cannabis during the Vietnam War era.
And according to Dates, the cannabis was good stuff.
In 2022, Dates says his cannabis use is to relieve back problems.
Dates has scoliosis and says cannabis helps his back to relax and allows him to get a good night’s sleep.
Like others, Dates finds cannabis a safe and natural healthcare alternative to conventional drugs.
Coastal Wellness is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
