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Sacramento's Newly Christened 'Wal-Mart of Weed' Is More Like a
'Hydroponics Home Depot'

Sacramento's WeGrow and its Oakland counterpart, iGrow, have
successfully billed themselves in media outlets such as High Times and
this city's daily paper as the "Wal-Mart of weed." But that's not
quite accurate, since the budding hydroponic franchise, which promises
additional locations "sprouting" across the nation, doesn't actually
sell the sticky icky.

Rather, WeGrow traffics (legally, of course) in hydroponic equipment,
nutrients and training for medical-cannabis cultivators. More like the
"hydroponics Home Depot," if you will.

Wondering why the "marijuana superstore," as it's also dubbed itself,
would want to be known as the Wal-Mart of anything, I decided to check
out Saturday's expo-style grand opening of the business' first
franchise location at 1537 Fulton Avenue, within lobbying distance of
the state Capitol.

The superstore itself had an impressive layout, designed around a
partitioned showcase of products, sort of like a Sears, but for pot
cultivation. Each display featured a little medicinal factoid tacked
to the inside of the wall, too, like a helpful cooking tip to bake
only with buds to prevent the grassy flavor that can come from baking
with trim.

There were more cooking tips from the enthusiastic crew of Chronically
Delicious, a specialty food store where cannabis is the not-so-secret
ingredient. While chef Kosmic Charlie talked up the pot-infusion
process used in their flavored iced teas, owner Edward Banks spoke of
his connection to iGrow founder Dhar Mann, whom he attended high
school with in Oakland, and plugged May's upcoming Global Marijuana
March at the Capitol.

"I've been an advocate in Sacramento for many years," Banks said. When
someone asked how long he'd been making cannabis-infused food
products, he chuckled. "Above ground for seven years."

The mostly pot-savvy crowd navigated its way around the displays,
chatting with WeGrow employees like Matt Phillips, who made a common
observation about the day's tenor. "Oh man, it's been crazy," he said.

That was mostly true, though there were some prospective customers shy
about talking to the press. One of them was a Sacramento woman named
Nancy, who was thinking about starting her own garden.

"It's very interesting," she said before continuing her perusal of the
hydroponic nutrient jugs shelved near the back of the
10,000-square-foot facility.

Nancy's reluctance to part with her last name was understandable. The
conflict between state and federal cannabis laws is notoriously
bonkers. That's where someone like Nate Bradley comes in. The
executive director of a new educational organization, Lawmen
Protecting Patients, is an ex-Wheatland police officer who traded in
debilitating (but legal) prescription meds for medicinal herb to deal
with his post-traumatic stress disorder (read "I pot the sheriff" by
Nick Miller, SN&R The 420, January 20, for an interview with Bradley).

"What I try to explain to people is that government is broke," he
said, adding that the legal system has failed to keep pace with
rapidly changing public opinions of marijuana.

WeGrow's appeal as a one-stop marijuana cultivation store could best
be summed up by Billy, who was checking things out with her son. A
medical-marijuana user and the grower of her own garden, Billy, who
didn't give her last name, typically buys her gardening materials from
multiple home-improvement stores. She was there Saturday to compare
prices and gauge the convenience.

"It looks pretty good. It's been a while since I've looked at
fertilizer," she said. "But it's pretty reasonable for what it is."