DISCLAIMER:
Tumbleweed Dispensary and Tumbleweed Express are recreational cannabis dispensaries for people 21+. Also, it is highly illegal to smoke before or during operation of a vehicle. USE YOUR HEADS PEOPLE! Do you really want to be known as the first person to die from being too stoned and driving your car off I-70 into the canyon?
On the unofficial holiday celebrating marijuana, 4/20, Tumbleweed Dispensary in Parachute, Colo. opened the first drive-thru dispensary. The Tumbleweed Express is located a short distance away from the original Tumbleweed store.
The express location is actually a retrofitted car wash, which helps the store from both a constructional and legal standpoint.
In the state of Colorado, all recreational and medical cannabis transactions must be done away from the public eye. This means that the car wash, with its large interior and garage doors, is perfect for a quick and secure transaction.
When you pull up, there is a large menu that should feel familiar to those who frequent dispensaries and, inevitably, fast food drive-throughs. The interior is covered with wood, keeping in aesthetic step with the original store.
Although it is called the Tumbleweed “Express,” General Manager Jordan Will explains that people have the same ability to smell the different strains of flower to find the right one for them or to ask the budtender questions about edibles and oils as they would if they went into any other dispensary.
Will explained to me that the hurdles to opening this express were big, with extra security steps and new regulations needing to be put in place. One of those regulations deals with those under age and the added danger of possibly having armed people entering the drive thru premises. To safeguard the employees, the store has a three point check system in place.
When a customer drives up, an employee comes out to check the driver and passengers’ IDs, as well as tell them to lower all their windows for those who might want to hide behind their tints. Then the driver enters the express where those big garage doors close in front of and behind the car. This gives the customer a private experience, as well as covers the private transaction clause for the store.
With all these extra hoops to go through, it seems like it wouldn’t make much sense to add a store right next to another one. Will explained to me that the demand at Tumbleweed during their peak hours called for an expansion.
He cited upwards of 40 customers in the store at one time with only five or six budtenders working. This can make a usually fun experience somewhat stressful.
To curb the tide, the express is open from 3-11 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, in addition to Tumbleweed Dispensary.
For those who need a quick stop on their way to Vail or Denver or for someone who wants to experience the full “Colorado High,” the Tumbleweed Express is a pretty chill way to go about getting to where you want to go.
