Goleta Opens First Recreational Cannabis Store

Todd Falstrom has run the gamut of cannabis operations, from medicinal grower to medicinal seller. The latest certificate on his wall is the business license from the City of Goleta that allows him to sell retail as the city’s first storefront operation.

Organic Greens opened as a medicinal cannabis dispensary at the quiet end of a car-repair row called Daley Street in 2008. On Thursday, the city granted Falstrom’s new business license after a protracted process that required a lot of patience, he said. Their first day selling retail was Friday, January 31, and new customer turnout was good, Falstrom was pleased to report.

Organic Greens, housed in a small warehouse staffed with incredibly knowledgeable employees, still sells the cannabis ointments and edibles to fix what ails you — from insomnia to arthritis to cancer therapy side effects, and, many say, cancer itself — as well as dabs, smokes, vapes, and the necessary equipment for recreational use.

Many of their bud and loose-leaf products are grown locally, explained Matthew Cook, director of operations, and all are tracked from plant to product with rigorous testing before hitting consumer form. At one time, Santa Barbara County supplied 25 percent of the cannabis grown, with Humboldt County growing about twice the amount, said Cook. Nowadays, products from all legal manufacturers go through the same documented process, he said, as do Organic Greens’ employees. With their new retail face, they’ve hired new staff, but it takes a few weeks for them to go through the security vetting required by the city.