What does a Dispensary in Iowa Sell?
There are many different dispensaries operating within Iowa, selling everything from stickers, clothing and other apparel to bongs, pipes, vape pens, grinders, papers and, you guessed it, cannabis products. Since neither CBD or THC cannabis is legal for production, sale or trade in this state, it stands to reason that our dispensaries don’t boast buds, however, companies have really gotten creative over the years. As a bonus to your average gummies, creams and candies, coffees and teas, hair and body treatments, pet treatments and more are available every day of the week to people looking for natural therapies.
Just as coffee-shops and markets, pharmacies, warehouses and garden centres require personnel, so too does the cannabis industry, recreational or not, require the hands of many dedicated individuals to make sure things operate effectively. For this reason, the entire cannabis market in America sells the idea of health and wellness, promotes a strengthened and improved financial infrastructure for our country and it sells increased quality of life across the board.
Needless to say, this industry is important to Iowa’s future, and it can only grow from here. To those concerned that they may be using unregulated substances, new to deep testing protocols, let us assure you that, in order to operate a cannabis operation in Iowa, all involved, from seed to smoke or slather, must adhere to strict quality control measures. If you’ve been looking for seed banks that ship to Iowa, either to grow or to trade and collect, Kind Seed Co is your answer.
Edibles
Edibles are a fantastic option for those looking for a way to use cannabis and cannabis extracts, without taking too much of a toll on bodily systems, such as respiratory and pulmonary.
The extracts that edibles contain can be high in THC or CBD, can be balanced or can be purely one or the other. Since THC changes during the cooking process, the effects of edibles are generally quite different from those surfacing through smoking or vaping, though the medicinal effects of CBD creations are similar to other forms of ingestion.
Gummies are about the most popular of all edibles, hailed for their ease of use, their compact and nondescript nature and for the fact that they will not injure lung function or stink up your clothes. Gummies were among the first edible cannabis creations to hit the shelves in early dispensaries and coffee shops.
Capsules are utilized for their ease of use as well. Capsules contain oils and can be taken for reasons ranging from battling cancer and its symptoms to needing some end of day relaxation.
Taffy can be another fun edible to play with, stretchy and bouncy, sticky and seductive.
Candies of all sorts are always exciting, and today’s market is packed with sugar-free and gluten-free options. Drinks are another form of edible, fairly new to the American cannabis scene, and this category covers everything from sweet teas and coffees to slushies and beyond.
Topicals
Topicals such as lotions, creams and oils are gaining in popularity among the cannabis-enthused and, though everyone can use these products and enjoy the benefits of the many faces of the cannabis chemical makeup, medicinal patients really get the royal treatment with topicals.
There are many fine and luscious oils contained in different cannabis strains, proven to decrease skin aging rates, increase moisture retention and to put essential vitamins back into hair and skin. The health and wellness benefits of topicals don’t stop there though! Medical patients experiencing muscle and joint issues can have tensions eased, itching, burning and cramping reduced, inflammation and pain diminished and, coupled with a gummy or a nice tea, topicals can be a life-saver to someone who doesn’t smoke.
Topicals are also fantastic alternatives for those who aren’t the type to enjoy psychotropic effects. Whereas THC is psychoactive and will most certainly generate a noticeable change of face, and even low-THC smokes, high in CBD will create some side-effects, topicals are much less likely to do so. This is not to say that a high THC topical isn’t going to induce a high, but it will be much less impactive than, say, smoking a joint. Also, it pays to know how you react to different essential oils, since these contribute greatly to the efficacy of topicals.
It is important to speak with a cannabis professional about your individual needs. Make sure you try a few, get a community going so you have more information and talk about it with those who know.
Flowers
Let us give you a bit of a rundown of the four primary classifications for recreational and medicinal buds.
A-grade cannabis is the bottom of the barrel, the shake, the hemp, the weaker edibles and topicals. Many dispensaries will sell their stalks for industrial clothing, paper or rope production, and would never provide this type of weed to anyone for smoking purposes.
AA, as the classification suggests, is one step up, but is by no means exciting. For those of you out there who remember the classic Thai sticks of the 60s and 70s or are at all familiar with the brick weed which comes out of Mexico, this is about as high a category that stuff would fall into. We recommend AA weed for oils and confection, and for tokers looking for an uplifting experience without the uncontrollable intensity of stronger strains.
Now, when we hit AAA, this is where magic starts to happen. These are the strains most commonly found in dispensaries and triple-A markets are made up of some of the best strains in the world. The only characteristics which may have a quad-A bud falling to triple-A status are color, smell and taste, and potency is generally unhindered.
AAAA buds are the Cup winners; these nugs are perfect in every way. Smell is spot-on, taste is exciting and inspiring, color and density have been raised to greatness and the effects are clean and powerful. Quad-A buds have also been harvested when their trichomes are prolific and at peak potency.
Concentrates
The concentrates market in America is booming. Folks love a good dab or diamond and the past couple of decades have brought much scientific advancement. Here are some of the concentrates available to consumers.
Shatter is a popular beast for vape pens and is made through a butane extraction process. It is impossibly sticky if not kept frozen, and it continues to be a go-to for thousands of users across the country.
Live Resin seems to take the halfway seat between oil and diamonds and has quickly become one of the most popular forms of concentrate available to date.
Budder is a form of distillate which has been purged at high temperatures and whipped at the diamond phase, turning it into a sticky ‘budder’.
Hash is the oldest and most popular form of concentrate and can be produced through a number of methods. Rubbing buds and then one’s sticky hands to form a ball of charra is the oldest method. Freezing, dry-sifting and pressing the sift is another way to make hash and, the washing machine version, Bubble Hash, is a cleaner way to separate the cannabinoid-rich trichomes from your weed.
Hash Oil is another form of concentrate which, for all intents and purposes, can be smoked, vaped, pressed into kief to form wonderful hash, and can be made from any grade of cannabis.
Wax, Diamonds and Crumble are all forms of distillate which require chemical extraction in order to be made successfully. Butane is the go-to for many, though there are other means, including CO2.
Testing Kits
There is a vast diversity of testing kits on the market, designed to suit all Iowan legal, medical and recreational requirements. These kits can test for toxicity levels in the body, as is the case with a urinalysis, but there are also kits which test the quality of your drugs. These tests are semi-quantitative and check for impurities, adulterants and can relay the type of information we distributors seek in attempting to provide our clients with the most comprehensive data possible. This is especially important in a day and age where comfort and accountability are paramount.
A Cocaine Testing Kit, Methamphetamine Testing Kit or, important in today’s crisis situation, a Fentanyl Testing Kit, can be purchased and utilized to ensure these substances are clean. They also measure what quantities the pure product exists within the sample, and can make the world a safer place for those who are unsure about where their addictions are taking them. These kits are also necessary for pharmaceutical companies and cannabis companies alike, so that we all know exactly what’s going on within the leaf, the pill or the powder.
A Cannabinoids Testing Kit, an Opiates Testing Kit or even an MDMA Testing Kit can be purchased from any number of online distributors so both home and professional growers and pharmaceutical producers can track exactly what their products contain. Testing kits are also a bonus to edible producers who must manage the content of each and every gummy, candy or cake.
Vapes
Vaping one’s cannabis products is possibly the most popular and most sensible means through which to make the magic happen. Ever-gaining in popularity, the Vaporizer or Vape Pen is made up of a number of constituent parts which work together to house, heat and dispel your much coveted cannabis fumes.
Placing one’s product in the Cartridge, the cartridge is then connected to the body of the pen. When the button is depressed, the product is heated by the coil, the product is turned to vapor by the Atomizer, which is the part containing the heating element or coil that heats up your oil, dab, shatter, wax, budder or diamonds, contained within the cartridge, and one can then draw the smoke through the mouthpiece. Releasing the button will stop the heating process, so the remainder of the product can be enjoyed at a later time.
There are numerous brands of vaporizers and quality varies greatly, as does price. Ranging from a simple ten-dollar pen with a few hits of oil to something like a Volcano, there is a vast cornucopia of products available. A high-quality vape pen can be as much as a couple hundred dollars or more, so many consumers of late opt for the pen pre-stocked with Vape Oil. This negates the need to purchase and fuss with sticky concentrates or messy oils, saving fingers and clothing from ruin, and allowing for the consumer on the go to keep up with the grind of daily living, stress-free.
Seed Starts
Germination is the first most important step to cultivating crushing cannabis and, if you are curious to learn how a seed starts, Kind Seed Co is here to help.
There are a few methods through which cultivators can achieve plant sprouting. If going with soil, the grower can direct-sow their seeds and add a few drops of water, maintain high ambient humidity and low-medium light levels. If opting for hydroponic gardening, the grower might choose rockwool, a type of insulation, in which to sprout their seeds. Some growers opt for germination prior to planting. This can be accomplished by placing seeds on a moist paper towel and placing it in the dark for a couple days. As soon as the husk or seed-casing pops open and the little white taproot begins to poke out, you can consider your seeds germinated and go ahead and plant them, root-down.
Another method is the overnight soak, though this is generally reserved for testing the viability of seeds. Place a few seeds in a glass of water. Initially, they will float, but as the water penetrates their cores, viable seeds should sink and pips which have dried out too much will tend to continue to float. No matter how you choose to pop your seeds, seedling stages are important to protect and promote the health of, since this is stage one and everything else comes after. Take care in promoting the growth of your seedlings and treat them with the respect they deserve, so they can grow into a strong plant, happily loading you up with potent flower.
Clones
Another means through which to achieve one’s early cultivation aims is to mother and clone preferred phenotypes. Through purchasing an individual or bulk order of your favorite regular or feminized strains from Kind Seed Co and sprouting through seedling phases, a cannabis grower can go about cutting clones and flowering the mother plant-on. After selecting the buds most precious, the cultivator can then maintain vegging status on the preferred females for a few months and either continue to clone for the flowering room, for breeding or both. There are some early strains which, for the longest time, were clone-only strains, such as DJ Short Blueberry and 90s Bubba Kush, though there are many, many more.
Cloning cannabis doesn’t require much experience and will only cost the grower some time and a few bucks for quality shears and rooting hormones. Simply choose a healthy growing medium, and get started!
Those who plant clones into rockwool or perlite see much higher success-rates than those who attempt to root clones in soil. This is because the cut-site must be exposed to air in order to put out roots. An aeroponic cloner is one device which can assist growers to maintain the perfect environment for clones and seedlings, while doing so in the same lower-humidity room as vegging plants. This machine encases the clippings in the perfect ambient environment while pumping aerated fresh water throughout the rooting compartment, thus affecting the perfect early root-ball and making the aeroponic cloner an apt addition to any home or commercial grow.
Headshop Merchandise
Emerging through the Hippie culture of the 60s, the head shop has in recent times become one of the most popular and profitable places of procurement for fringe, recreational and medicinal cannabis and experimentalist communities, all across America.
Sheesha shops and smoke and vape shops provide a wide range of products to consumers, including water cooled pipes, glass pipes and pertinent accessories like bowls and picks, and any other type of pipe you can imagine. Shops such as these also take care of every other angle like lighters, fluid and butane and screens.
But there are also head shops dedicated to providing the type of merchandise prized amongst pot people and these deliver special types of products, pertinent to the plan in place. Grinders are a quick and clean way to break your buds up evenly, and make enjoying your favorite Rolling Papers that much easier. Pipes and Bongs of all shapes, sizes and structures, Down Pipes and stems included, are also available in these cornerstones of stoner society, and their designs have come a long way. For example, the rising popularity of rosin pressing over the last few years has seen an increase in demand for things like Dab Rigs and customized Torches.
Marijuana is a massive market, dragging hundreds of billions of dollars out of pot people’s pockets and into foundational frameworks such as social welfare, education and healthcare every year, and this industry has come to the point where if you can dream it, it can be done.
Kratom
Kratom is a substance relatively new to American markets and comes with question after question. Of course, in a land brimming with so many different flavors of suffering, it stands to reason that many might accept the types of treatment which others would see obliterated, and Kratom is one of them.
Kratom or Mitragyna speciosa, is an evergreen plant of the coffee family, native to Southeast Asia and which, for all intents and purposes, is an Opiate. The opioid properties of Kratom have seen this stuff banned in its native territories, which span throughout Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar, Indonesia and Malaysia. It has, however, become widely used across America for a number of medicinal and non-medicinal purposes, though the FDA remains concrete in its denunciation of any positive Kratom effects.
Those who enjoy this rather controversial substance like Kratom tea and also enjoy the discrete nature of Kratom capsules. As with so many teas or coffees, or buds for that matter, there are a number of different palates to be pleased, and companies like Kratom USA are starting to deliver. Borneo Reserve or Red Indo is known for its soothing qualities and is reported to be an apt replacement for stronger street or pharmaceutical opiates. Bali Reserve, with its unique aroma and fast-growing nature, is amongst the most popular for both powders and capsules. Enhanced Malay or Green Vein Kratom, is popular for its alkaloid content and for its promotion of both opiate and pain-free lifestyles. Some report developing dependencies or addictions, so be mindful in your usage.
Psilocybin Mushrooms
Psilocybin mushrooms or, as they are more affectionately known, magic mushrooms or just shrooms, have, since the dawn of time, been among the most underappreciated and most taboo naturally occurring treats on the planet. With uses ranging from the awe-inspiringly recreational to the intensely medicinal, Psybin Mushrooms are just in recent years starting to claim the recognition they deserve.
Magic mushrooms are known for dealing directly and head-on with states of depression, PTSD, psychosis and paranoia, forgotten traumas and fears, and have proven themselves cherished for ushering-in a new sense of self, or no self, as the case may be. Incredibly psychedelic when taken in large doses, consumers can dissociate from reality or feel more connected to it. Individuals often detect the vibrations of the earth and its inhabitants, tend to long for natural rather than synthetic environments, and can relate on near extra-sensory levels with the people, plants and animals around them.
Using mushrooms properly really can be eye opening, and, in many cases, an individual can become changed for life after the right trip in the right environment. Medicinal psilocybin patients report feeling free of old shackles, that a new life or second chance has been granted them. Some have remedied and rekindled old relationships with family or have experienced such a complete spiritual shift that those around them report a completely different person, for the better. No matter what, it is important to trip with someone who knows about it and who can guide you safely through the many twists and turns of mind inherent to a mushroom experience.
