In recent years, cannabis legalisation has swept across many areas of the world, enabling weed smokers and growers to ditch poor-quality street cannabis. Now, they have a choice. Should they avoid the hard work and routinely pick up their stash from the local dispensary or cannabis club, or get to work developing their green thumbs and grow their own stash at home?

There’s plenty to consider when weighing up these options, from cost and quality to variety and convenience. Continue reading to discover the best option.

Dispensary

Dispensary Weed: The General Consensus

The United States paved the way for cannabis dispensaries, with the first opening its doors in California to distribute medical cannabis back in 1996. Now, you’ll find these establishments in every legal state. While some countries in Europe utilise the cannabis club model, dispensaries are a staple of the American cannabis industry and are destined to open in increasing numbers as legalisation continues to spread. The most important question, though; do they sell good weed?

Overall, dispensaries in the United States have a solid reputation for selling high-quality, potent flowers alongside a massive range of consumables, concentrates, and smoking gear. Customers are often treated to a wide variety of strains alongside key information, including cannabinoid content and terpene profiles. However, not everyone leaves dispensaries feeling satisfied.

Much like some restaurants offer great dishes and service, others lack what makes their competition so great. The reputation of dispensaries largely hinges on the proficiency of their supply. Sometimes, these businesses pull the short straw, and the quality of their products leaves customers disappointed. However, dispensaries generally sell higher-quality cannabis that outperforms street weed. So, why do so many users still choose to grow their own instead?

Homegrown Weed vs Dispensary Weed: The Differences Summarised

Homegrown cannabis varies wildly in its quality. With no regulator between the grower and their own cannabis, a multitude of problems can give rise to poor-quality flowers. However, most cannabis users agree that, when grown well, homegrown weed far outweighs both dispensary cannabis and street weed. Continue reading to discover the differences that give homegrown weed the edge in the eyes of so many cannabis lovers.

Homefrow vs dispensary
  • Origin

Some dispensaries do a good job of explaining where their weed comes from. They’re able to confirm if a specific batch has an organic status, if it’s from a large or small-scale grower, and if it has undergone the necessary batch testing to confirm safety. With all these factors considered, consumers have a rough idea of where exactly their weed came from and who grew it.

In contrast, growing weed yourself at home will allow you to know precisely where it came from, what cultivation techniques were used, and the risks (or lack thereof) of contamination. Furthermore, growers with a demand for specific types of cannabis, such as sun-grown and veganic, can rest easy knowing their weed meets these standards.

  • Quality

Much of the debate around homegrown vs dispensary weed revolves around quality. Still, let’s be clear: the cannabis sold in dispensaries blows street weed out of the water. Modern dispensary cannabis boasts improved potency, flavour, and smoothness. However, due to regulatory issues in the United States, concerns exist around the presence of contaminants[1], including insecticides and fungicides.

Scale also tends to correlate to a decrease in quality; farmers can’t know the quality of every bud while harvesting, drying, and curing massive quantities at a single time. If you decide to settle for dispensary cannabis, it’s important to learn how to differentiate the good from the bad.

Homegrown weed, when grown well, can quite easily outperform dispensary weed when it comes to quality. Compared to cannabis grown on a commercial scale, homegrown buds are dried and cured with more care, resulting in superior flavour and smoothness. Why? Well, in commercial settings one grower may have to oversee hundreds or thousands of plants, compared to the home grower who gets to pour all of their love and attention into a select few.

  • Cost

Another critical point of consideration in the homegrown weed vs dispensary weed debate boils down to cost. Cannabis can very quickly become a substantial monthly outgoing, especially for daily users. Dispensary weed can quickly start to drain a person’s spare income, leaving them wondering if homegrown is worth it. While it comes with some rather expensive start-up costs, especially when growing indoors, home growers ultimately save a lot of money in the long run.

There are many variables at play when it comes to estimating cost. However, after establishing a grow op indoors, you can expect to pay around €1.24/g. Outdoors, you’ll spend around €0.42/g. Now, let’s compare this to common dispensary prices, which could set you back anywhere between €4–€18/g. If you’re a frequent user, in it for the long-haul, growing your own weed serves as a cost-effective option.

Weed cost homegrown
  • Variety

Cannabis dispensaries usually supply a good variety of strains. However, as businesses, they are at the mercy of consumer demand; they’ll stock whatever is trending, and ditch herb that fails to keep people’s interest. If you have a rather specific taste when it comes to cannabis, you might find it hard to track down your favourite cultivars. On top of that, strains with novel terpene and cannabinoid profiles are even harder to come by. Conversely, growing weed at home will give you full control of the kind of weed you smoke and offer a consistent supply of your favourite genetics.

  • Convenience

When it comes to convenience, the choice between homegrown weed vs dispensary weed might appear obvious. Sure, it seems strolling into a dispensary and grabbing a few buds provides an easier option to raise several plants over a few months. Opting for a dispensary certainly makes life easier, but only for a time. Shortages, price fluctuations, and closing times are all sources of inconvenience for the dispensary buyer.

While home growers have to work harder to procure their first few stashes, they’ll have enough weed to smoke throughout the subsequent growing cycles. Eventually, they’ll experience rolling periodic yields that top up their stash jars, meaning they’ll rarely go a day without having buds on tap. The convenience of simply opening up your stash cupboard quickly becomes more appealing than driving to the dispensary to get some weed.

Is Dispensary Weed Stronger?

There are many variables at play when it comes to the potency of homegrown weed compared to that found in a dispensary. Home growers with a penchant for power can simply select genetics that clock in with a THC content of 30% or higher, providing them with weed just as strong as that found in dispensaries. Of course, dispensaries offer a wide range of genetics, some with low levels of THC and some with outrageous concentrations of cannabinoids. Overall, home growers are perfectly capable of growing cannabis just as strong—or stronger—as that available on dispensary shelves.

Is Dispensary Weed Better Than Street Weed?

Dispensary weed has a much better reputation than street weed—and for good reason. Although the situation varies from state to state, the weed that dispensaries sell is subject to regulatory guidelines, ensuring some level of quality and cleanliness.

Moreover, these businesses are looking to maintain good rapport with their customer base, meaning they’ll mostly seek out and sell the best gear they can get their hands on. In comparison, street weed varies massively in its quality. Sure, some sellers do all they can to ensure product quality, but the lack of regulation increases the risks of encountering poor quality and even heavily contaminated weed.

Do Dispensaries Grow Their Own Weed?

Some cannabis dispensaries grow their own cannabis, which shortens the supply chain and, depending on the cultivators, improves the quality of the product. However, the majority of dispensaries source their cannabis from commercial cannabis growers.

Growing Your Own Cannabis: Is It Worth It?

It’s absolutely worth learning how to grow your own weed at home! Unless circumstances prevent it, such as a lack of space, you’ll grow buds that perfectly match your preferences. On top of this, you’ll know exactly how it was grown and that it was dried and cured to perfection. Overall, homegrown weed offers a better all-round experience and, once you get the hang of things, a far superior end product with cheaper costs.

External Resources:
  1. Comparison of State-Level Regulations for Cannabis Contaminants and Implications for Public Health - PMC https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Disclaimer:
This content is for educational purposes only. The information provided is derived from research gathered from external sources.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: