By Max Sargent

While most of us dwell in the shadows when it comes to cannabis, some people live in places where cannabis is either decriminalised or legalized. In these places, you can simply walk into a dispensary, coffeeshop, or cannabis club, peruse a range of cannabis products, and buy whichever suits you—and then you can walk home with it without breaking the law!

Lucky for some.

In this article, we outline the differences between two of the main types of cannabis-centric retailers: coffeeshops and dispensaries.


What Are Coffeeshops?

Coffeeshop

Weed coffeeshops are more or less unique to the Netherlands. In the 1970s, the Dutch government introduced new legislation that effectively decriminalised the sale, purchase, possession, and consumption of cannabis. Notably, though, the production of cannabis is still illegal in the Netherlands.

However, coffeeshops exist in a legal gray area. Technically, the sale and consumption of cannabis there is illegal. But certain cafes can get licenses that permit them to facilitate these activities. These coffeeshops exist as such because, in the 1970s, cafes first started acting as a cover for the illicit trade of cannabis products. In time, these illegal clubs became somewhat institutionalised.

So, coffeeshops are cafes licensed to sell cannabis. This is why you will not find a cannabis dispensary in the Netherlands that sells cannabis without food and drink.

What Are Cannabis Dispensaries

Dispensary

Cannabis dispensaries, on the other hand, are stores that exist solely to sell cannabis and cannabis-related products. They are stores licensed for this purpose, rather than cafes that also have a license to sell cannabis.

They exist almost exclusively in the US, with some also in Canada. Exactly where dispensaries fit into the law, and how they are allowed to operate, differs on a state-by-state basis. Some can only sell cannabis to those who hold medical certification, others can only sell to members, while some are allowed to sell to anyone over the requisite age.

Cannabis dispensaries are staffed with “budtenders” who are knowledgeable about the products they sell and can advise customers on their purchases. As dispensaries source their cannabis from legal grow operations, they tend to stock a wide variety of very high-quality cannabis products.

How Do Coffeeshops and Dispensaries Compare?

While there are obvious similarities between coffeeshops and dispensaries, there are clear distinctions between the two as well.

🍁 Selection

On the whole, dispensaries stock more in the way of cannabis strains and products. For instance, you are likely to find cannabis flower, hash, concentrates, edibles, vape cartridges, and more. In coffeeshops, your choice will likely be limited to flower, hash, and edibles—and the selections themselves will probably be more limited.

Moreover, dispensaries offer more regarding cannabis plants and cultivation necessities. For instance, you can find seeds, clones, and cannabis plants for sale in some dispensaries. You won’t find these in Dutch coffeeshops.

👛 Price

The prices can vary significantly in both coffeeshops and dispensaries. In dispensaries, though, you’ll probably find a greater range. Stores may stock products that range from discounted bags of cannabis “shake” all the way up to top-tier flower, edibles, concentrates, and hand-crafted blunts ready to light up.

In Dutch coffeeshops, the choice will be more limited, and as such, so will the price range.

Coffeeshop Selection

🆘 Services

Coffeeshops exist primarily to serve the recreational customer. They are certainly only licensed to sell on a recreational basis, and not as a medical service. Therefore, the services they offer might be limited, though this differs from store to store. Some have very knowledgeable staff capable of giving comprehensive advice about the bud on offer, whereas others will not know very much about their products.

Dispensaries, on the other hand, tend to take their roles very seriously. In part, this is because they were first established to service customers who required weed for medical reasons. As such, it was necessary that the staff were very informed about the products available. This culture has continued, and those who store in cannabis dispensaries often find the staff to be a trove of knowledge.

🔺 Accessibility

Who can access coffeeshops and dispensaries depends on the location, and the local laws. For instance, in most of the Netherlands, anyone over the age of 18 can access and use a cannabis coffeeshop. But there are locations where this isn’t true.

Take Maastricht, for example—a city that lies near the borders of both Germany and Belgium. For a long time, locals from these countries would cross into Maastricht to buy their cannabis and take it back to their home country. In response to this, there are now local laws that only allow Dutch residents into Maastricht coffeeshops—and they are strict on it.

As mentioned, where you are in the US determines who can access dispensaries. In some places it’s very liberal, while in others it can be quite limited. In most cases, you must be 21 years of age or older to access recreational weed, or 18 years of age and with a medical card to access medical marijuana.

Dispensary Service

What Other Cannabis Establishments Are There?

While dispensaries and coffeeshops are perhaps the two most famous examples of establishments where you can legally (or not illegally) buy cannabis, there are several other places where someone can buy cannabis, cannabis-related products, and other psychoactive products.

1. Cannabis Clubs

Cannabis clubs are Uruguay and Catalonia’s answer to the question of how to sell weed. These operate similarly to Dutch coffeeshops by also operating via legal gray areas. They also tend to operate as cafes.

The two main differences are that cannabis clubs are technically members-only clubs, where new members must be invited by existing members. While some remain fairly exclusive, there are also those that offer invites to essentially anyone who wants to come and buy some weed.

The second difference is that they are not technically allowed to profit from the sale of weed. Therefore, any money given to them is given to the club to help cover expenses, not as a direct transaction between a customer and an establishment selling cannabis. It just so happens that in order for them to give members cannabis, a donation of 10–20 euros per gram is usually required.

Unlike in the Netherlands, where the production of cannabis is illegal, cannabis clubs are legally allowed to grow a certain amount of weed per year, which is determined by the number of members belonging to a club.

2. Headshops

Headshops are physical or online establishments that sell drug-related paraphernalia, but not the substances themselves. Therefore, any store that has walls lined with bongs, pipes, rolling trays, etc., could be called a headshop. These can be found all over the world. And while some establishments may offer cannabis under-the-table, most operate completely legally and will not sell you weed itself.

3. Smartshops

Smartshops are very similar to headshops, except they also sell psychoactive substances, and sometimes cannabis seeds. In the Netherlands, these substances include magic truffles and mescaline-containing cacti, which are so-called “soft drugs”.

In other countries, smartshops might sell legal “research chemicals” that market themselves as “not for human consumption” but are in fact untested and unregulated drugs.

A word of caution: there is usually very little known about the effects of these novel research chemicals, and so it’s probably best to avoid them. The fact that they are legal is no indication whatsoever that they are safe.

4. Nonprofit Cannabis Organizations

These nonprofit organizations are basically the same as cannabis clubs, except they exist as nonprofit through choice rather than legal necessity.

These clubs consist of members who pool money, time, and energy together in order to produce cannabis. By working together, people are able to grow a variety of different cannabis plants, and therefore have access to a much wider range of products compared to those who go it alone.

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If you live somewhere that allows the sale of cannabis, then using these establishments is, for most people, the best bet for getting hold of good-quality cannabis. Usually, you’ll be able to find a product/strain that suits you, and the staff will be able to inform you about the products.

If you live somewhere where cannabis remains illegal, then your best bet is to try and find a good dealer!

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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: