Rolling Paper: Avoiding the Overhyped, Overpriced Strains Can Save You Money

The top-price medicine at your local dispensary won't always be the top-shelf buds. Like numerous other fungible goods, the price and availability of medical marijuana strains often depend on what's hot at that particular moment. "A few years ago, the strain was Trainwreck," says Stephen DeAngelo, CEO of Oakland's Harborside Health Center. "Everybody was growing as much as they could of it. And now today, you can barely sell Trainwreck. It's not that the strain changed — it's still a very potent, distinct variety — it's just that people got tired of it." DeAngelo says the current favorites at Harborside are the purples — Granddaddy Purple and Purple Erkel — and the kushes, OG Kush and Bubba Kush, which are also back in vogue at Medithrive. At SPARC, one of the favorites is Blue Dream, according to floor manager Nicholas Smilgys; at Vapor Room, the wheelhouse strains are the so-called "vintage" or "heirloom" varieties familiar to generations of smokers like Romulan, Silver Haze, and Skunk #1. Which will work best for you? Only one way to find out ...