Trippy Hippie Cannabis Co. — Local services in Bellingham

Primarily posting this so TH[C] employee Quest can get a tip, because Trippy Hippie is that awesome and because the bus tenders all seem to know what they’re doing and love doing it!

Evidenced by always cordial interactions (for me, every time - I was just talking to a police officer outside of their shop and I believe it was Quest who came outside to make sure a new cartridge was working in my battery)(no pressure to be awesome, y’all just are) and by the fantasmagoric strains Trippy Hippie has on hand every time I shop there.

Speaking of shopping there, other dispensaries will claim 30% discounts, etc etc etc, but Trippy Hippie has stood by their discount unwaveringly - billboards or none - and simply has the best position for a dispensary in town (James and Kentucky - near downtown, Sunset, Alabama, Iron & Iowa, State St.; even Cornwall isn’t far away).

Trippy Hippie is the place that returns memories of true friends and sunny days as I walk in. I feel awkward when I leave, because it’s such a great time. Nobody paid me to write this - I have purchased at least 50 cartridges from this store; the 30% online discount usually brings the cost for a cart down as low as $18 and lower; $900 right there, probably spent in the time since the rebranding in 2020.

In closing this five paragraph love letter, here’s hoping that Quest gets a hefty tip, in celebration of the fact that I completely forgot Trippy Hippie (in doing their job so well) used to be called Dancing Gypsies Grass & Glass 🤩😭

HOWEVER: I believe in transparency. And I will admit that the one thing Trippy Hippie needs to make some effort in is the transparency of the owners’ business practices when it comes to their employees. My review reads as a rave review for the work that the budtenders do in-store and for the strains that are offered plus the discount and location. Just because it’s possible that somebody will read my review, go in and have a good time and brush off any future negative comments about the place, due with a lack of widespread public awareness of how the employees seem to be treated, I’m going to post someone else’s review so that it can’t be missed ~

Xander Heaton, 2 years ago:

“I see a few reviews that describe this place as mom & pop. While I wholeheartedly believe in supporting local businesses, I refuse to frequent any organization that blatantly trashes the rights of laborers. The management of this store fired a member of their staff after they gave 1.5 months of notice for their intent to resign. They don't want to pay someone who isn't dedicated to "advancing with their company". Give me a break. This is an entry-level job and the owners of this organization make a profit off of the labor that the staff provides. While the owners may have strength in branding, that does not say anything about their ability to be good managers, make ethically informed decisions, or avoid being exploitative. I suspect that I'll get a response that points out that Washington is an at-will state. Shame on any employer who justifies any decision of this nature behind a law that is built on exploitation. Trippy Hippie will not be receiving any support from me and I will make sure to share their unfair labor practices with anyone who brings them up in conversation.”

~ Better points could not have been brought up, especially in regards to the history of staff resignation at Trippy Hippie and to the unusual (but not rare) juxtaposition of strong branding and the lack of ethical decision-making in the store’s management.

Peer pressure! I’d love to go and buy more carts at Trippy Hippie, discount or none; my rave review stands. The one-star reviews for Trippy Hippie, though, are reactions stemming from awareness of unacceptable business practices that must be changed - or else! You’ll lose this customer. One customer who is truly willing to send out a rave review yet one who cares enough about the truth and the heart of the matter to publicly compare his own experience to that of others who weren’t feeling the buzz… THE BOWL’S IN...

Three Stars for one reason--The ladies behind the counter were the ONLY bud-tenders in town that were honest with me when I asked for "Whole Bud", and told me they did not sell any. And this is after going to at least one store of every chain, and every individual shop in Bellingham. Everyone else either lied to me, or were very evasive when asked the same question. All but one eventually admitted that they did NOT sell "Whole Bud". The one that didn't? I walked out on him while he was still lying to me.

By "Whole Bud" I mean bud (flowers) that have NOT had any of the active ingredients removed.

The growers/processors are removing the active ingredients (THC and CBD), putting them into other products (Edibles, CBD oils) and only putting the THCA/CBDA back into the buds.

In short, you're all being SCAMMED. So now, to get what you would have gotten from one bag of black-market weed, you have to buy buds/concentrates for THCA/CBDA, an edible for the THC, and an oil for the CBD---Three products to get what natural marijuana has in it, and be taxed on all three products.

This is a racket, and anyone involved could and SHOULD be prosecuted under the RICO Act, as this constitutes a conspiracy to defraud the citizens of Washington State by illegal taxation, from lawmakers on down to bud-tenders. All the feds need is a SINGLE document that proves collusion, and thus a conspiracy. That conspiracy--a conspiracy to defraud the citizens--makes this a RICO violation. One document could bring down the entire house of cards.

For you retailers, the only protection against being part of that is to sell ONLY "Whole Bud".

To you processors removing active ingredients, Greedy Morons that you are, you have potentially exposed the entire industry by giving the Feds every reason they need to march in and charge/arrest everyone involved on RICO violations.

Racketeering, RICO...look it up. And you have nobody but yourselves to blame.

If you don't care about any of this, then this is the shop to go to for your needs--Like I said, the girls here were the ONLY ones in this entire town that were honest with me right from the beginning. Thanks, girls!

Everyone else in town doesn't even...

There are so many reasons it’s hard to choose, so to make it short and sweet I’ll pick just two.

The selection here is impeccable, my roommate has been everywhere and smoked everything and it’s hard to get her really worked up about recreational cannabis and we came in this week and she was so obviously excited, and then the whole night was like “I can’t believe how excited I am about this. I haven’t been so overwhelmed by such good choices like that in a long time, I couldn’t keep reading the menu cuz it was so good.” It was a super awesome experience, she got some real high quality bud and has been back twice... in like four days hahaha. She’s really, really into the menu.

And secondly, but honestly more a lil important, these are some quality folks here. Everyone here is super awesome. Full disclaimer; I used to work here! That being said, it’s been quite some time since then and this was and will forever be my favorite place to buy cannabis. The owners are incredible people who changed my entire life when they hired me with no professional weed experience, and since then I have been able to begin to forge my own career in the cannabis industry. I owe them an incredible amount. They have always shown respect and compassion towards myself and others in every interaction we’ve ever had. And now as a customer, I really think it shows in their business.

Anyway, buy all ur stuff here! This is the place! Look absolutely no further, one million bajillion stars out of five stars. Absolute treat to shop here! And we LOVE...