Cannabis Road Trip: Vancouver

A shopping trip to our northern suburb.

Remember getting jammed up in traffic during that brief period when Washington's weed was legal and Oregon wasn't? Yeah, that sucked. Well, you might not believe this, but there are still good reasons to cross the bridge to Vancouver to buy cannabis.

Maybe you don't want your personal information and purchasing habits recorded in a state database—Washington dispensaries just card you like a bar. Maybe you need to do your shopping earlier or later than Oregon law allows—Washington shops open an hour earlier and stay open an hour later. Maybe you want recreational concentrates. Maybe you want to sample the wares of a new grower or try the wild array of edibles available there.

Here are our favorite places to shop in the 'Couv.

High 5

6511 NE 137th Ave., Vancouver, 360-947-5404, high5cannabis.com. 8 am-11 pm daily.

This very stylish shop next to a CrossFit gym on the outer edge of town is the new kid on the block. Inside, it has a large selection of concentrates, a reasonable selection of flower and some interesting new products like pre-rolled canna cigarettes with black filters, which are packaged in a little gold tin. The clerk isn't exactly sure why anybody would want a joint with a cigarette filter, but he's stoked to talk about shatter.

New Vansterdam

6515 E Mill Plain Blvd., Vancouver, 360-597-4739, newvansterdam.com. 8 am-11 pm daily.

New Vansterdam is always one of the state's leading retailers by volume, and if you stop in at its market on Mill Plain you'll understand why. This is very much a next-gen cannabis shop, where only the first page of the thick product book goes to flower, and everything thereafter to a massive selection of products made from the plant, including edibles. It's heavily staffed by employees who are accustomed to being busy. If you want something really specific, like high-CBD concentrates, they'll quickly flip through the book to show you the options, which include everything from a disposable vape to peanut butter cookies to hard candies to tinctures. They're not going to dawdle making specific recommendations, though.

GreenHead Cannabis

2815 St. Johns Blvd., Vancouver, 360-433-9753, greenheadcannabis.com. 9 am-9 pm Sunday-Wednesday, 9 am-10 pm Thursday-Saturday.

It's rare to find a cannabis dispensary with a waiting lounge where you'd actually enjoy spending 10 minutes chilling while smooth electronic music plays. Welcome to the hipstery GreenHead, which splits the difference between Farma and the ill-fated Prohibition-themed Brooklyn Holding Company. This is a place where people show up asking for sugar-free edibles while browsing through the heavy-bound menu book organized by effect with categories like "SleepyHead" and "TalkingHead." If you're ready to ball out, GreenHead sells a $79 hash blunt that comes in a wax-dipped glass tube, like Maker's Mark. The budtenders are excited to talk about this, or any other details of law or commerce.

Main Street Marijuana

2314 Main St., Vancouver, 360-828-7737, mainstmj.com. 9 am-10 pm daily.

Located on a choice stretch of Main Street in downtown Vancouver—there's a record shop next door and a brewery with food carts across the street—this is one of the hipper spots in the city. There's a vast selection of flower.

The Herbery

212 NE 164th Ave., Suite 11, 360-841-7500; 6018 NE St. Johns Road, Suite D, 360-841-7505; theherberynw.com. 9 am-10 pm Monday-Saturday, 9 am-9 pm Sunday.

The Herbery on 164th is what Portlanders think of when they think of Vancouver, right down to the dubstep on the speakers and the island-themed cafe next door. There's a little of everything at this utility stop.

High End Market Place

1906 Broadway St., Vancouver, Wash., 360-695-3612, highendmarketplace.com. 9 am-9 pm Sunday-Wednesday, 9 am-10 pm Thursday-Saturday.

This little bungalow is the shop you'd want in your own neighborhood—low-key, civic-minded, with a large selection and good daily specials.

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