Danielle is a Toronto mother of three who opened up her own medical cannabis shop in the city. Her location is very discreet when compared to most other dispensaries. It is located between a bar and a flower shop, it has no neon signs, and the name ‘The Calyx Wellness Centre’ doesn’t give much indication that cannabis is sold there.
The quiet location is exactly how she prefers it. She says that “I don’t feel like it should be exposed. It’s still not widely accepted. It’s a gray area. There’s also quite a bit of a stigma to it. So it was important to me, when branding this that even our symbol, the calyx, resembles something you would see at a holistic centre. We’re not about being out there and bringing in the most business. There’s something to being discreet and quiet. A lot of people may be taking medical marijuana for whatever reason but they don’t want everybody to know.”
There are over 50 cannabis dispensaries in the city, but Danielle hopes to create a brand of her own, by designing her store to look more like a holistic spa rather than a cannabis dispensary. “When you walk in you feel like you’re walking into a spa,” she says.
Though still technically illegal in Toronto, dispensaries continue to pop up with no signs of slowing down. A recent poll shows that the majority of Toronto voters think that the medical cannabis dispensaries should be allowed to stay open in the city, and this supports the trend as well.