Where and how to safely buy marijuana in Anaheim if you’re in town for BlizzCon

With BlizzCon less than a week away, lots of people from all over the world will be descending on southern California ready to party but may be uneducated on how to do so safely, whether it’s making sure they don’t take an eye off their drink, or how to obtain less widely-offered substances. On January 1, 2018, recreational marijuana became legal in California with the passing of Proposition 64, but that didn’t make it legal everywhere in the state — each city is able to decide when and how it wants to sell marijuana to the public. Unfortunately, Anaheim not only banned recreational marijuana sales in their city, they have prohibited medical marijuana sales as well.

But if you are looking to get high on your next Disneyland or BlizzCon trip — and are at least 21 years of age and over with a valid, government-issued ID — all is not lost. Your two options are to buy it outside the city limits or have it delivered to you. The closest legal dispensaries are about 7 miles south in the city of Santa Ana. You can check out the locations available at Weed Maps. You’ll notice there are also dispensaries listed in Anaheim on that site, but they are, at the time of this writing, operating illegally.

The other option is delivery. Many local dispensaries provide this service as does Eaze which covers most of Southern California. With Eaze, you just type in your address and it will show you the products available to be delivered to you. Bonus: If you sign up for Eaze service through this link, you will receive $20 off your first order.

We highly recommend you get your cannabis from a licensed dispensary or recognized delivery service. The product you get from these licensed places are more expensive, but that’s because they are tested for both pesticides and potency. You really don’t know what kind of weed you get from your back alley dealer or from a friend.

How do I know what to buy?

If you’ve never been to a cannabis dispensary or dealt with a delivery service before, the choices can be overwhelming. In addition to the myriad strains of buds and prerolls, you can also choose from vapes, concentrates, and edibles of all kinds. It all comes down to personal preference. Smoking marijuana can create a quick high that doesn’t last very long while edibles take an hour or two to kick in, but then can last for quite a few hours. Concentrates are for advanced users with high tolerance levels and should not be used by those new to weed.

The other thing to consider is the strain of cannabis you are consuming. Despite all the wacky names, it comes down to three kinds: sativa if you want the buzz, but not the drowsiness; indica to be relaxed and chill; and hybrid which is combination of both. You can find flower of all kinds, but edibles tend to be hybrids. Read the product description before you buy so you know that you are getting the kind that you want. If you go to a dispensary, talk to the budtender who can recommend the right product for you.

Finally, don’t purchase more than you can consume during your trip. While possession of marijuana up to 28.5 grams of flower is legal in California, and it may be legal in the state you are heading home to, crossing state lines with it is illegal since that falls under Federal jurisdiction. So consume or dispose of your product before returning home unless you live in CA where it is legal to transport within the state — with certain restrictions if you are transporting it in a car.

Enjoying your purchase

When it comes time to enjoy your cannabis, the important thing to remember is start low and slow if you are new to this and don’t know your tolerance level. If you are taking edibles, consume just 5mg and wait at least an hour or two for it to take full effect before you decide it is not enough and consume more. If you are smoking flower or ordered prerolls, take just a few puffs and gauge what effect it’s having on you for about 15 minutes before continuing. While it is extremely unlikely you can overdose on marijuana, taking in more than your body can handle will result in a very unpleasant trip until your system can flush it out.

Note that you cannot smoke or consume any cannabis product in public. So please don’t light your spliff in front of a restaurant or while walking to your destination. Also, don’t consume alcohol and get high as the effects are still under study, but the interaction of the two can leave you feeling sick and ruining your trip.

So that’s the overview of marijuana purchasing in Anaheim whether you want to get dopey in Disneyland or baked at BlizzCon. No matter what you choose to do, be safe, start slow and low, and choose licensed options to protect yourself.