I'm With RJ:

Theory Wellness & Seaweed Co. In South Portland, Maine

By RJ Falconi

Extended visits back to the East Coast always bring about new market exploration. With Covid-19 in full swing, I eagerly left Colorado and headed back to the Atlantic for some much needed time at home. I set course for the brand new adult-use market in Maine, which just opened a few months ago. I landed at JFK and my partner-in-crime, rapper 100 Watts, picked me up ahead of a 7-hour ride. What was our plan? Visit two storefronts in Portland’s Southeast neighborhood– Theory Wellness and Seaweed Co.– and to eat a mess of dank, local seafood.

A Taste of Theory

According to their website, Theory Wellness focuses its shelves around a commitment to craft, small-batch grows with distinct genetics. The multi-state retailer had recently opened its doors in Maine in early October as one of the first recreational dispensaries– with supposedly decent products from Theory’s Massachusetts locations. I was excited to see what kind of heat Theory Maine was throwing off.

After arriving at our hotel, 100 Watts and I traveled to Theory to grab some jars ahead of a planned surf-n-turf dinner at Scales over in Portland proper. Due to ongoing pandemicrelated hazards, Theory Wellness restricted the number of patients in-store, but lucky for us, we had pre-ordered our bags. The pick-up line was appropriately fast-paced, whereas Theory’s “BuyIt-Here,” line lingered despite being equipped with three vacant cash registers.

While shooting the shit with the budtender about Gele, my favorite Maine grower, I noticed a few folks that drove up from New York mulling around looking for something to buy.

Whether due to a lack of preparedness or lack of concern regarding their customer’s desire for variety, Theory was only offering two flower strains when we went in. You could tell these customers were not thrilled with the options. I bought the maximum quantity - 3.5 grams - of lemon sour diesel and threw in a pack of gummies to ensure a highly motivated pallet ahead of dinner. Not the exotic experience one desires when driving 7 hours to buy weed, but such is life in a new market.

Admittedly, for a $55-spend, the flower had not been properly cured, leaving it still wet and smelling like hay. We did manage to break up enough for a quick joint ahead of dinner, but as it stands, I still have most of the lemon sour diesel some weeks later. With only a 13% THC concentration and without any flavor, the joint did little to get us prepared for lobster and New York strips. While the gummies would help some, I was thankful that my rider had brought an assortment of Dutchies filled with some of California’s finest, and we toasted an excellent, traditional market cannon on the way to Scales.

All-in-all, the experience at Theory was disappointing but wasn’t a surprise. Call me crazy, but I wish the pricing matched the quality of the product sold. Perhaps that’s just what you get when an MSO touches down in a new state:

a formula for a beautiful floor plan without the local contacts to fill the shelves with anything worth buying.

Sweet Seaweed Co.

The next morning after an oceanside puff, we headed for our 2nd stop — Seaweed Co.

Ahead of my arrival on the east coast, I reached out to Scott Howard, the founder of Seaweed Co., and set up an interview with Seaweed’s retail manager, Margaret D’Amour, to discuss their journey and the challenges they were facing in the newly-launched Maine market. As we drove, I signaled to 100 Watts that a building in the distance had to be a dispensary or a grow. Sure enough, our GPS guided us right to the beautiful location of Seaweed’s first dispensary. The building itself has a modern bungalow-style exterior set on the corner of a lovely marsh that would have inspired Robert Frost to new heights. The inside was equally impressive, featuring a generous open floor plan for patients and consumers to explore at their own pace the assorted cannabis, hemp and glass products.

Browsing through the shelves while I wanted for Margaret to wrap up a meeting, I was pleasantly surprised to find the jarred 8th’s from homies at Gele on front-and-center display. For those that don’t know, Gele is essentially the Alien Labs of the East Coast - outstanding quality, unique strains driven by Headband crosses that the Gele team has been cultivating for over 10 years. The down-to-earth team seals the deal for their impressive offering.

100 Wattz quickly toked up a few jars of each Gele strain as Margaret and I discussed Seaweed’s vibe and their focus on highlighting the local producers to tourists and Mainers alike.

Overall, I was impressed with Margaret’s approach and sincerity, along with the knowledge of the market that dispensary employees exhibited while we all got to know each other. Seaweed Co. is the type of dispensary that makes traveling the world searching for the best cannabis worth the time; I highly recommend you take a trip and find yourself some Gele while you’re at it.

If you’re interested in listening to Margaret and I rap about Maine and the excitement around launching a new dispensary, check out our podcast together!

RJ Falcioni has spent the last 12 years traveling the world searching for the best cannabis and serves as the CEO of Outcrowd Group Consulting, Outspoke IO, and the host of ImwithRJ.com’s bi-weekly podcast.

You can connect with 100 Wattz on Instagram.