Santa Barbara dispensaries celebrate 4/20 with special deals

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — April 20th or 4/20 is the day marijuana supporters use to celebrate marijuana. In Santa Barbara, local dispensaries are offering deals for pick-up or delivery.

Owner of The Farmacy, Graham Farrar, said they’re offering up to 20% off and donating 5% of their sales to local charities. While people were lined up around the block at Coastal Dispensary before it opened.

Ryan Bishara is the operations manager of Coastal Dispensary. He said about their promoations, "We're running all kinds of promotions today. The first 100 customers get a promotional worth 100 dollars. We had a line around the building when we opened up."

Marijuana dispensaries were deemed essential during Governor Gavin Newsom’s stay-at-home order. On Monday, some came to celebrate the unofficial holiday, while many are using marijuana to help manage the stress of the stay-at-home order.

While in line Blair Middleton said, "I train six days a week. So I find myself training more, because I'm not going to the gym because I feel like I have to do something all the time right. Food is important for recovery, sleep is important too, and just relaxing is also really good."

Matthew Lux added, "I'm a little bit stressed with everything going on, and business and kids in different parts of the country, so just making sure that I sleep well so I can be sharp during the day."

The sales tax from marijuana sales will help the City of Santa Barbara as well as Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara County's District One supervisor, Das WIlliams, said, “The financial affect of the COVID crisis on the county is significant. And right now the only bright spot is that marijuana tax revenue maybe almost adequate to help backfill some of these needs for public safety dollars and other dollars in the short run.”

A jump in 4/20 sales in Santa Barbara County, means a jump in aid to the community. Along with a boost in tax dollars to help fund public safety during the health crisis, local dispensaries are also giving back.

The Farmacy owner, Graham Farrar, said, "Five percent of all sales are being donated to charity. So we're supporting the Santa Barbara Food Bank who's helping out with the local schools and making sure the kids who aren't in school are getting the healthy meals they deserve."

Coastal Dispensary also donated masks to PATH Santa Barbara for their homeless residents as well as anyone who walked past their store.

During the health emergency that has hurt large portions of our economy, 4/20 could bring some relief to the community.