After 45 months of planning second cannabis dispensary opens in Santa Barbara

A second medical marijuana dispensary has opened in Santa Barbara and the owner says it has taken him 45 months to go through the process.

For the service he is providing, he says it will be worth it for him to help those with specific needs.

“It’s good for cancer, muscle pain, back pain all of that,” said Ihab Ghannam, owner of the Santa Barbara Collective.

The process took so long because his site in the 2600 block of De la Vina was secured at the same time local and state ordinances, laws and protocals were still being worked out.

Now Ghannam is getting a supply coming from throughout California and locally from a company packaging the cannabis in Carpinteria.

“We are trying to have over 300 different items so we are covered for all kinds of community needs,” he said.

Under the approved operating permit the cannabis dispensary will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It is closed on Sunday but security will still be present.

The doors required for the business have the highest level of security and are bullet proof. There are two guards are on the property along with 16 cameras operating around the clock.
For the customers a security team checks id’s and medical marijuana cards at this site for the first time visitor. They have a 24-hour waiting period before they can make a purchase . After that, there is no waiting.

One other medicinal marijuana site is open. It is located on Milpas Street.

Three recreational sites have been in approved in Santa Barbara, but they have not opened.
When it comes to the product, “I like to ask the customer what you are interested in using because some people don’t like to smoke, some people don’t like to eat, others might like a tincture, ” said employee Jayce Bedal.

It’s apparent many customers were waiting for this. “Most of them, yes. When they come in they already know what they want and they ask for specific stuff,” said Ghannam.

Bedel says the product is securely packaged . with sealed bags for safety purposes. He took a bag out and demonstrated the sealing process.

“So from here essentially you take this product and put it in the bag and the nice part is these actually zip and they lock. They are actually child proof – they have to be child proof,” he said.

Each customer get two pages of information that , in part , tells them not to open or use the product until they get home.

We asked if there was any push back from the neighborhood, and so far no complaints.
“They didn’t mind it. They were very nice and said yes we support you,” said Ghannam.