California's newest drug dealers: like an Apple Store, but with weed

The dispensary in West Hollywood looks more like an Apple Store than a place to buydrugs. No tinted windows. No burglar bars. No beefy security guards.

Instead, one of the half-dozen or so"bud-tenders" in identical company T-shirts scrolls on aniPad, trying to help David Julius choose just the rightstrain. Thisis the new face of legal weed.

"I think it's exciting to be in a world where this is becoming more normal," Julius says with a smile.

The MedMendispensary on Santa Monica Boulevard is a case-study in the effortto normalize a drug that is still classified by the federal government as illegal on par with cocaine or heroin.

BJCarretta,MedMen'shead of marketing, points to the row ofiPadsnestled into the wooden display tables.

"So you can see the way this is all laid out. It's very inviting for people,"Carrettasays.

"We also have these little bud pods," he says, opening the sliding door of a small glass container holding some cannabis flowers. He takes a sniff. "You could open it and get a smell of the actual product," he says.

Customers can watchthe workers prepare orders as though it werea high-end restaurant. And an array of edible cannabis products in a row of fridges is more reminiscent of a Whole Foods store than a traditional dispensary.

Forget pot brownies; MedMen sells everything from cannabis-infused granola to pet treats with THC. The theory: if you put cannabis into products customers know and love, they might not be scared to try them.

"It's an environment that they're comfortable in, to get rid of that stigma," Carretta says. "It's education, education, education."

Even in cannabis-friendly California, marketing marijuana isn't straightforward. Companies arerestricted from advertising on traditional media. Hence the focus on the in-store customer experience.

And just because cannabis is legal doesn't mean it's easy to find. The final decision to allow recreational sales rests with each city, and as of Jan. 1, the majority of California'salmost 500 cities hadn't given their consent, said Alexa Halloran, an attorney specializing in cannabis law. Los Angeles County is a perfect example

.

"Currently, 86 of the 88 cities in L.A. (County) do not allow recreational sales," Halloran says. "The only cities that currently allow are West Hollywood and Los Angeles."

And even Los Angeles will only begin accepting applications Jan. 3, which means customers in this city of almost four million won't be able to buy cannabis recreationally for weeks. But they could eventually have the power to help reshape the economy.

The U.S. market for legal medicinal and recreational marijuana was already $6 billion last year. Now that the biggest state in the country has fully legalized, in 10 years that market is forecast to grow to $50 billion.

"I think a lot of eyes nationally will be on this,"Carrettasays. "A lot of other states probably will be paying close attention to what happens."

The fastest-growing demographic is, perhaps counterintuitively, older customers who might have been too nervous to buy illegal drugs and have money to afford the higher prices of legal cannabis.

According to Carretta, a lot of MedMen's marketing focus is on a specific subset:women who arechoosingto smoke a joint instead of pour a glass.

"So that's a big target of ours," Carretta says. "We're trying to get rid of stoner culture. This is relatable for everyone."

Trish Gardner, 68, is a recent cannabis convert. But there are still so many unknowns, she says. For instance, how much can you smoke and then be OK to drive?

"The whole being under the influence is going to be an issue that's not really been addressed," Gardner says.

She believes legalizing cannabis may result in more research and, eventually, more answers. As for the rest, shiny stores and innovative treats are nice, but for her, the potential benefits of legalization comedown to this: "I hope the price goes down."