It’s been a lengthy process, but a new Berkeley cannabis dispensary will throw open its doors on May 12.
Hi Fidelity, which is owned by the proprietors of Amoeba Records, Marc Weinstein and David Prinz, (and which sits next door to the music store) along with cannabis pioneer Debby Goldsberry, will sell the kind of cannabis Berkeley residents can be proud of, said Weinstein.
The store has sought out boutique growers and purveyors who have low carbon footprints, pay attention to diversity and produce the best strains, he said. The store lists the farmers it works with on its website.
“We tried to pay attention to what Berkeleyans would like most and do that,” said Weinstein.
Mayor Jesse Arreguín and City Councilman Kriss Worthington will officially open the store at 2465 Telegraph Ave. at 9:55 a.m. on Saturday. They will stand on a “psychedelic red carpet,” and snip a green ribbon, said Weinstein.
Normal operating hours will be from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.
For years Berkeley had three dispensaries. In 2010, residents voted to allow a fourth. The City Council selected Berkeley iCann Health Center in 2016.
But the demand for more places to buy medical cannabis was so strong that the City Council decided a short time later to allow six dispensaries in the area. Hi Fidelity was selected, as was a dispensary run by The Apothecarium. So far, Hi Fidelity is the only one to open.
Hi Fidelity is only three blocks away from one of Berkeley’s oldest dispensaries, the Berkeley Patient Care Collective. That organization, which sold medical marijuana from 2590 Telegraph Ave. for years, recently opened an additional space next door at 2588 Telegraph Ave. to sell recreational cannabis.
