The first cannabis dispensary in Santa Ynez, Farmacy, opened earlier this month.
The spot at 3576 Madera St. is the third Farmacy location in Santa Barbara County — there are others in Santa Barbara and Isla Vista — and the ninth dispensary for the Carpinteria-based Glass House Farms.
Farmacy will be holding its grand opening on Jan. 28.
“The response from the community so far has been amazing,” Graham Farrar, president of Glass House Brands, told Noozhawk. “We’ve been welcomed with open arms and return the love 100%.”
“It’s been really phenomenal,” general manager Hannah Burchardi-Bowersox said. “Our community has been reaching out with, you know, open arms and praise, and we’ve been getting a lot of support from a lot of locals here and local business owners and our neighbors, too. It’s been a lot of support and much love for sure.”
It’s the third Glass House dispensary that has opened since the beginning of 2022, according to a news release from Glass House Brands. The company celebrated the opening of its Isla Vista location in December.
The store is open for business Monday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and is located in a business district north of Highway 246 a few blocks from the Chumash Casino Resort.
According to Bowersox, Farmacy is currently the only dispensary in the Santa Ynez Valley.
The plans for the Santa Ynez Farmacy are three years in the making. Bowersox said the first blueprints of the shop were created in 2020.
“It was just making sure we do everything by the book and every step of it just took time,” Bowersox said. “Just like it does with any cannabis retail.”
In addition to Glass House cannabis, the store features local cannabis brands such as Autumn, a Santa Barbara County-grown cannabis company. The store also features cannabis-infused bath products that will not make the user high but rather serve as a muscle relaxant, Bowersox said.
Bowersox said Farmacy employees focus on educating and destigmatizing cannabis, “always leaning on the side of health and wellness.”
She said she hasn’t seen any community pushback during the soft opening.
The grand opening will feature vendors whose products the shop carries, and Bowersox said she hopes they can highlight the store’s neighbors at the opening as well in order to encourage community engagement.
“From the feedback of the community, we definitely want to make it more of an event for our grand opening,” Bowersox said. “So it’s definitely going to be what I’m hoping is a bigger deal.”
Farrer told Noozhawk that the company worked hard to create the dispensary in a style that fit the Santa Ynez community.
“We are firm believers that cannabis makes the world a better place,” he said. “Our mission is to help people feel better with plants, and we built the Farmacy SY for the people of Santa Ynez.”
The Santa Ynez location is one of six spots approved by Santa Barbara County within unincorporated communities.
