Marijuana dispensary opening in Watsonville area

Santa Cruz Naturals is going to be the first marijuana dispensary to open in the Watsonville area, and staff there say they are ready to make a splash.

“We’re excited for the grand opening, should be a bunch of people from the neighborhood coming in,” said Phillip Zipperian, the supervisor of Santa Cruz Naturals.

Santa Cruz Naturals already has a shop in Aptos, and now they are expanding to Watsonville and catering to Spanish speakers.

“Having a bilingual dispensary will allow us to connect to more clients, will allow us to bridge the gap of the translation issues sometimes,” said Zipperian.

Every dispensary has to follow state regulations, deal with permits and provide security. And there are a lot of businesses trying to apply.

“There’s going to be a bottleneck of companies that have their permits, or they’re trying to apply, but just because of how many people have applied, there’s going to be a wait,” said Zipperian.

But he says it is still a good time to get into the industry, even as more people and more states are trying to cash in. He hopes their stores will inspire others.

“Creating opportunities for other people to see what we’re doing and to take that stand and go OK I like what they’re doing, let’s do something similar. Or if they can do it here, we can do it here,” he said.

And while the black market is still a problem for cities across the state, Zipperian says legal stores offer better quality and safer products.

“I don’t consider marijuana a bad drug,” said a Watsonville resident who wanted to remain anonymous. “I mean from what I know about it, it’s more for aches and pains.”

The grand opening of Santa Cruz Naturals is on Saturday. It is going to be an all-day even with a ribbon cutting ceremony starting at around 4 p.m.