Duck football Coach Dan Lanning’s famous quote, “The grass is damn green in Eugene,” is applicable to the Big E in more ways than one. Eugene is not just Tracktown USA and the home of a certain legally complicated Disney-character’s likeness. According to the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, it’s also home to around 50 dispensaries (in Eugene alone — excluding nearby towns, such as Springfield and Veneta).
With one of the most buzzing hippie populations out there, Eugene is as much a place to turn on, tune in and drop out, as it is a place to go wild about sportsball and succeed in academics.
This is a guide to some of the best options for, I’ll just be blunt, where to get your weed as a college student.
While Eugene is a solid marijuana hotspot, plenty of pot shops count on making money off of new 21-year-olds who don’t have much experience consuming or buying weed. Because school is back in session, let’s look at the best and most accessible local dispensaries within walking distance of the University of Oregon campus, judging based on the two most important things to consider when looking for weed: deals and vibes.
One of the greatest in both categories is The People’s Wellness Center, which is “Eugene’s best kept secret,” budtender Caleb Gibb says. This out-of-the-way dispensary is not one you’ll hear your friends talking much about, because you have to look for it if you want to find it. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so great. An eight-minute walk from Autzen Stadium, this quiet shop has a huge variety of reasonably priced products.
With $30 ounces that are definitely worth every penny (and not a penny more), also expect to find some very high-quality products with some of the biggest discounts in town. While many dispensaries prioritize brand-specific deals, The People’s Wellness Center is no stranger to discounting all prerolls, edibles, dabs and more depending on the day. Most importantly, they have a 10 percent student discount. The vibes are also immaculate with fantastic customer service and house plants for sale.
Another can’t-miss for deals and vibes is the quite popular Happy Haze. Though it is a relatively new establishment, it took home multiple Best of Eugene titles in 2024. Bearing purple neon lights, quiet hip-hop music and the most adorable HR department (their office cat, Kirbey), Happy Haze is the best 16-minute walk from campus you can make. While this dispensary heavily caters to everyone including parents of students, college kids are the star customers.
Along with daily deals and $20 ounces, it also does double-discount Sundays, where the normal 10 percent student discount becomes 20 percent.
Perhaps one of the top reasons why Happy Haze is so popular is because of the quality of the budtenders themselves. Josh Butzman says that working at Happy Haze for a college clientele is important to him and all of the other budtenders that work there. “You can have the best weed and the best deals, but if you don’t like your budtender, you’re not coming back. Unless it’s a really good deal,” he says. To him, being a good budtender “is learning the customers and trying to keep it a safe, fun space for everyone,” he says. He makes sure to “get the people what they want but also make it fun.” The staff proudly serves their customers so well, in fact, two Happy Haze employees, Kelly Ann and Tyler Jones, placed in Eugene Weekly’s 2024 top three Best of Eugene Budtenders.
If you’re new to cannabis or you want to learn all there is to know, make the 20-minute walk to Holy Grail Pharms. It’s a very small house with a sizable collection. While you’re not going to find the cheapest products or the widest range of brands, it is an intricately curated dispensary of higher quality cannabis that still caters to students.
The reason why Holy Grail is suitable for college students is because its primary focus is educating customers about cannabis and how to shop to their tastes. “We’re always trying to be very helpful and friendly and informative,” budtender Phable Omsri says. He says Holy Grail’s budtenders’ top priority is to answer questions so they can “help people make the best decision for their cannabis needs.” Though Holy Grail strays from the cheapest products, its prices are still comparable to the aforementioned establishments, with a 15 percent discount for students and lots of daily deals.
Eugene OG is a college dispensary, if only for convenience. Directly across the street from the UO campus, it is by far the closest local dispensary to the school, and the one you’re most likely to hit if you’re on foot and only have time to get your weed between classes. As such, it is essential to know that Eugene OG prides itself in being a high-end dispensary. Because of this, it strays away from cheaper products and heavily leans towards the spendier side of things.
However, this is for good reason. “All of our weed is sourced from local farms, and we have a really good relationship with them,” budtender Kai Fitzgerald says. “When you curate that relationship and continue to get good weed, it moves a lot faster because it’s always fresh.” Though it is more expensive, the price is almost always worth it, and you get to go home knowing you have some of the best weed in town. The student discount is an additional 5 percent off of their daily deals.
Thankfully, because Eugene is so green, you’ll almost never find yourself asking, “Dude, where’s my dispo?” In fact, it’s pretty easy. All you need to do is follow one simple rule: If you walk into a dispensary, and you don’t like the deals, the vibes or the budtender, go find somewhere else. Usually, you won’t have to.
The People’s Wellness Center is open 7 am to 8 pm every day at 71 Centennial Loop, Suite B. Call 541-505-8100 or visit ThePeoplesWellnessCenter.com. Happy Haze is open 9 am to 9 pm every day at 1409 Oak Street. Call 541-250-2332 or visit HappyHazeOregon.com. Holy Grail is open 9:30 am to 9:50 pm Monday through Friday, 10 am to 9:50 pm Saturday, and 10 am to 8:30 pm Sunday at 1293 Lincoln Street. Call 458-201-8922 or visit HolyGrailPharms.com. Eugene OG is open 10 am to 9 pm every day at 2045 Franklin Boulevard. Call 541-505-7575 or visit EugeneOG.com.