Reefer Madness is celebrating one year in business this month, with the opening of their lounge. If you are coming to Palm Springs, you better make sure to visit Reefer Madness. They are the closest dispensary to Palm Springs Airport. They are small, family owned and operated, and they make their customers feel at home with the best selection of products in the Coachella Valley. They cater to the daily cannabis smoker and connoisseur alike. If you make a purchase at Reefer Madness, you can consume onsite and relax among TVs and video games in the lounge. They even have a Packman machine, and much more. You can browse their vast selection of products in store, and their staff is very experienced and knowledgeable. Customers can also take their products “to-go” – they offer delivery, curbside pickup, and soon will be producing their own flower and concentrate products. Until the dust settles from the pandemic, and to ensure customer safety, there will be limits on the number of customers in the lounge. Whether you are looking for pre-rolls, edibles, cartridges, concentrates, topicals, beverages, or flower- they absolutely have it all – along with an incredibly unique startup history.
Owner Steven Wijatyk moved all the way to the valley from Phoenix, Arizona to start Reefer Madness. A former Process Engineer, he found himself applying his skills in a whole new way after corporate layoffs. He noticed state after state gradually legalizing cannabis, and thought, why not jump on the bandwagon and do something involving cannabis? Back in 2016, he put a team together involving some former colleagues from Intel Corporation, to apply for a cannabis license in Arizona. The team, involving Intel technicians, an investor, and a former grower from Colorado, gave it their all and put together two thorough applications. Unfortunately, their two applications were not a match against 748 other applications, competing for only 31 available licenses. Perseverant and undeterred, Steven began to explore other possible opportunities in cannabis, and decided to jump in on the wave of cannabis startups in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. It took a few years to get everything prepared, including all the licenses, and renovating the space that was formerly Greensight Medical – where patients used to go to get their medical recommendation for cannabis.
Reefer Madness opened on March 18th, 2020, at a time of uncertainty, while the state was debating which businesses would be essential vs. non-essential. Fortunately, cannabis was deemed essential, and although the lounge was not allowed to open at that time due to city precautions, Reefer Madness could operate as a dispensary. On April 1st, 2021, things got even better when the city announced that lounges could re-open with precautionary measures such as limits on the number of customers in the lounge at one time. Even though they are limiting the number of customers in the lounge for safety, Steven and the Reefer Madness team are thrilled to finally invite customers to smoke and relax in the lounge. Steven says he is happy to see that people are finally getting out of the house, and social activities are becoming accepted again. If you stop by, be sure to say hello to the siblings – Jessica, Amanda, and Steven.
Reefer Madness is also excited to announce that they will be going on the Discovery Network for a 6-epispode “Dispensary Makeover,” – but really, owner Steven says it’s more like an “in-the-making,” since the store is still very new. Initially, Reefer Madness had planned for elaborate flooring and an upgrade that would raise the ceiling about 2 feet to give the space a more modern feel. Instead, the pandemic forced them to focus only on getting the area certified and up to code, with minimal upgrades, just in time, before the city departments reduced their operations and went into pandemic hibernation. If Reefer Madness had not wrapped up the renovation when they did, everything might have been put to a halt and opening would have been severely delayed.
You can find Reefer Madness on the corner of Ramon and Williams at 4693 Ramon Rd, Palm Springs CA, 92264. You will see a yellow and grey striped building with an Alice and Wonderland themed box-truck parked in front. You can also browse their vast menu at ReeferMadnessLounge.com and order online. Stay tuned for more about Reefer Madness and their upcoming renovations – also be sure to keep an eye open for their show coming soon to the Discovery Network.
