Medical cannabis offers many benefits including the reduction of symptoms related to your condition. Whether you’re using it in your battle with Glaucoma, Crohn’s, Epilepsy or any of the other conditions listed in the State of Illinois’ list of Debilitating Qualifying Conditions, medical cannabis offers significant relief for most patients. After doing your research on the medicinal benefits of medical cannabis and all signs point to yes it’s for you, you’ve found yourself here with a single question: “What’s next?” Your next step is choosing a dispensary. But exactly how do you pick? Aren’t they all the same? The short answer? No, they’re not all the same.

No two dispensaries are the same. Yes, they all have medical cannabis, but the differences are plenty. Just as two businesses in the same industry will vary in terms of products and services, so will dispensaries. Where one may be more dedicated to customer satisfaction, another may be better stocked with quality products keeping their focus on quality and not the patient. Neither of these is a bad goal for the dispensaries, but what you’re looking for is a dispensary that focuses on both quality and customer satisfaction. These qualities in a dispensary leads to a positive experience for the patient; as well as patient safety.

Here are the points you should consider before choosing a dispensary where you’ll go for your medical cannabis:

• Health, Safety & Quality: This is the first consideration because this is the most important consideration. They should abide by all health department regulations for theirs and any other business. Look around. Is the dispensary clean? Is care taken when filling prescriptions? Do they store the cannabis properly and do they provide appropriate documentation with each sale?
• Location: This is fairly obvious; you want a dispensary for medical cannabis that is relatively close to your home. Of course, this shouldn’t mean that you’re willing to sacrifice quality for convenience. This issue is mitigated, somewhat, if you’re ordering your medical cannabis online for delivery. Some dispensaries offer delivery. If this is the case, go in once and check it out just to be sure that all health and safety codes are being enforced.
• Selection: You’ll want a dispensary that carries the strain of medical cannabis you require. You’ll also want to find your strain in the form that works best for you. Whether you’ll smoke, eat, rub on a cream or inhale a vapor – you want to find a dispensary that offers your strain of medical cannabis in your preferred as you prefer it. If you’ve researched strains for your condition, call the dispensary and find out if they carry it.
• Price: This is the last consideration when choosing a dispensary for medical cannabis, not because it isn’t important – it is. But, it comes after quality for an obvious reason; what good does saving a few dollars make if the medical cannabis you’re using is less effective or, worse, if it causes you harm.

The point to remember is that it’s worth every minute you spend choosing a medical cannabis dispensary to make sure you pick one you can trust. If nothing else, the time spent will give you peace of mind knowing that your medication is safe.  To assist you in making your decision, we’ve put together this list of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries in Illinois.