I am standing outside a cannabis store. Opaque windows, the flashing OPEN sign. I don’t like shopping this way. I don’t feel in control of my shopping experience. I nervously go inside.

Therein, a sterile environment, the hum of budtenders explaining the purchase protocol, the customers eyeing the display cabinets, within which, pharmaceutical containers with medicinal labels. Squint really closely, you see a tiny brand logo, and the name and potency of the product.

The store windows are decal’d because we don’t want the kids getting high by visualizing the product; we don’t want them salivating, tugging at their parent’s arm, “Please Mum! Please! As a special treat…?”

What are we keeping out of sight of the kids, exactly? Canadian research shows that cannabis use among underage people actually dropped since legalization. It’s not cool anymore. Maybe BECAUSE of the sterility and seriousness of the cannabis experience? Maybe.

Recently, Fire & Flower shared that decal’d windows create a safety issue for staff and decided to remove them. They won’t show cannabis in the windows, of course. (Unless you are an aficionado, looking at flower in a jar doesn’t scream “Buy! BUY THEM ALL!”)

The maturation process begins. We are growing up, fast.

This Much We Know.