Reflecting on The Pandemic One Year On, and Community During Crisis

It’s been almost one year since we realized the seriousness of the pandemic worldwide. When it first started, nobody knew how long it would be or what the outcomes would be, but we are proud of how the world and the SE Portland community came together to tackle the problem.

Here at the shop we took immediate precautions to keep our staff and customers safe while continuing to serve them Portland’s finest craft cannabis. We implemented a masking policy well before the statewide mandate, we turned the exterior of our shop into a comfortable outdoor ordering window shopping experience (we call it the weed window,come see for yourself!), and we improved our website by providing an online ordering experience to make it easy for customers to browse and order their favorite cannabis products from the comfort of their home. 

When the pandemic began, we were all very worried as closure mandates began going in effect. We’ve always known that we’re an “essential business” to our community that relies on us to provide them with the medical and recreational cannabis that helps them get through their day better, but we weren’t positive officials would feel the same. Fortunately, Kate Brown deemed dispensaries essential and allowed us to stay open and remain open 7 days a week and we have been here everyday since! 

By bringing the dispensary to you through online ordering and by setting up a new and improved window ordering process, we have been able to navigate through the challenges of the pandemic, but nobody could have expected that the rest of the year would bring even more adversity. The injustice done to George Floyd and so many others, the raging wildfires that devastated Oregon families (including many in the cannabis community), and most recently the snowpocalypse that left thousands without power have all affected everyone tremendously. A uniquely stressful year to say the least. It is no wonder the community has relied on us to help relieve stress. Journalists found that medical and recreational cannabis use for mental health purposes increased sharply when the pandemic started. No worries, Pakalolo is here!

The past year has been challenging, and we sympathize with those hurt the most. As SE Portland’s neighborhood dispensary, and a local-family owned business at that, we feel what those in the community feel. Fortunately though, one year later things are looking up. The vaccine is going out to more and more people, and businesses are beginning to re-open and our outdoor ordering is still kicking! We have been fortunate through it all so we will continue to work hard to ensure we are here for everyone through the most difficult of times, constantly providing premium cannabis.