Dispensaries are getting classy

When cannabis dispensaries popped up like, um, weeds throughout the city a few years back, it wasn’t just their ambiguous legal status that raised eyebrows. Early pot purveyors papered the city with the most cliché markers of marijuana culture: neon pot leaves, Bob Marley posters and cringe-worthy names like “Mega Ill.” Thankfully, a new generation of dispensaries is trading in the basement rec room vibe for upscale environments aimed at attracting a more diverse clientele. Places like the Scandinavian-chic Aura on Kingsway, the West Coast cool Leaves of Zazie near Main Street and the wood-clad Green Panda have us hopeful this soon-to-be legal industry is ‘nally growing up.