Amoeba Music Hoping to Add Marijuana Dispensary to Berkeley Store

The music industry has been on the decline for the past several years, mostly due to a lack of physical retail sales brought on by a technological swarm of platforms providing digital downloads, and in a lot of cases, access to pirated albums. However, there is some evidence that the cannabis industry could help revitalize the business of selling recorded tunes by doing what California-based Amoeba Music is planning to do—incorporate legal marijuana and music.

For the past year, Amoeba’s San Francisco location has successfully housed a medical marijuana evaluation clinic, which assists music fans in getting their hands on a state MMJ card, but a recent report from the East Bay Express indicates that the record seller’s flagship store in Berkeley is preparing to step it up a notch by opening a full-scale medical marijuana dispensary.

While there are not as many people walking into record stores these days to pick up their favorite music, Amoeba’s addition of the evaluation clinic has helped  keep the Bay Area location from succumbing to the dirge trumpeted in by the digital age. Because of this, Amoeba co-owner David Prinz believes the obvious transition from providing pot recommendations to actually selling weed in the same location where CDs and records are sold is a foolproof concept with a wealth of potential.

“Music and weed go together like—music and weed,” Prinz said.

Recently, the City of Berkeley announced that it would be issuing a fourth permit in 2015 for a dispensary to operate within the city limits. Amoeba Music, which has been a part of the community for 25 years, applied for the license in hopes of providing themselves with some “supplemental income,” while also enabling them to keep the doors open “to do some amazing shit.”

If awarded the license, Amoeba plans to renovate the store to accommodate the medical marijuana dispensary. Yet, while the legendary record outlet seems to be the most ideal location for another dispensary, as it would allow for a variety of weed and music-related events, there are five other organizations competing for the permit. The decision is ultimately up to the city council.