High Tides: where everybody knows your strain

By Chelsea Randall  / news@mendonoma.com

Gualala’s High Tides dispensary offers more than the advertised “compassionate cannabis care.” It’s a store deeply rooted in community, authenticity and knowledge that comes only from decades of living in the Emerald Triangle. For 50 years, owner Michael “Bone Daddy” Thomas has called the Mendocino coast home. He arrived in the area in 1975 when he was just 22 years old and learned cannabis cultivation from the ground up as a guerrilla grower.

Once the antics of dodging armed helicopters became too much, he decided to stop growing, but he never stopped learning. Thomas can speak on everything from the history of cannabis prohibition in the U.S. to the racist roots of “Reefer Madness” propaganda. He knows the ins and outs of regulations and legislation and fought for legalization.

Over the years, he watched cannabis grow into an economic lifeline for Mendocino County as logging and fishing declined. “Cannabis was the main dollar here,” Thomas said. “There used to be a time every-body here — everybody — had a few plants and made a little bit of money.” He recalls how that money funded schools and kept businesses afloat, including his own restaurant, Bones Road-house. When the market dried up, so did the in-come stream, effectively taking millions of dollars out of the local economy. It’s a history Thomas lived firsthand, giving him unique credibility with customers. Since 2015, his ability to connect has turned High Tides into the “Cheers” of dispensaries, where locals come to socialize just as much as they come to shop. “Thick ties to the community. That’s what we’re about,” Thomas said.

“We serve the whole community,” shop manager Matt Kal added. “That’s the kind of the vibe we set out here. All are welcome because it’s medicine for everybody.” Kal grew up as a self-proclaimed straight-edge kid who was “afraid of pot.” He discovered its benefits in his late 20s while searching for alternatives to man-age chronic back pain.

He now helps others by talking about his experience. “Being able to share that knowledge is very helpful for people be-cause it also gets over their fear, their initial `Oh, I don’t want to get high,'” Kal said. Kal first met Thomas working in construction and uses one anecdote to sum up Thomas’ character as a contractor, a boss and a human: “One time, he paid me to build a deck for some-one and never charged them for it,” Kal said. “He did stuff like that all the time just to help people out. So that’s an-other reason why I really respect Mike.”

That respect carries over into the trust customers place in Thomas. When giving product recommendations, all Kal has to do is mention which items have Thomas’ seal of approval, often turning the exchange into a real-life version of the old Life cereal commercial: “He likes it!” People stop by High Tides just to chat with Thomas. Sometimes, the stream of visitors gets so steady that it interrupts day-to-day business. Kal has even joked about needing to put a Pea-nuts-style sign on the office door: “The doctor is IN .”Or, in this case, “OUT.” Heading north up the coast, High Tides is the first dispensary one en-counters entering the Emerald Triangle of Mendocino, Trinity and Humboldt counties. Providing safe, quality cannabis for the community is Thomas’ priority, he said.

He prides himself on maintaining a standard of knowledge about and guaranteeing products from the Triangle. “Sourcing of local products is not difficult if you know where to go,” he said. High Tides’ inventory is mostly Emerald Triangle-grown from places like Mendocino Natural Farms outside Covelo. “I know who grew it,” he said. “They’re friends of mine.”

Thomas has built relationships with the few remaining mom-and-pop growers. “There are minimal farms now in the Triangle that are selling on the legal market,” he said. “The growers have to pay an enormous amount of money, so that’s why there are not many mom-and-pops anymore.” Beyond the state requirements, license fees and taxes, he said Mendocino County adds its own challenges. Growers like Mendocino Natural Farms have survived “by tenacity.”
 
 Thomas’ roots in the community go far beyond providing quality cannabis. He has a long history of giving back, quietly and consistently. When he owned Bones Roadhouse, he regularly hosted fundraisers for Meals on Wheels. These days, he continues that support by donating his weekly tips from High Tides to the local program. His contributions have touched nearly every corner of the community, from the arts center to the schools. Beyond financial support, he participates in weekly pro-democracy demonstrations, often flies his American flag upside down in what he calls a “patriot protest” of the current administration and plans to add a Ukrainian flag in solidarity. His motto is “Always do your best, and when you know better, do better.”

For Thomas, High Tides isn’t just business; it’s personal. The store sees a lot of medical usage, and putting people at ease or helping them overcome preconceived notions about cannabis requires a special touch. “Empathy and compassionate cannabis care. That’s what we’re doing here,” he said. “We need to be kind to people … every time we can, we need to give a hand up because, by God, in your life, some-body’s helped you up —or they will.”

When visiting High Tides, whether you’re a local or just passing through, Thomas and Kal are always ready with recommendations and the kind of welcome you’d expect where everybody knows your strain.