Screw dispensaries they don't operate on a feasible structure for the concept of being all about the medicine and not making a buck while they are at it. When you have overhead of brick and mortar (a building) and the utilities and such that goes with, plus paid employee's versus volunteer and add in the factor top shelf ain't ever cheap because someone put a lot of care into it's upbringing and you have a system that can only be maintained if the prices are kept at a "competitive" level aka close to street rate but not quite as cheap. Oh and add the expense of laboratory testing... people all about good meds need to network and form small co-op's the larger the venue the hard it is to avoid corruption. Oh and on top of that in states like california the man want's his cut and taxes MEDICAL cannabis as a commodity. And just you wait till they have a provision of that here, I predict by 2016 there will be dispensary regulation with harsh taxes because at that point any cannabis not being grown under I-502 is not a taxable commodity under the 25% COMPOUND sales tax. For those of you who don't know it's 25% of the total through a 3 point process market therefore the product is taxed three times each in a higher total volume.
Final thoughts: boycott dispensaries, go to a MMJ convention and network with there are a lot of honest people out there who are in it for the right reasons... shouldn't be too hard to find a compassionate grower somewhere between Kent and Bellingham that has an opening in a collective garden. If ya don't mind the occasional drive.