The Legacy OGs

Long a figure on the L.A. cannabis stage, Yvonne DeLaRosa Green has amassed a list of awards and accolades that are singular. In 2008, she founded the first luxury dispensary, 99 High Art Collective on Abbot Kinney in Venice, a hybrid of a dispensary and art gallery, that grew into a who’s who of Hollywood stars, musicians, world-class geneticists, and the psychedelic glitterati. Green was on the front lines promoting ayahuasca and other plant modalities to expand consciousness, health, and well-being.

“We were the first to host the exhibit, Ayahuasca Visions,” she said, sitting on the couch in her magically designed mermaid cave lobby full of driftwood art, crystals, incense, seashells, and earthy, bespoke bongs. “We showcased the art of Pablo Amaringo, known as the father of Neo Amazonian Art.”

However, after the draconian regulations came out a few years back, she closed the Venice location and opened 99 High Tide Malibu, across from Nobu and Soho House on Pacific Coast Highway, in 2015. The shop has become the go-to for the creme de la creme of Malibu, Santa Monica, and Calabasas. On the overcast afternoon I visited, Quentin Tarantino was leaving with a wide smile and quick wink. They come for the vegan edibles, aromatic organic sungrown flower, powerful topicals, and “mermaids.”

“I don’t like to call them budtenders,” she says with a big laugh.

The mermaids are some of the most well-trained budtenders in the city. Many are former, and current, growers, while others go on sabbatical to farms to learn the delicate process of growing the finest weed. On one such trip, Green fell in love with Rik Shiva Shirag’s strain-pure plants. Green recounts the legendary geneticist and guitar player would play music and sing to his plants. “I encourage my mermaids to sing and talk lovingly to their plants,” she said. “It makes a difference.” Green began smoking old school strains like Blackberry Kush, Skunk #1, and her favorite, Blue Dream. Then they began to vanish.

“One day on the beach I was lamenting the lack of legacy master OGs still being sold in Los Angeles,” she said. “Then I decided, ‘I will do it myself.’”

When Green first opened the Malibu shop, word got around about the ninety-nine dollar eighths of Coconut Kush, an indica dominant hybrid known for its soothing effects. They were selling out of jars. “I couldn’t get enough of it,” she said. People were driving from Santa Barbara and San Diego to snatch up these rare, dewy eighths. Using this fabled strain and the Master OGs mentioned above, the 99 High Tide product lineup will include flower, topicals, beauty products, and vegan edibles. Green says she regularly gets jet-setters from Paris to Berlin to Tokyo, who exclusively come to the store for its clean, well-sourced sungrown cannabis. And, of course, the helpful mermaids.

“My vision has always been to create an enchanting sanctuary that has the best natural healing medicine and products,” she said. “This is sacred medicine.”

99HighTide.com

BLACKBERRY KUSH

A potent indica, Blackberry Kush is as sweet-smelling and skunky as it gets. It has strong relaxing elements and is good for easing chronic pain, and was highly sought after during the medical only years. “We’re bringing it back, baby,” Green said.

SKUNK #1:

A hybrid that was created in the 70s in Santa Cruz, Skunk #1 is the proud parent strain that has birthed a smattering of big-time strains. Effects include a pleasant physical relaxation felt from head to toe. “This is a very calming strain,” she noted.

BLUE DREAM

Sometimes called Blueberry Haze or Azure Haze, this sativa from the forests of the Emerald Triangle is “the bomb.” Known for its potency (24% THC), versatility, euphoric high, and heady aromas of wood, pine, and spices, Blue Dream is reason enough to play hooky, drive to 99, and spend a dreamy day in Malibu.