Nkechi Ikem
Staff Writer
The legalization of recreational marijuana in California has paved the way for an industry that is expected to be worth $7 billion by the end of this year.
The sudden growth of this market is what prompted native Goleta resident Jeff Young to start Day 1 Dynamics, a mobile marijuana dispensary, that can be seen cruising around in Isla Vista.
“All my friends are in the cannabis game, so I decided that it might be time to see what’s up,” Young, the owner of Day 1 Dynamics, told The Bottom Line in an interview. But instead of opening up a dispensary store, Young saw that a key thing missing from the market was convenience.
Thus, the weed truck was born. With today’s demands for not only instant gratification but also freeform and unpretentious individualism, food trucks are the perfect vehicle to bridge the gap between product and people. Only, this one sells weed. Rather than make people drive to his store to purchase marijuana, Young wanted to be able to drive to the people.
“And then I thought, you know what? There’s no one in the festival scene. There’s nobody in the beer garden scene. There’s no one in the retirement scene! With the truck, you can bring it to them,” Young said of the additional benefits to having a food-truck style operation. Recently, Day 1 Dynamics serviced a Vans skate park in Huntington Beach.
On top of being able to drive to music and beer festivals, Young finds that owning a weed truck is less expensive than a storefront operation. He originally bought the truck in Burbank and then had it decorated by a friend in Lompoc who owns the car customization company Wrap Life.
Young says the name came from what the term “day one” means to him. He says that when he first tried cannabis, he knew that it would be in his life forever.
In terms of where and when he drives, there’s no set schedule to when he drives to Isla Vista, though he usually is motivated to come when it’s especially sunny.
On its website, Day 1 Dynamics advertises that it can be booked for “BBQs, weddings, birthday parties, music festivals, and your local beer festival.” There is also a menu customers can look at before they book.
Capitalizing off of the recent legalization of recreational cannabis in such an innovative way is nothing new. Even little girls are getting in on the trend, with one San Diego Girl Scout selling 300 boxes of cookies by setting up shop next to a dispensary. What Young is doing is just the beginning of how businesses and company blueprints are going to adapt to the marketing of marijuana.
Regarding his experience in entering the marijuana scene, Young says its been nothing but positive. In the future, he says he hopes to work more with students, whom he calls, the revolution.