About a month ago, I visited the Sacred Garden website and noticed two strains of interest: Island Sweet Skunk and Chem 4 ("very fragrant" sativa dominant, 22.3% THC, 0.45% CBD, 0.36% CBN).
Sacred Garden was fairly easy to find in Santa Fe, and when I arrived I was the third patient in line. The waiting room is small, but there are two areas where dispensary employees can help patients, so the room didn't become over-crowded.
There were about 10 strains available, including high-CBD strains. I did not pay much attention to Sacred Garden's selection of extracts, but their website says:
"We are also the only Licensed Medical Cannabis Producer in the state that has a sanctioned kitchen through the State of New Mexico."
Sacred Garden's bud comes in small, one-gram-sized plastic bags, or "prepackaged," as it says on the labels. I was able to smell the bud from these packages, but not touch. I asked some questions about popularity of strains and those used by chronic pain patients, and the young gentleman made some suggestions.
Unfortunately, none of the strains I tried were strong enough for intractable pain.
Island Sweet Skunk from Sacred Garden
Purchased 3/11/14 (bar code 3569-5)
19.6% THC (did not see test results)
$13/gram (2 grams)
$17.33/joint
Low-to-medium resin, regular amount of sticks/stems, and no seeds. Similar to (the memory of) HDR's Island Sweet Skunk strain, with almost the same THC strength, but less terpenes and resin -- giving this strain a strength rating of 4.75 (4.25, plus .5 for terpene strength).
Shoreline from Sacred Garden
Purchased 3/11/14 (bar code 7398-5)
13.11% THC (did not see test results)
$13/gram (1 gram)
$17.33/joint
Partially described as a good strain for PTSD, Shoreline reminded me of the ISS strain, but with a kush tone underlying the citrus/diesel smell. Hard to judge the strength on this one with only one gram to test, but so far I give it a 4 (3.5, plus .5 for terpene strength).
Chedderwurst from Sacred Garden
Purchased 3/11/14 (bar code 6164-5)
22% THC (did not see test results)
$13/gram (2 grams)
$14.85/joint
No seeds or resin, and a few sticks/stems. Weak diesel smell without too much of the lemony part (I did not smell cheese). Strength rating of 2.75 (3, minus .25 for lack of terpene strength).
Hash Plant from Sacred Garden
Purchased 3/11/14 (bar code 7370-5)
THC unknown (cannot find strain on website)
$13/gram (1 gram)
$17.33/joint
No seeds or resin, and a few sticks/stems. Nothing special in smell -- maybe some diesel? Strength rating: 2