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State's largest city finally gets a legal pot shop - one single shop for a city of nearly 700,000 people
By adamg on Thu, 02/06/2020 - 3:18pm
Map of proposed pot shops city has OKed and the one (in red) that's gotten required state approval.
The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission today signed off on a proposal for a company called Pure Oasis to open Boston's first recreational pot shop, at 430 Blue Hill Ave. in Grove Hall.
The approval of Pure Oasis puts Boston on an equal footing with such bustling communities as Montague, Lee, Uxbridge, Millis, Oxford, Wareham and Great Barrington, all of which already have one approved marijuana retailer each, but behind Fall River, which has two.
Boston has signed "host community" agreements with a total of 13 would-be pot-shop operators, but 12 of those are still awaiting action by the state. Voters approved recreational marijuana use in 2016.
WBUR reports that Pure Oasis is the first retail outlet approved under a state economic empowerment program aimed at entrepreneurs and employees who were members of communities disproportionately hit by previous efforts to block marijuana use or who plant to employ such people.
More on Kobie Evans and Kevin Hart, Pure Oasis's owners.
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Comments
Too bad
It's not opening at 420 Blue Hill Ave.
Let's petition the city
It appears that parcel is actually 434: http://app01.cityofboston.gov/ParcelViewer/?pid=1400646000
And the church uses the address 428, but their legal address is on the side street. The next parcel over is 406. It seems like it should be easy to get the church readdressed as 410 or 416 or something (or make them use their legal address; they don't pay taxes, so they shouldn't get extra effort from USPS/ISD/etc.) and then get the dispensary addressed as 420.
Who's with me? Let's do this.
Are you going to petition the
Are you going to petition the Post Office to take away zip code 02420 from Lexington, too?
I'm still buying from my local unlicensed entrepreneur
And his prices are much lower than the state run pot shops. But his in-stock availability is spotty. If and when a pot shop opens close to me, I think I'll still buy from my local unlicensed entrepreneur who has served me for many years.
budsidiarity
budsidiarity
.
noun
.
The principle of reserving decisions and sourcing to the local level.
This is the problem with the huge delays.
It has strengthened the gray market to the point that it will never go away, people will still be arrested for selling marijuana. It has been outrageous the way MA has dragged its feet after the public voted for this.
How has it strengthened the gray market?
There's been pot dealers here forever and a day and I see the huge lines in Brookline pretty often.
The point of legal pot was
The point of legal pot was for the pot dealers to have zero customers. Now it is legal to have pot in your possession but very difficult to buy it legally. People that work for a living don't have time to wait in line for hours. So you add all of the original customers, plus all the people that decided to try pot because it is legal, and the gray market is growing, not shrinking.
One hilarious point of reference
A lot of legally grown pot in grow houses for the medical and recreational trade makes its way into the illegal market. It's just the way it is.
Would anon be willing to
Would anon be willing to provide evidence for this?
Growing legally is more expensive than growing illegally, diversion from legal to gray markets risks loss of very expensive licenses, and gray market prices are lower.
This doesn't make any more economic sense than the "smurfing and looping" that is supposedly going on.
Thanks
very helpful answer.
Lines are optional
You can order online at the Brookline dispensary. I've done that and swung by on my way home from work. Park the car, walk over and show the order confirmation, then pop straight in. I was was back in my car on my way home in less than ten minutes (weekend days you might have to wait in line 10-15 minutes). I've had it take far more time to pick up a prescription at CVS.
Lines at Brookline
A few weeks ago I went to Brookline NETA around 2pm and saw a very long line. It was pretty cold out but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. There had to be 60 people ahead of me. By the time I got into line and left with my products, it was about 30 minutes. They are very friendly and efficient.
That should be advertised
That should be advertised more. Do you need a credit card?
Actually
You can't use a credit card to buy marijuana yet because of how averse financial institutions are to dealing with a business that's technically illegal on the federal level. You have to use cash or a debit card. It sucks.
That being said, as the novelty has worn off and the number of shops in the state have increased, there really aren't huge lines anymore. Ordering ahead is easy at NETA, not sure how it is with other places.
I think the point was to tax
I think the point was to tax the stuff, and reduce expense of enforcing possesion, similar to legalized lottery, and now sports betting. Alcohol, pot , whatever , the people are going to use, who cares about common sense, full speed ahead!
My prediction (and I could be wrong)
While the gray market will be around for a bit longer, I predict that once there are enough legal shops to meet demand, prices will drop, somewhat. More importantly, if enough people drop the unlicensed vendors (say half), they won't have sufficient sales flow to be able to continue to make a go of it. (People are lazy, so if they can place their order on their phone and get a delivery in an hour or so, they'll forget their shady friend.)
As an analogy, think how many people are selling moonshine liquor. (That is, no one.) It would be easy enough to make, but for the risk, there just isn't a big enough market to bother when there is a liquor store within a mile of every home in Boston.
it will never go away.
But it will shrink as people have more access. There also needs to be some kind of quality rating. It will help people value the stores more.
Also, I think that we need to give people instruction on growing it at home. Store weed can be very expensive, and people should be empowered to grow good quality plants at home. It isn't that complicated.
Agreed
Grey-market stuff is way cheaper than what's coming from the dispensaries, and the quality and variety are generally much better. Having Rhode Island next door to us, with its comparatively lenient rules, is asking for the legal market here to be undercut by folks willing to drive up from Providence to deliver to an underserved Boston.
Agreed
We need to annex Rhode Island.
Have we tried just asking?
Rhode Islanders seem like an agreeable bunch... maybe they'd just voluntarily join the Commonwealth if we asked nicely?
I doubt it?
After all, Rhode Island was founded by a guy who we specifically told to GTFO and now they're supposed to come home 384 years later when we ask nicely?
Speaking of which, after this latest bit of Susan Collins performative nonsense, I say we rescind Maine's independence as well, or at least we get to elect their two senators.
Not until the Dakotas merge
Last thing this country needs is two fewer Democratic US senators.
I don’t care for pot in
I don’t care for pot in general, but seeing two black entrepreneurs open the City’s first pot shop in Grove Hall is heartening, especially after reading the previous story involving the thin skinned Boston Police Patrolmen's Association.
It looks like the Cannabis Control Commission cares to make amends with the people disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs. They may have gotten some things right after all.
disagree
First. affirmative action (which has been rebranded as social justice and now as economic empowerment) is disheartening to many.
Second, the people most disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, are the people who never touched, used, or sold illegal drugs. Comparing that impact is like dividing by zero.
Hmm...
"Second, the people most disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs, are the people who never touched, used, or sold illegal drugs."
I don't know if it's *the* most disproportionate, since it's pretty fucking disproportionate to serve a life sentence for possession for personal use. And as I'm sure you know, it's mostly Black and brown folks who are serving such sentences.
But depending which "people who never touched, used, or sold illegal drugs" you are referring to, you may have a fair point. The war on drugs has led to stuff like people being killed by officers raiding the wrong house, people serving life sentences for being in the company of someone they didn't realize was possessing for personal use, life sentences for parole violations for being in the casual company of someone they didn't realize was a felon because people don't run background checks on their coworker's guests when they get invited over for Thanksgiving -- and so on and so forth. And because of how it plays out, the numbers are just astounding. It's actually extremely likely, if you're a Black or brown person who tends to have Black and brown friends, that people you know are going to have felony convictions, usually for simple possession. Or being in the company of someone. Or being Black when there's a war on drugs. And the cycle continues.
Affirmative action is only "disheartening" to people who want to deny these numbers and pretend racism isn't happening. My white middle-class self is all for affirmative action, economic justice measures, reparations, you name it.
What make you think 700,000
What make you think 700,000
people want to smoke weed? Odd headline.
Apologies if the headline wasn't clear enough
I realize not every Bostonian would rush to a pot shop if we had one, either because they're too young or for other reasons (I have no moral qualms about marijuana, but have no interest in consuming it), and I know that Brookline Village isn't that hard to get to from much of Boston.
My point was to marvel at the oddity of the largest city in the state (population roughly 700,000) having no pot shops at all while Montague (population 8,200) and Lee (population 6,000) each have licensed shops.
Montague
Also bullshit that Montague has a Bookmill and we don't.
I love that place!
I still have my dentist in Amherst, and I always spend a summer afternoon there listening to the Mill River...
The law states Boston is to get
52 marijuana dispensary licenses. What’s the big hurry? If you can’t wait go over to Brookline.
"City of nearly 700,000 people"
Very clearly stated. Any problem is on your end.
reefer
makes me sneeze but kudos to them. Welcome to the neighborhood!
About time, now put one in
About time, now put one in Dot.
430 Blue Hill Avenue is in
430 Blue Hill Avenue is in Dorchester.
The age old question about the boundries of Dot/Roxbury/Mattapan
As a long time resident of Fields Corner, I consider Grove Hall to be Roxbury-ish
Google Maps (yeah I know) says Roxbury
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Dorchester,+Boston,+MA/@42.3015016,-71.0913155,13z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x89e37a491ade8bb3:0x86feaf1d8bbc4238!8m2!3d42.3016268!4d-71.0676384
Bostonography survey says no mans land but more Roxbury than Dot
https://bostonography.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/hoods2017_web2-01.png
Harvard study says Roxbury
https://sociology.fas.harvard.edu/files/sociology/files/dorchester_bound...
Wikipedia says Roxbury
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorchester,_Boston#/media/File:Dorchester_...
City of Boston says it "links Dorchester and Roxbury"
https://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/Grove%20Hall_tcm3-25314.pdf
But I am sure some enterprising advocate for the theory that Grove Hall is in Dorchester can offer evidence for their point of view.
And if we really want to spend some time, where is the border between Dot and Mattapan?
That all having been said, I want a pot shop in Fields Corner!!
West of Normandy Street =
West of Normandy Street = Roxbury
Not Fields Corner yet
The location marker to the northeast of the red one is for the proposed dispensary in Uphams Corner. Part of their pitch was that they expect a significant percentage of their sales to be delivery so you'll be able to register there and then have them just bring it to your house.
Don't hold your breath. The
Don't hold your breath. The people who proposed the dispensary couldn't get Boston to approve a Host Community Agreement and are giving up their option to buy Cataloni's
https://dotnews.com/2020/its-neighbors-regret-cataloni-s-bar-sits-empty-...
Bummer
Might not help this place but hopefully the legislation will go through giving the CCC more control over the HCAs. Towns are abusing the hell out of those, the taxes and other fees they get should be enough.
Put on on the corner of Huntington and South Huntington
Let's stop the parasites in Brookline from taking tax revenues from us for once.
Hey 2025 UHub visitors: Check this out!
Five years from now this story will seem so very quaint, as we celebrate what will eventually be no big deal.
HELLO FUTURE PEOPLE
Bumbling Baker seems to be
Bumbling Baker seems to be trying to do everything he can to make the rollout painful. Approving just one in Boston means long lines, parking issues etc are exacerbated instead of approving them all and spreading it out. He already signed off on the 6 month delay for all shops right after approval. Like his doppelganger in the white house, he just blames all problems on the black man who came before him.
Huzzah!
Keep em coming!
compare this
to LA, or Las Vegas, etc.. Pot stores everywhere. Delivery available. Lots of competition. Boston is again faaar behind the curve. "World class"
Meanwhile
In Southie, the muppets did their moaning and whining about the proposed shop on west 1st.
I will be honest I voted
I will be honest I voted against decriminalization and against legalization. Not because I disagree with either but because the wording was so vague and I knew things would be a mess.
With decriminalizing it we have made it harder to really enforce public consumption. The laws on beer are much tougher and the laws in many cases on cigarettes are even harsher. That still has not been fully worked out.
With legalization once again things seemed iffy.
With all that laid out though both of these things are now true. I am sick of hearing about this slow roll out and long lines and then people using long lines and crowds as an excuse against placement. The whole thing is just agonizing. The cities and state should have worked as a unit from day one and worked together to get these shops opened in waves. I still think this is the way to go, it seems crazy that you can have 52 licenses and it has taken this long to pop out one. They should be opening five at a time.
Then we have the issue of public consumption. Many people are not allowed to smoke in their homes and they should not be smoking in public. How can we put out something that is legal and then declare you can't use it anywhere? We need to have lounges or weed cafes where people can smoke if they so desire. I don't know what that looks like but maybe it is a social club tyou belong to for an annual membership, maybe its a non profit that rents a space and has some furniture and you donate on your way it. Maybe it is itself a full fledged business. Any which way we need to give people the space to do this now legal opputuniry.