A First In Boston, Medical Marijuana For Sale | Stoner News
As it always seems to be, the east coast is delayed in it’s implementing of medical cannabis laws. Take for example Massachusetts. They have been preparing for their dispensaries to open for years now, since 2012, making patients wait and wait to get their hands on their medicine. There have been seven dispensaries to open their doors in Massachusetts. However, none have been located in one of the most popular cities on the east coast. But now, finally, there is hope for the patients in the bustling city of Boston. A medical marijuana dispensary known (fittingly) as Patriot Care, has finally opened it’s doors and is open for business at 21 Milk St.
The dispensary hadn’t even opened yet but it had more than 200 state-certified patients ready to come in and purchase pot. They had preregistered with Patriot care and the heads of the company said that they were bracing themselves to take on at least 150 customers a day. “We’re proud to be here,” said Robert Mayerson, the chief executive at Patriot. “We’re taking a space vacant for ten years and bringing economic vitality back to it.” The building is even equipped to handle disabled patients that have issues with stairs, boasting a chairlift that brings you up the four stairs to the dispensary door. Patriot Care, who has another location in Lowell, has been distributing coupons for their Boston store opening and have been complimented on how professional they’ve been about the opening. “I am excited for patients,” said Nichole Snow, executive director of the Massachusetts Patients Advocacy Alliance. “It’s been a long time coming.”
When Patriot Care announced that it wanted to open a store on Milk St, there were problems right from the start. Boston police were worried about the on-street drug dealing while the residents that live in the area were fearful for the status of their neighborhood, hoping that their once-dangerous area would be once again become unsafe. Other businesses also raised questions as to if the area would remain secure and the idea of increased traffic was brought up as well. All of these concerns mounted against Patriot Care and delayed their opening for a good while. Now, some anxieties have eased but there are still some people who are concerned. “The devil is in the details and we probably need a good three to six month track record to know how this will work out,” said Rishi Shukla, co-founder of the Downtown Boston Residents’ Association. “Patriot Care, to their credit, has made some concessions for safety and police,” Shukla said. “ They agreed to a police detail during business hours and making sure there aren’t lines out the door.”
Again, the east coast is far behind the west in regards to cannabis (and basically everything else, sorry guys, it’s true, I live on the east coast, but we do have better pizza). But with abiding dispensaries such as Patriot Care beginning to open their doors and show people that cannabis isn’t a terrible business, we can surely hope to sure more stores opening up in other states that have passed medical marijuana laws but have not implemented them yet.