MA Recreational Sales Begin Tuesday 11/20

[Chunkypigs]

Hundreds of vials containing weed found in a dumpster behind a Mass testing lab.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crim...a-found-in-dumpster-at-testing-lab/ar-BBSjWdW

So much bs, every weed test requires mixing up a sample of herb and solvent in a vial, the emptys have a tiny bit of residue at the bottom and everyone loses their minds.

Cops and journalists make it sound like pounds of flowers and extracts waiting for children to come along....

I picked up some amazing Mass black market Super silver haze, dosidos, wedding cake and Durban poison this week and now I feel like I'm back in humbolt.

 

[Mr.Miner]

^Glad to hear people are still growing ssh and dp.

 

[Akss]

Anyone go to ne alternatives yesterday?

 

[Magnificat]

I had a day off from work and hit them up in the am and was pretty much in and out of there. Got some Skywalker before it vanished from the menu. Its pretty decent. My own stuff will be cut down in 2-3 weeks from now anyway so its supplemental.

Next time i may try another place just to see how the quality compares...

 

[Americangrower]

Anyone go to ne alternatives yesterday?

I don't buy weed but have been looking at NE Alternatives website for the last few months.
Nice to know that since they opened for rec they raised their prices from 30 to 40 8ths to 50 to 55 8ths. lol

 

[Akss]

I dont either ag but i will if its something i wanna try. Been wanting to try a cbd cross but i dont see it on there menu anymore. But i didnt see skywalker on it either so who knows ill go check it out one day I guess its not far.

 

[Magnificat]

I don't typically buy my own weed either, but sometimes when harvests are too far apart you have to do what you got to do. I have a connection for diverted stuff also, 220-250z, 40g shatter, etc. but again i typically have plenty of my own and i make bubble hashes...

Here is some more good news.. Cause once we have dozens of shops open the prices will naturally have to fall to compete.

There is an upcoming cannabis control meeting below and on the agenda is final approval for 2 more shops!!! So hopefully this keeps rolling along, and we have dozens of shops to choose from all forced to kick up their games and provide even higher quality. Interested in maybe checking out the place in wareham, they say small batches of highest quality herbs, sounds right up my alley. Anyway for anyone looking to attend the meeting and the 2 new shops below..

In accordance with Sections 18-25 of Chapter 30A of the Massachusetts General Laws, notice is hereby given of a meeting of the Cannabis Control Commission:

January 24, 2019

Department of Transportation
Conference Room
10 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116
1:00PM

PUBLIC MEETING AGENDA:

1) Call to Order
2) Chairman’s Comments & Updates
3) Minutes for January 10, 2019
4) Executive Director’s Report

a. Staffing Update
b. License and Registration Applications
5) Staff Recommendations on Final Licenses

a. Patriot Care Corp (# MC281265), Cultivation, Tier 6 – Indoor
b. Patriot Care Corp (# MP281308), Product Manufacturer
c. Patriot Care Corp (# MR281282), Retail
d. Patriot Care Corp (# MR281283), Retail
e. Revolutionary Clinics II, Inc. (# MC281507), Cultivation/ Tier 8 – Indoor
f. Revolutionary Clinics II, Inc. (# MP281425), Product Manufacturer
g. Sanctuary Medicinals, LLC (# MC281308), Cultivation/ Tier 5 – Indoor
h. Sanctuary Medicinals, LLC (# MP281405), Product Manufacturer
i. Sanctuary Medicinals, LLC (# MR281650), Retail

 

[yardgrazer]

That's three dispensaries... within a month or so maybe they'll actually be open.

Tried INSA in Easthampton, found them easy to deal with. Gram of flower was a nice big bud, not tiny bits. Meanwhile NETA seems to have imposed further purchase limits, specifically on extract purchases, maybe because people got wise that their flower is nothing to write home about. It'll be nice once there's real competition going, but I expect that's not going to happen for a long time.

Looking forward to getting a new season going in a few months, but hoping to make it out to my unregulated source sometime soon. Down to the dregs of last season's harvest. Nice while that lasted.

 

[Akss]

Grabbed a cbd cross from ne alternatives was on the menu for 50 buck but 10 dollars tax on top of that.60 bucks even for a 1/8 . Most everything was in this price range. Product was nice looking smelt great. If theres a high to it its very tamed. Supposed to be good for back pain inflammation i believe. Idk we shall see.

 

[AgentPothead]

Oh shit Patriot is from my neck of the woods. This could be rad a lot sooner than I thought.

 

[Magnificat]

Also the counts have been ok.. Granted i am finding the quality to be slightly below what i would like on some strains it's average to good and suitable for those who couldn't acquire it before or now want to experiment with it again as adults but don't know anybody...

I grabbed an 1/8th last week, weighing in at 3.69.

 

[yardgrazer]

Another dispensary made it to the penultimate stage, the first non-corporate non-medical dispensary, in Uxbridge. Sounds like they'll be ready to open in a month or so.

 

[Americangrower]

 

[Magnificat]

I took a visit to Temescal Wellness today and it was their 4th day open. They have a similar setup as cultivate with van service that brings you in.

I picked up 2 x 1/8ths to see what their stuff is like. I found it to be similar is quality and counts, maybe slightly stronger that what i got from cultivate, but that could be strain dependent. I got their grape marmalade and chemD.

Temescal is also running some limits right now and not sure if that's different on weekdays. I suspect they are running limits to see how well their stock holds out and then adjust like cultivate did.

Here is the details... Took about 1.2 hours to get through but it was Saturday morning. The prices listed on their website/leafly DO NOT include taxes so you will see that on your receipt the MJ tax plus sales tax.

Limits: 1/8th flower, 1 cart, 1 1/2g shatter, 2 pre-rolls, and 1 powder drink mix for 5 bucks...

so my nephew and I split our purchase and I kept the herbs, the 2 VSPS oil cartridges (510) and he took the 1/2g of shatter and 1/2g of cold ethanol shatter... I paid for all taxes for our orders. It wasn't a bad experience.

Handicap and Medical get right in...

 

[yardgrazer]

Is that Pittsfield?


Thus far I've only been to NETA and INSA (North and Easthampton, respectively). NETA still has a 1/8th limit for flower, 1 gram of shatter, OR wax, OR kief, no limit on edibles. When I went a number of weeks back INSA had a 1/4 limit for flower, and a 1/2 gram of a concentrate limit. Didn't note other limits.


NETA I've done well parking on the street and walking a bit, INSA I found a space right by the entrance. I did order-ahead with both, so it's always a quick in-and-out once I'm there.

 

[yardgrazer]

Seems like a few more dispensaries will be open in the next week or so, namely NETA's Brookline location, and PatriotCare/Greenfield got the "Commence Operations" okay today apparently (but note that, as stated elsewhere, PatriotCare's parent company lobbies against homegrowing).

 

[Magnificat]

Just another Rec Dispensary in Marlboro opening in 1-2 months.

Garden Remedies, a Fitchburg marijuana grower selling under the state's medicinal marijuana law, is now readying to open its doors to any adults looking to get high.

Garden Remedies is working toward opening a recreational cannabis shop in Marlborough this spring.

Tara Hopper, Garden Remedies' general counsel, said the company is anticipating an inspection from the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission by the end of March, with an opening following in a month or so. It already has provisional state approval.

 

[Muleskinner]

FWIW Garden Remedies are good people, the opposite of Boehner's weed! It was started by a local doctor - anesthesiologist - Dr. Karen, that wants to help sick people. She helped fight for legalization years ago. I would trust them to grow my herb, they use organic methods though not 100% organic.

 

[yardgrazer]

This slow rollout thing is a bit frustrating... I saw an article yesterday about a shop that has community support in Springfield, and they mentioned in the article that Springfield had said they'd ultimately be open to more than 10 dispensaries (I want to say the number was 18, but can't remember offhand). When there's a critical mass of shops it'll be much easier to make choices based on their ownership (and lobbying), how we feel about the individual shops as a place to do business, and their product. For now it's a near monopoly.


I really do wonder what it was like when alcohol prohibition ended.

 

[Muleskinner]

I really do wonder what it was like when alcohol prohibition ended.

50 years of terrible corporate beer is what happened! I can still remember a couple decades of life where a line of beer taps was Bud, Bud Light, Busch, Lowenbrau, Miller, Miller Lite, Coors, in every bar in the whole country! you might find Molson or Moosehead if you were lucky.

Apparently when Prohibiton started the government drove all the small and mid-size brewers out of business. The big ones like Annheuser Busch were allowed to continue operating to produce "medical alcohol". When Prohibtion was repealed the big guys moved in and cornered the market, not until the late 80's and Sam Adams did anyone break through with good beer.

In Massachusetts there are still distribution laws that screw small brewers and favor the big ones.