Boston's First Pot Shop To Open Within Months: Mayor Walsh

BOSTON, MA — As two communities in the state rake in the money and figure out what to do about the traffic the first two recreational pot shops are bringing in, Mayor Marty Walsh said the city is close to getting its first. It looks like Boston may be getting a recreational marijuana shop early next year.

“In a few months, we will probably have the first marijuana shop,” Walsh said on WGBH Boston Public Radio's monthly Ask The Mayor segment. "Probably around the North Station area."

The first recreational pot shop opened in Leicester and earlier this month prompting a line of cars a quarter-mile down Route 9 on the opening day. Traffic hasn't slowed down since.

The store will be operated by Ascend Cannabis, Walsh said, and led by chief executive and former Mass. Secretary of Public Safety Andrea Cabral.

Walsh said construction on the shop should begin as soon as a collective bargaining agreement is settled with the state, but not everyone is happy about the shop coming to Boston.

Walsh has previously expressed concerns about the human toll of marijuana, but he noted the voters overwhelmingly voted for this so it moves forward. But the trick:

“There are neighborhood organizations that don’t want it in their backyard, but the voters voted for it,” Walsh said in the interview. “The city is pitted now, at some point we’re going to be approving these things that neighborhoods might not want in their neighborhood, but the voters voted for it.”

The city has received 50 applications to open up marijuana shops, according to the mayor. He said there have already been some 11 community meetings about it and four host community agreements signed. The next step is to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals then the cannabis commission.

Alston, JP, South End, and West End have proposals on the table.

Representatives from Ascend Cannabis did not immediately return request for comment.

Listen to the full Boston Public Radio show here.

Related:

• Recreational Marijuana Stores: Where To Expect Them Next
• Massachusetts Gets First Whiff Of Recreational Marijuana
• Leicester Public Meeting To Address Traffic From Marijuana
• Pot Shops Bring In $2.2 Million In First Week; MA Nets $337K

In Boston, you can’t smoke tobacco or marijuana in public parks or workplaces, including bars and restaurants. You can’t inhale, exhale, burn, or carry any lighted cigar, cigarette, or pipe, or lighted or vaporized substance in any manner or form. This includes marijuana, even if it’s used for medical reasons.

You also can't have an open container of marijuana or marijuana products in your motor vehicle. Violations can carry a civil penalty of up to $500.

You can carry up to one ounce of marijuana in public. Five grams of that may be a marijuana concentrate.

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