Consumers over the age of 21 can now legally purchase and use marijuana grown on Martha’s Vineyard, following the start Monday morning of adult-use sales at Fine Fettle Dispensary in West Tisbury.
Fine Fettle, which began retailing prescription marijuana at its State Road location last month, opened to non-medical customers with four varieties of dried flower and three varieties in pre-rolled joints.
A similar menu will also be available to adult cannabis buyers in Vineyard Haven beginning August 16, when the Island Time dispensary opens to the public on Mechanic’s street.
“We will have the exact same product,” said Island Time owner Geoff Rose, whose company Patient Centric founded the West Tisbury growing and selling operation now owned by Fine Fettle.
“We expect to offer edible products sometime in the near future,” Mr. Rose told the Gazette. Vaporizer cartridges are also yet to come, he said.
Products made with marijuana, whether for eating or vaporizing, are more complex to prepare, said Fine Fettle general manager Jay Deyette, who reported busy sales and appreciative customers for buds and pre-rolls on the dispensary’s first day of adult-use retail.
Before visiting the dispensaries, Island shoppers are required to sign up online for a 15-minute appointment slot. Pre-ordering for pickup is available, and customers can also add to or change their orders upon consulting in person with Fine Fettle’s counter staff, who resemble restaurant sommeliers in their knowledge of the offerings on the list.
The dried, West Tisbury-grown marijuana buds are packaged in small but heavy plastic, zip-closed bags of 3.5 grams each, all priced at $60.
Pre-rolls are made from ground bud, each packed into a slightly funnel-shaped tube of hemp paper with a rolled-cardboard mouthpiece at the thin end and then sealed in a glass tube.
Both bags and tubes are labeled with the plant variety and information including its level of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive substance in marijuana) and health warnings about smoking.
Before leaving the counter, the customer’s purchases are sealed into a black, child-resistant zip-closed pouch.
Fine Fettle Dispensary is open, by advance appointment, Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Island Time, when it opens next week, will operate seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., also by appointment only, Mr. Rose said.
As at Fine Fettle, a parking lot attendant will confirm customers’ appointments before they are admitted to the dispensary, he said.
The advent of legal marijuana sales to adults on the Vineyard has been a long time coming, said Mr. Rose, who founded Patient Centric not long after Massachusetts voters approved medical marijuana in 2012.
“It’s the culmination of almost a nine-year effort to bring safe and responsible use of cannabis to the Island for residents and visitors alike,” he said.
Comments (3)
Comments
Comment policy »