Valkyrie will have to go through the site-plan review process with the town planning board and negotiate a host community agreement with the selectboard.
Tag: cannabis
Egremont couple crowdfunding future cannabis store, as more outlets reopen after shutdown
In the cannabis industry, trying to raise capital through traditional borrowing is difficult, in part because most commercial banks avoid lending money for marijuana businesses.
EDITORIAL: Fulcrum opponents should be careful what they wish for
If the permit is denied, Fulcrum could tie the town up in prolonged and expensive litigation. Or a vengeful Fulcrum could return with a different proposal — perhaps one that is equally objectionable and does not require a special permit.
I Publius: A little to-do list for Great Barrington
While I am as proud of Great Barrington today as I have ever been, there are a few things that do need some work, so I have a little list.
Alan Chartock: I Publius
The fact is that the people of Massachusetts, and specifically of Great Barrington, voted in statewide referendum to allow this operation. We don’t necessarily learn about the downsides until the moment of truth is upon us.
Hearing for pot farm sparks anger and threats of removal from Selectboard Chair
On several occasions during the hearing, Great Barrington Selectboard Chairman Steve Bannon rapped his gavel and warned hecklers that they would be removed from the room if they persisted.
Health panel raises questions, refuses to give nod to aspiring pot growers
In declining to recommend the permit to the selectboard, which will consider it on Monday night, the health board said it needed more information on noise, odor and possible effects on groundwater.
Strict constructionalism in Great Barrington
In a letter to the editor, John Beacco writes, ‘Restricting itself to the text of the bylaw and avoiding its social, economic and moral implications is expedient and not at all helpful to those living near the proposed project, or the selectboard that is charged as the special permit-granting authority.’
Business Briefs: ‘The Barrington Stage Experience’; cannabis certification; RSYP apprenticeships; Salisbury Bank donates to CDC; Place Corps at Hawthorne Valley
Berkshire Community College is launching a one-year cannabis certificate program designed to provide students with skills and knowledge to work professionally in the areas of cannabis cultivation, processing, preparation, retail and outreach.
Farmer’s ‘dream come true’: Great Barrington cannabis retailer gets final state license to grow outdoors
Dobson has two greenhouses already up and is building a third. That way, he can continue to grow over the winter. But the bottom line is there won’t be as much outdoor product as there would be in a normal growing season.
Despite concerns, cannabis could be an economic driver for Berkshire County
Surely the most important question now on the local level is how to manage the siting and operations of the shops and cultivation facilities.
The numbers are in: Great Barrington snags almost $1 million from pot sales
At Monday’s selectboard meeting, member Kate Burke noted that the money cannot be spent yet because it was not budgeted for. The disposition of the funds will be discussed during budget deliberations this fall.
Of antiques and ‘journeys’: New cannabis shop opens its doors in Lee
“It’s exciting. It’s interesting and we’ll see where it goes, but I don’t see any problems other than maybe traffic for awhile, but I don’t really see any downside.”
— Lee Selectwoman Patricia Carlino
Residents balk at Housatonic marijuana manufacturing site
Fulcrum has signed a purchase-and-sales agreement to buy 5.78 undeveloped acres from the Nolan family at 22 Van Deusenville Road to construct and operate a cannabis cultivation and manufacturing facility.
Alan Chartock: Cuomo cultivates dichotomy about cannabis
The more I saw of the emerging fight with the Legislature, the more I thought that this was very-clever Andrew saying that he was for legalization but really being the old middle-of-the-road-Democrat Andrew who was actually opposed.
Adventures in the marijuana trade: Swimming to Atlantis
‘All recreational users should be aware of potential undesired acute cannabinoid effects,’ her fancy way of saying that what can sometimes happen when you’re high on pot might be a bummer. And the effects are a function of a bunch of factors—what kind of cannabis, how often you use, who the user is and how much they smoke.”
Of plastic water bottles, weed, Du Bois and zoning: Great Barrington annual town meeting preview
Minus the education side, the proposed town budget itself will rise from $11.37 million to $11.55 million, for an increase of only 1.6 percent.
Great Barrington cannabis store joins ‘social equity’ program to help others enter the business
Theory Wellness, the first medical cannabis dispensary to launch in the Berkshires and one of the first recreational retailers to open in the state, has stepped forward to fund and operate a social equity program designed to support “economic empowerment” entrepreneurs in opening cannabis dispensaries.
‘Grown in the Berkshires’: First outdoor cannabis growing facilities in the state planned for Sheffield
Theory Wellness, which opened its doors in 2017 in Great Barrington as Berkshire County’s first medical pot dispensary and earlier this year began selling the recreational variety, is partnering with organic farmer Ted Dobson to open an outdoor grow facility at Dobson’s Equinox Farm on Bow Wow Road.
Here comes the ‘Boozemobile,’ one liquor store’s response to a changing marketplace
Successful businesses are always on the hunt for growth opportunities, and package stores are no exception. But the stores face competitive threats that were hard to imagine only 15 years ago.
Opening the Weedgates, Part VII: Youth at risk
Four years ago, 70 percent of South Berkshire 12th-graders reported having used marijuana at least once, and 41 percent reported use within the past month. In 2019, those numbers are 52 percent and 36 percent respectively.
Alan Chartock: The wages of sin fill public coffers
Marijuana is just like everything else in that there are both good and bad sides.
Interview with Chris Tucci of Railroad Street Youth Project, panelist at ‘Weed Is Here, Now What?’ forum
“Recreational cannabis means that we are talking about cannabis. That’s a good thing. Young people are asking unsolicited questions, neighbors are talking to each other. … We developed norms … We’re starting to talk about what does safe use look like for adults? What is the norm?” –Chris Tucci, Railroad Street Youth Project deputy director
Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington speaks out on criminal justice reform, marijuana legalization
“As a parent, and someone who’s worked with young people who are at risk, I’m very concerned with how we protect young people from marijuana. We know that marijuana is devastating for developing brains. If your kids get drunk before school, you’re going to notice. But if they’re smoking marijuana, it’s a lot harder to tell.” –Berkshire County District Attorney Andrea Harrington
Beware moldy cannabis that poses a health risk
Some of the more-serious symptoms of moldy cannabis are chest pains and allergic reactions close to the time of consumption.
Opening the Weedgates, Part VI: Calling BS on social equity
In the push for medical cannabis approval in 2012 in Massachusetts, and then to the passage of recreational in 2016, the ACLU, Drug Policy Alliance and others stressed the racial and class disparities of the war on drugs. It is a fair guess that many of the more than 60 percent of Berkshire County voters who checked “yes” on the 2016 ballot question did so at least in part to help right these wrongs.
Opening the Weedgates IV: A Whole Foods conversation about a Walmart issue
Human beings are inclined to assume that our own lived experience reflects that of everyone else’s. We—the people who write and think about pot and have enough money to open stores that sell it—are blind to the “other” in our midst.
Let the recreational pot sales begin — at least in ‘Theory’
Outside the front door, there were a few heaters and a line of customers that snaked around the edge of the parking lot all the way to Route 7, where a table by the Marketplace Cafe was set up offering free hot coffee to shivering patrons.
Opening the Weedgates III: The cruel and unusual legal world of recreational marijuana
Though Great Barrington might soon be hosting four or five cannabis retail stores, you are likely to have a hard time figuring out what they sell.
Of plastic bottles and ‘marijuana wars’: a Great Barrington year in review
2018 has provided enough Great Barrington news to keep journalists busy and observers of town politics highly amused, signaling that the community dubbed “best small town in America” by Smithsonian Magazine continues to be a place in transition.
Opening the Weedgates II: Berkshire County’s towns vary in regulating marijuana sales, production
Moratoriums on retail and cultivation facilities can extend, with the state attorney general’s blessing, into 2019. Townspeople must eventually determine such things as the number of businesses they will allow, what the maximum size may be, and where in town they can be located.
South County recreational pot shops score big wins from state cannabis commission
Theory Wellnesss’ Great Barrington adult-use establishment would be the first in southern Berkshire County with its final license. But down Route 7 in Sheffield, Berkshire Welco received its provisional license yesterday by unanimous vote from the CCC, and without conditions