Trump and Hegseth and their supporters will do everything in their power to hide the cost of war. But like it or not, this is our war. These are our leaders. It is our tax money that has bought the bombs.
‘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.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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
"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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
