First Marijuana Dispensary to Open in Downtown Boston This Summer

lemon kush, day 64 closeup by eggrole on Flickr / Creative Commons

It’s taken a while, but downtown Boston will finally be getting a medical marijuana dispensary this summer.

According to the Boston Business Journal, Patriot Care revealed on Wednesday that the company will be opening its first dispensary in Boston on Friday, June 10.

Located at 21 Milk Street, the 6,200-square-foot facility will mirror the look and feel of Patriot Care’s Lowell location, complete with a waiting room and consulting area. The company is already adding to its production of medical marijuana products at its Lowell facility in anticipation of opening in Boston later this year.

“We got our first phase up and running. We’re now doing our second phase,” Dennis Kunian, Patriot Care’s vice president of government affairs and community relations, told the BBJ. “Within the next couple weeks we’ll have edibles available. We’re excited about that. By the time June 10 comes around, we will have a great assortment to select from for whatever ailment.”

The company first applied to open a dispensary in Boston way back in August of 2013 and finally received a conditional approval from the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals last summer.

Before Patriot Care can open its doors downtown, the company will have to select a nonprofit organization to occupy the building’s first floor. Kunian said that they are currently looking into three different nonprofits to take up shop in the space.

The slow proceedings can likely be blamed on hesitant state officials like Mayor Marty Walsh, who has said in the past that he would oppose the opening of medical marijuana dispensaries in Boston.

While there’s not much that lawmakers can do to stop medical weed now, Mayor Walsh, Governor Charlie Baker, and several others are teaming up to squash a ballot question that would legalize recreational marijuana in Massachusetts.