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Marijuana or Cannabis – Increased and Substantial Mental Health RISKS! – A Predatory and multi-billion dollar Industry!
“Statement of Concern: Marijuana Policy in Massachusetts”
From: Pediatricians, Mental Health and Addiction Clinicians and Scientists of Massachusetts
May 2019
Link:
http://www.mapreventionalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/MA-MJ-Policy_Statement-of-Concern-5-9-19_FINAL.pdf
Marijuana, specifically the psychoactive chemical THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), has the potential to do significant harm to public health.
Risk of addiction:
• Impairment of cognitive (intellectual) function; and
• Increased risk of serious mental health problems including acute psychosis (e.g., hallucinations, delusions), paranoia, schizophrenia, depression, anxiety, and suicide, with growing scientific evidence that daily use of high THC products bring greater risk.
• We are seeing these negative health effects in our patient populations.
• Just as not all tobacco use causes cancer, not all marijuana/THC use causes the negative effects listed above; however, the risk is substantial enough to require policies which discourage use.
• Marijuana can be addictive.
• Marijuana today contains more THC, making it more harmful. Highly concentrated marijuana/THC products available today can be more than 90% THC.
• Use of marijuana/THC is associated with long-term negative consequences, particularly for adolescents and young adults risk of developing serious psychotic disorders including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
➡ Regular marijuana use has been linked to increased risk for several other mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and personality disturbances. Additionally, studies show that high THC products may worsen PTSD and increase the risk of violence in the long-term.
• Marijuana use during pregnancy may result in altered brain development in childhood. Research suggests that marijuana use during pregnancy may be linked to subtle neurological changes and, later in childhood, to reduced problem-solving skills, memory, and attention.
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“Parents’ marijuana use associated with substance use in their kids, study says”
By Alexi Cohan, The Boston Herald, November 23, 2019
Teens and young adults whose parents use marijuana are at an increased risk of using weed, alcohol and tobacco, according to a study authored by a Harvard Medical School researcher.
Recent and past parental marijuana use poses a risk of substance use to their children, data from 24,900 parent-child pairs analyzed by National Surveys on Drug Use and Health from 2015-2018 showed.
Researchers examined the data and saw that parental marijuana use was a risk factor for marijuana and tobacco use by teens and young adults and for alcohol use by teens.
Marijuana use is increasing among adults, according to the study, and weed is often consumed with other substances like alcohol or tobacco.
Bertha Madras of Harvard Medical School authored the study published Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“Parental marijuana use conceivably poses a direct environmental risk of normalizing marijuana use and enabling access to marijuana for their offspring,” wrote Madras.
Among mothers living with teenage children, about 8% consumed weed in the past year and nearly 10% of fathers living with teens reported past-year pot use.
“In general, living with a parent who uses substances or has substance use disorder is a risk factor for use of substances among young offspring,” wrote Madras.
The findings mean that screening household members for substance use and counseling parents on the risks of smoking pot could help break the cycle of multi-generational substance use.
“Direct and indirect screening in medical settings of family members for marijuana use is an important and achievable goal,” wrote Madras.
Citing further research throughout the paper, Madras wrote that a positive screening result should trigger parent counseling on the risks posed by using drugs at home and educating them on modifying their substance use.
She said reducing substance use can be achieved through targeted strategies and prevention approaches that use mass media campaigns and community-based programs.
Madras cited other studies that indicate early exposure to weed also is associated with higher rates of addiction, impaired cognition, symptoms of psychosis, schizophrenia, depression, suicidal behavior and reduced educational achievement.
Link: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2755867?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=112019
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Attorney Andrea Nuciforo presented the Zoning Board of Appeals copies of the floor plans on Wednesday night.
“Medical Marijuana Dispensary On Pace To Open In Pittsfield Soon”
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff, March 16, 2017
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Construction is on pace for what could be the first medical marijuana dispensary in the county.
Khem Organics has started renovations to a building on Dalton Avenue, which currently houses Jay's Custom Muffler & Auto, Casey's Billiards, and used to house the Salvation Army store. All three businesses are vacating the facility to make way for the dispensary.
"Our goal is to be substantially complete in about six weeks and we are online for that. We've filed for a building permit and obtained a building permit. It is mostly interior renovations," said Frank DeMarinis, the Sage Engineering president and the engineer on the project.
"It is on schedule to be growing in six weeks and then in about another two months after that to go to sale."
The company filed detailed floor plans with the city and the Zoning Board of Appeals ruled that the changes to expand into additional space weren't significant enough to require another permit. The plans had evolved from originally using about 14,000 square feet of the building, taking over just the Salvation Army storefront, to using the entire building.
"We're occupying the entire building in lieu of Casey's Billiards and the muffler spot in the back," DeMarinis said.
The expanded footprint, however, doesn't come with any increases in volume, he said. The plans previously submitted were conceptual, needed spaces for break rooms, offices, and utility rooms, and it was determined that it needed more space to grow than previously anticipated.
While the company will use more space to grow the cannabis, it intends to produce the same amount per month.
"We weren't planning on increasing production. We were planning to produce the same amount," DeMarinis told the ZBA.
The move does reduce the required number of parking spaces from 54 to 45, but DeMarinis said the company is still sticking with the same plan for parking. The ZBA was particularly fond of the changes because it makes the entire building one use, and not multiple.
"I think it is a better environment not having Casey's there and having it be a one-use facility," DeMarinis said.
Casey's Billiards uses the most space in the building. But, the lease is going to be ended by Nov. 1. DeMarinis said right now the former Salvation Army space is being renovated with grow rooms and retail. After Casey's moves, the next phase of the project will unfold.
"We don't need that space right now for construction and development of the retail space," DeMarinis said. "When they are gone we will demo everything in there, clean it up into more sterile space."
Khem is just one of three medical marijuana facilities in Pittsfield to receive a provisional license. Attorney Andrea Nuciforo, an investor in Khem, said the company is currently in the "architectural review" period in which the state keeps a close eye on the floor plans and development proposals.
"That process has been exhaustive and comprehensive," Nuciforo said.
On Wednesday, the company brought those floor plans to the Zoning Board of Appeals, submitting them to the Office of Community Development. The company hopes to start growing in six weeks and then open for retail shortly after.
"We've begun construction on the facility and we've made good progress," Nuciforo said.
Two other medical marijuana projects are also in the works. Temescal Wellness, which is an offshoot of the former Manna Wellness, plans to build a new facility on Callahan Drive. Heka Health is looking to open just down the street from Khem at the former Countrywide Rentals on Dalton Avenue.
Currently, there is not a medical marijuana facility within an hour drive of the city.
Those three will also have the first crack at getting a license to sell recreationally but it isn't known if any of them are intending to pursue that.
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Letter: “Pot is about the money”
The Berkshire Eagle, August 4, 2017
To the editor:
Isn't it ironic that at the same time we are trying to eradicate the use of tobacco we are legalizing the use of another substance that is probably more carcinogenic — marijuana?
I guess that's OK as long as our government can tax it.
Greg Keen,
Pittsfield
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“In a move that may jeopardize states’ legalization of marijuana, the Justice Dept. is rescinding a policy discouraging federal prosecutions”
The New York Times, January 4, 2018
The Trump administration on Thursday will free federal prosecutors to more aggressively enforce marijuana laws, effectively threatening to undermine the legalization movement that has spread to six states, most recently California.
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"Sessions rescinds policy that allowed legal pot to flourish"
The Boston Globe, "This Week in Politics", Saturday, January 6, 2018
The move will leave it to US attorneys where pot is legal to decide whether to aggressively enforce federal marijuana law.
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The top federal prosecutor in Massachusetts on Monday refused to rule out a crackdown on regulated marijuana companies, setting the state up as a front line in the war between President Trump’s administration and the dozens of states where cannabis is legal for recreational or medical use.
Andrew Lelling, the new US attorney for Massachusetts, said in a statement that he “cannot . . . provide assurances that certain categories of participants in the state-level marijuana trade will be immune” from prosecution under federal law, which categorizes cannabis as strictly illegal.
Source: The Boston Globe, January 8, 2018.
Read the full statement from the Mass. US attorney on legal marijuana
www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/01/08/read-full-statement-from-mass-attorney/2xsm3LVQ1qdCjNDxyzmojL/story.html
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The following is a statement issued Monday by the state’s US attorney, Andrew Lelling, on legal marijuana in Massachusetts.
“I understand that there are people and groups looking for additional guidance from this office about its approach to enforcing federal laws criminalizing marijuana cultivation and trafficking. I cannot, however, provide assurances that certain categories of participants in the state-level marijuana trade will be immune from federal prosecution.
This is a straightforward rule of law issue. Congress has unambiguously made it a federal crime to cultivate, distribute and/or possess marijuana. As a law enforcement officer in the Executive Branch, it is my sworn responsibility to enforce that law, guided by the Principles of Federal Prosecution. To do that, however, I must proceed on a case-by-case basis, assessing each matter according to those principles and deciding whether to use limited federal resources to pursue it.
Deciding, in advance, to immunize a certain category of actors from federal prosecution would be to effectively amend the laws Congress has already passed, and that I will not do. The kind of categorical relief sought by those engaged in state-level marijuana legalization efforts can only come from the legislative process.”
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January 8, 2018
[Edited]: Attorney General Jeff Sessions just rescinded the "Cole Memorandum," the Obama-era guidance by the Department of Justice that has allowed states to implement their own marijuana laws with limited federal interference.
Since 2014, Congress has approved the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment to stop the Justice Department from interfering in medical marijuana states, but the Cole memo was the only thing protecting non-medical marijuana legalization.
Businesses and consumers in every state that has legalized marijuana will be at risk of harassment and prosecution by the federal government. Rescinding the Cole memo is an attack on sensible marijuana policies.
Source: Written by Maria McFarland Sanchez-Moreno, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance via Bob Fertik, Democrats.com Unity.
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“Dalton Avenue dispensary heads to Pittsfield zoning board in bid to add recreational sales”
By Amanda Drane , The Berkshire Eagle, January 16, 2018
PITTSFIELD — A medical marijuana dispensary coming soon to Dalton Avenue is asking the city to approve additions that would equip the facility to sell for recreational purposes.
Berkshire Roots, scheduled to open at 501 Dalton Ave. in March, will appear before the Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday. The company seeks to expand the shop's parking lot, upgrade utility lines and the stormwater management system, and revise the property's use to include sale of marijuana for recreational purposes.
Some 15,000 of the building's nearly 26,000 square feet will be dedicated to growing marijuana. Berkshire Roots began prepping the space — once home to a Salvation Army store, Casey's Billiards and an auto shop — about a year ago.
Berkshire Roots plans to bring the total number of parking spaces to 67, add a vinyl fence in front of the facility and bring a sidewalk in the entryway into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
"We have effectively turned what used to be Casey's Billiards and the Salvation Army into a unique facility," Andy Nuciforo, one of the company's investors, said during a Community Development Board meeting on Tuesday.
Board members unanimously voted to send the special permit amendments forward with a positive recommendation.
Nuciforo explained that legislators overhauled the state's marijuana law in July, and among the "dizzying number of changes" came a provision allowing already-certified dispensaries to sell both medical and recreational marijuana in the same facility so long as the operations are separate.
"There will be a black magic marker separation between these two functions," he said.
Nuciforo said the dispensary will begin selling medical marijuana in March, and will likely begin selling recreational marijuana this summer.
Reach Amanda Drane at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter or at 413-496-6296.
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Attorney Andrea Nuciforo, representing Berkshire Roots, outlined the plan to sell medical marijuana in March and then recreational marijuana this summer.
"Medical Marijuana Company Plans Recreational Sales in Pittsfield"
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff, January 18, 2018
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire Roots is positioning itself to be a medical and a recreational marijuana dispensary when permits are issued later this year.
Berkshire Roots is finishing up a massive renovation of 501 Dalton Ave., a commercial building that formerly housed Jay's Custom Muffler & Auto, Casey's Billiards, and the Salvation Army store.
Those three previously vacated the building to make way for a medical marijuana dispensary and renovations are nearly complete.
The company received its approval to open the facility back in July 2016 and just a few months later voters approved the legalization of recreational sales. Berkshire Roots has since adapted its building and site design and this week received the local approvals needed to sell marijuana to both medical patients and recreational customers.
"We have secured the people, the equipment, we've done a build out. We have effectively turned what used to be Casey's Billards and the Salvation Army into a really unique facility devoted to this particular use," Nuciforo said.
The company intends to open for medical marijuana in March and when state permits are issued in the summer, have the ability to serve recreational. The renovations are nearly complete and a temporary certificate of occupancy has been approved to allow cultivation and processing inside the facility. The company is now waiting for the state to sign off on the location itself and issue a license to sell.
"This building has been a very substantial investment. Not just in terms of equipment and improvements but also the amount of design and compliance work we've done there," said Attorney Andrea Nuciforo, who represents the company.
Formerly known as Khem Organics, the company hoped to open last summer but working through the approval process and renovations to the building had taken longer than expected. Nuciforo said the state Department of Public Health has walked through the property multiple times, requiring multiple adjustments to the plan.
Benjamin Hildebran, a project manager with Sage Engineering, said the entire property has been renovated for this operation including a new ADA ramp on the front steps, repairing unsafe and cracking sidewalk, added additional landscaping, removed unneeded utility connections, putting on a new roof, installing a 6-foot fence, repairing damaged wall panels, and painting the exterior of the building.
"On the inside, we did a complete renovation," he added.
There is still a little bit more work to do - particularly in building out the parking lot. Parking was a particular area in which the local special permit needed to be modified. Hildebran said the rear parking lot is currently gravel and the asphalt in the front is breaking apart. The plan is to re-do the entire lot to create sufficient parking for the customers.
"I feel like this project has brought about positive change to the building, the site, and I think it can to the city of Pittsfield too," Hildebran said.
During the state permitting and construction phases, the industry changed. When Khem started the approval process, recreational marijuana wasn't legal. And now, even after a legislative delay, permits for recreational dispensaries will be accepted in April. A newly created Cannabis Control Commission will oversee both medical and recreational is has currently released draft laws guiding the industry for public comment.
Those draft laws allows for medical marijuana facility to sell recreational as well, provided there is a barrier between the two sales. While Berkshire Roots had been focusing on the medical aspect, the law would allow another establishment to do both -- limiting the market for solely a medical marijuana facility.
"Why would you stay in medical if the market is moving away from medical?" Nuciforo said.
Nuciforo said the state has asked for more information regarding the operations and facility and he hopes his response will answer all outstanding questions. From there, the company can receive the license to sell.
Once operating, the company is expected to employ a dozen or so people. Nuciforo said particularly when it comes to those doing the cultivation, "the marker for folks who are good at this is quite competitive." That leads to higher wages than other type of retail establishments.
This week the company received approvals to modify its site design from the Community Development Board and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
"This certainly will result in increased activity on the property and I believe they have made the appropriate modifications," said ZBA member Miriam Maduro before casting a vote in favor of the modification.
Benjamin Hildebran outlined the changes made to the property and building.
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"Risk of federal prosecution weighing on Mass. pot industry"
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service via The Berkshire Eagle, January 18, 2018
BOSTON — The new era of heightened federal scrutiny over state-sanctioned marijuana industries has cannabis entrepreneurs worrying about the future of their businesses and employees fearful that their jobs may put them in the crosshairs of a top federal prosecutor.
The already risky marijuana business has become even more hazardous in light of shifting federal government guidance, but the industry is left with only uncertainty as it tries to discern how the change in policy will affect them moving forward and whether to apply for retail licenses beginning on April 1.
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this month revoked an Obama-era policy of looking the other way in states that had legalized uses of marijuana and gave U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew Lelling and his counterparts in other states discretion over enforcing federal marijuana laws in the Bay State, where voters in 2016 legalized marijuana for adult recreational use.
Lelling's insistence that he will not rule out bringing federal charges against state-legal marijuana businesses drove most of the state's medical marijuana dispensaries back to cash-only operations, spurred state leaders who opposed marijuana legalization to publicly back the growing pot program, and threw a major new consideration into the mix for businesses and entrepreneurs looking to break into the newly legal industry.
"Anybody who was feeling a little bit comfortable or starting to feel comfortable now is no longer feeling comfortable," Shanel Lindsay, the founder and president of Ardent Cannabis and a cannabis industry consultant, said. "For cannabis businesses, that means being back in the area you're used to, which is that everything is very volatile."
Ardent Cannabis manufactures and sells decarboxylators, devices that maximize the amount of cannabinoid available in marijuana and prepares marijuana to be used in edibles, extracts or tinctures. Lindsay said her business has not been directly impacted by Sessions' announcement, but heard from others that they were concerned that Massachusetts might either stop or drastically slow down its implementation of a legal marijuana market here.
"We saw that answered pretty quickly," Lindsay said, when the Cannabis Control Commission pledged it will forge ahead undeterred and Gov. Charlie Baker suggested that Lelling's "limited resources" would be better spent going after deadly opioids like fentanyl.
Businesses that aren't exclusively cannabis-related have also noticed some changes in the wake of the attorney general's decision to adopt a new federal policy. Chuck Siegel, president and CEO of Natick-based LED grow light manufacturer BloomBoss, said his company also has not been directly affected but has heard from some clients who are afraid.
"We've noticed customers who are hydroponic stores, who are closer to the customer, are most definitely fearful and concerned about the future of legal cannabis," Siegel said. "These people have developed a business and deployed capital in a state legal system — and this is not just in Massachusetts — and now they're waking up every day saying, 'Am I going to have a bust and get raided?'"
Siegel said his company, which is not strictly a cannabis business, has received a more-than-usual amount of resumes since Sessions' announcement on Jan. 4 [2018], with many of them appearing to come from people who currently work directly with marijuana.
"The feedback we hear is that people are a bit concerned about waking up one day and going to work and having the [U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration] come in and arrest them," he said. "Some of them might be looking to come one step out away from the plant and into a more horticultural space."
Lindsay said she had been encouraged by the way ancillary businesses like banks and payment processors had begun to embrace marijuana businesses. Now that the federal picture has shifted, the already-difficult challenge of finding a bank willing to work with marijuana businesses could be even more problematic.
She said her cannabis business has never relied on traditional banks or traditional sources of financing. Her conversations with investors since the Sessions announcement, she said, revealed that while some financiers are worried that more federal scrutiny might mean a slower rollout of the legal market and therefore more time before they can see a return on their investment, others are doubling down.
"Some investors are saying, 'OK the slowdown, if there is one, would benefit the businesses that are already open as long as they're not getting raided or directly impacted,' " she said. "Where there is restriction in this business, there is always opportunity for some other people."
The state's top marijuana regulator concurred and said the abrupt shift in the federal government's approach to marijuana law enforcement means investors in the state-sanctioned Massachusetts pot market could see greater returns on their investments.
"There's a different calculation in terms of what the risk are, no question," Steven Hoffman, chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission, told WGBH's "Greater Boston" during a Jan. 9 appearance. "But there's also a different calculation in terms of what the returns are because fewer people potentially will enter the business, therefore the potential returns are greater."
Hoffman on Wednesday expanded upon his comments from "Greater Boston" — he jokingly said host Jim Bruade "forced me into it" — and added that his comments were not based on anything he's gleaned from his roughly five months helming the CCC.
"That's economics 101, which is that if people are more concerned about risks they're going to look for a higher return in exchange for those risks and if more people, because of risk, stay out of an industry there's more money to be made by the remaining participants," said Hoffman, a former Bain & Company partner. "I'm not speculating on what any individual will do. All I'm saying is if I was an investor — which I am not allowed to be — I would be looking at risk and return, and it would change based upon the risks going up."
Will Luzier, political director for the local arm of the Marijuana Policy Project, echoed a similar sentiment about the potential for investors who are willing to take a greater risk potentially setting themselves up for a greater reward.
"There's always been risk in this commerce and I think there are some people who are risk comfortable and there are other people that are risk adverse," he said. "There may be some companies that are risk adverse that don't want to participate in this commerce and that's unfortunate."
For Lindsay, the lingering uncertainty has led her to shore up her company's contingency plans. She said he expects most cannabis businesses are doing the same to try to be as prepared as possible for future changes in the industry.
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January 18, 2018
Nuciforo's plan to sell both medical and recreational marijuana via a not-for-profit Pittsfield dispensary he is heavily invested in raises both legal and ethical issues.
While I am part of the resistance against the fascist Trump regime, and, while I disagree with Attorney General Jeff Session's decision to rescind the Cole Memorandum, the fact remains that Nuciforo's pot operation violates federal law! Until the U.S. Congress passes legislation allowing marijuana dispensaries, Nuciforo is openly breaking the law!
On the state and local level, Nuciforo is the Prince of Pittsfield politics. His late-father was a Pittsfield State Senator & Judge, his Uncle, a state rep., and his late-Aunt, the first woman Pittsfield Mayor and longtime BCC Professor. Nuciforo followed in his dad's footsteps by serving one decade in the Massachusetts Senate on Beacon Hill. He served one 6-year term as Pittsfield Registar of Deeds. So the issue remains whether or not he is using his connections to profit off the sale of marijuana in Pittsfield?
In closing, Nuciforo has a history of breaking the law and violating "ethics" policies in state and local government in Pittsfield politics. Nuciforo had people bully me since I was 20 years old in 1996 without leaving behind his own fingerprints/DNA. Nuciforo filed multiple "ethics" complaints against my dad when he served as a Berkshire County Commissioner. Nuciforo served as a Finance Committee Chairman in the State Senate while he also served as a corporate Attorney at a Boston law firm serving big banks and insurance companies. Nuciforo strong-armed two women named Sara Hathaway and Sharon Henault out of a state government election to anoint himself to a sinecure at the Pittsfield Registry of Deeds, Now, Nuciforo is openly breaking federal law by investing in a non-profit marijuana dispensary in Pittsfield, where he has unethical connections to make a profit selling pot.
Nuciforo never faces any consequences for his actions!
- Jonathan Melle
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"3 Things I Wish Parents – and Teens – Knew About Pot"
By Christine Carter, U.S. News & World Report - Health, 1/24/2018
Many people believe that teen marijuana use is not harmful. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We live in California, where marijuana is now, as of Jan. 1, legal for recreational use. My four teens report that pot is already very easy to come by and that “everyone” uses it. More concerning to me: Many of my friends – fellow parents – believe that teen marijuana use is not harmful.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
First, the good news: Most teens don’t smoke pot or ingest edibles. That said, 41 percent of American high school seniors report having used marijuana or synthetic cannabinoids in the past year, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. That’s a very large minority. Do they know what they are doing? Here is what I wish all kids – and their parents – knew about pot:
Marijuana slows brain development in adolescence.
Brain development is more significant during adolescence than during any other developmental stage (except in the womb). The transition from childhood to adulthood is a critical period of brain growth, and the brain’s natural endocannabinoid system – which is affected by marijuana use – plays a very important role in this development.
The unique brain growth that we see only during adolescence is temporarily halted by marijuana use. How? Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the ingredient in marijuana that produces a high, binds with the brain’s cannabinoid, or CB1, receptors. This blocks their normal function.
It also makes kids really high. Teenagers have more CB1 receptors than adults do for THC to bind to, and THC also stays in the CB1 receptor for longer than it would in an adult. Neuroscientist Dr. Frances Jensen, author of "The Teenage Brain,” recently told Terry Gross on the NPR program "Fresh Air" that "[THC] locks on longer than in the adult brain.... For instance, if [a teen] were to get high over a weekend, the effects may [still be] there on Thursday and Friday later that week. An adult wouldn't have that same long-term effect.”
The effect I want parents and teens to understand is this: While THC is in the CB1 receptor, it blocks the process of learning and memory and slows, or stops, adolescent brain development.
Because of this, exposure to marijuana “during adolescence can dramatically alter brain maturation and cause long-lasting neurobiological changes that ultimately affect the function and behavior of the adult brain,” according to a 2014 review of research published in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience examining the long-term consequences of marijuana use during adolescence, particularly the effects on cognitive functioning, emotional behavior and the risk of developing a psychiatric disorder in adulthood. The damage is irreversible. Early marijuana use has long-lasting consequences on IQ and intelligence and is “associated with a two-fold increase in the risk of developing a psychotic disorder,” like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, according to the review.
This is not an unproven theory; we understand the neuroscience behind how and why marijuana affects an adolescent brain differently than it would an adult one. Still, 71 percent of high school seniors do not view “regular marijuana usage” to be harmful to their health, based on survey data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Most wouldn’t smoke a cigarette because they understand that smoking is unhealthy; it’s time for us to be more clear with teens that marijuana use is not a healthier choice.
Marijuana today is actually very addictive, especially for teens.
Most people think marijuana is “healthier” than alcohol or tobacco in part because they believe it isn’t addictive. But pot can be very habit-forming. Surprisingly, marijuana use is associated with a higher rate of clinically significant health problems and problematic behaviors among users, such as failure to meet major responsibilities at work, school or home, as well as dependence or addiction than alcohol among users, reports the 2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Twenty-one percent of adult marijuana users met diagnostic criteria for addiction, according to that survey. Studies indicate that as many as one-third of users develop a diagnosable addiction, especially with strains of marijuana that have higher THC content.
Teenagers are especially susceptible to addiction – to alcohol, to social media, and yes, to marijuana. In the same way that teens learn faster than adults do, it's also easier for their brains to “learn” to become addicted. Learning stimulates and enhances the brain. Substances like marijuana do the same thing, but during adolescence, teen brains “build a reward circuit around that substance to a much stronger, harder, longer addiction,” Jensen told Terry Gross. "The effects of substances are more permanent on the teen brain,” she noted. “They have more deleterious effects and can be more toxic to the teen than the adult."
Pot today is a different drug than it was a generation or two ago.
I think a lot of parents in my generation believe that marijuana isn’t harmful or addictive because it didn’t used to be. THC concentrations have skyrocketed in recent years, and growers have bred the antipsychotic properties out of today’s marijuana.
Reports differ depending on where marijuana is sourced, but studies of THC concentration in cannabis show that before 1980, concentration of THC averaged around 1.5 percent. Potency rose to about 3 percent in the early 1980s and stayed there until about 1992, when it began to rise steadily. In the last decade, samples have averaged about 11 percent THC; and currently, specific breeding techniques are yielding strains that are 27 to 33 percent THC, according to findings published in Biological Psychiatry. Experts believe that this is likely now the norm in states where recreational marijuana is legal; higher THC concentration yields a more lucrative product.
In addition, 20 years ago marijuana had higher levels of cannabidiol, or CBD, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana. Although CBD has medicinal benefits, growers are breeding it out of marijuana intended for recreational use because it keeps users from getting as high as they would without the CBD.
Higher THC and lower CBD produces a higher high – and also a higher potential for overdose. A THC overdose won’t kill you, but it can produce hallucinations, panic attacks and extreme paranoia. And an overdose can cause a psychotic break and psychotic disorders that can be hard for a teenager to ever recover from.
All of this is to say that marijuana use is not harmless for kids today, by any stretch of the imagination. But as many kids see (and smell) the adults around them getting stoned at concerts, at trailheads before a hike, and now, in California, just walking down the street – they assume that marijuana use is harmless fun.
Given this, my husband and I have taken what is, in our neck of the woods, a controversial stance: We are so clear about our expectation that our teens not use marijuana that we drug test them. We aren’t doing this because we believe our children have or will use drugs, or because we don’t trust them to tell us if they do (no tests have ever turned up positive). We do it because it gives them a solid excuse to abstain; they can say to their friends, “My parents are so crazy about this issue that they drug test me.”
Drug testing is not the only thing we are doing, of course. We talk with our kids regularly about the risks that marijuana poses, and we try to do a lot of listening, too. We are keenly interested in helping our kids develop the skills they need to cope with stress and anxiety – so that they aren't tempted to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol. Interestingly, our kids have never protested being tested, and they seem genuinely glad that we are so black and white about all this. They know that they will be making their own choices soon, when they are adults. For now, they seem happy that we are making this choice for them.
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“State cannabis commission hires CFO, launches website”
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service, February 21, 2018
BOSTON — There is a decidedly Massachusetts Senate vibe growing at the Cannabis Control Commission.
The young commission's ranks grew to 10 on Tuesday morning with the announcement that former state Senate Ways and Means Committee Budget Director Adriana Campos had been hired to serve as the commission's first chief financial and administrative officer.
In the agency's administrative ranks Campos joins another former Senate staffer, Executive Director Shawn Collins. Collins worked as legislative and budget director, and then as chief of staff and general counsel to Senate President Pro Tempore Richard Moore.
"We are very excited to have her on board as we continue to grow as a commission and she will be a very valuable asset as we continue to grow in our current space, think about our future space and again think about our budget development process and revenue forecasting," Collins said Tuesday. "She'll be hands-on with a lot of those things and will be a valuable member of the team."
Campos, whom Chairwoman Karen Spilka said was known around the office as "AC Money," is at least the fourth CCC appointment or hire with ties to the Senate. Former Sen. Jennifer Flanagan now serves as a commissioner on the CCC and her fellow commissioner Britte McBride used to work as deputy counsel to the Senate.
Aside from the CCC's five commissioners, the agency now employs Collins, Campos, General Counsel Christine Baily, Program Manager Maryalice Gill and Executive Assistant Diane Rawding.
At full staffing, the CCC expects to employ about 40 people.
Also Tuesday, commissioners unveiled the agency's new website. Documents released by the commission, information on upcoming meetings and contact information is now available on www.mass-cannabis-control.com.
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"Session helps inform public on medical marijuana rules, products"
By Adam Shanks, The Berkshire Eagle, March 17, 2018
PITTSFIELD — Do you have to smoke it?
That's the question Mark Ledewitz, a registered nurse in the medical cannabis field, hears most often from new patients.
Ledewitz, senior retail manager at the soon-to-open Berkshire Roots medical marijuana dispensary on Dalton Avenue, joined MedWell Health and Wellness Centers, a company that certifies qualified medical marijuana patients, for a public informational session on North Street on Saturday.
And, no, you don't have to smoke it.
"That's just one way of using it," Ledewitz explained.
Ledewitz detailed the various alternative applications of cannabis, including via tinctures, edible products like gummies and vaporizers.
But before worrying about vaporizing pens and topical treatments, the first step is becoming a medical marijuana patient.
Applying for a medical marijuana card requires that a patient have one of more than 250 qualifying conditions and becomes certified by a qualified health care provider (such as MedWell Health, which charges a $200 certification fee).
Once certified, the patient registers with the Department of Public Health, for a $50 fee, and receives the medical marijuana card.
There are 22 medical marijuana dispensaries operating in the state and 46,294 active patients, according to the DPH.
Having worked in the medical marijuana industry for two years, Ledewitz said, many of the patients he has seen are using cannabis products to reduce their reliance on commercial pharmaceuticals.
Ledewitz believes that medical marijuana dispensaries will continue to be relevant after recreational facilities open.
The Berkshire Roots staff of medical professionals, including a pharmacist and multiple registered nurses, will consult with patients and help them navigate the array of therapeutic treatments and products available.
"We're going to be working directly with patients," he said. "Everybody deserves a solid education on how to use cannabis responsibly."
Regardless of whether it's sold through a recreational or medical dispensary, Ledewitz noted the rigorous laboratory testing that each product must go through; outside the legal market, the product is not tested.
Although the treatment will be different depending on the patient, Ledewitz stresses an approach of "the smallest possible dose for the maximum therapeutic benefit."
The average starting dose of the active ingredient, he said, is from 5 and 10 milligrams.
"We encourage patients to start low and go slow," he said.
The patient is encouraged to track his or her dosage and the subsequent effects.
"You're really going to be in charge of your own self-care," said Ann Brum of MedWell Health.
That includes a choice of how much of the psychoactive properties are contained in the product that the patient chooses.
"Some patients want that feeling; some patients don't," Ledewitz said.
The event drew a small crowd of curious residents and professionals.
Sonya Bykofsky, a longtime massage therapist with an in-home practice in Lenox, said she hears questions from clients about medical marijuana and came to the event to get more information.
"A lot of people who come to me are already in some kind of chronic pain," Bykofsky said.
Bykofsky noted that she can help when it comes to many conditions, but "some things, like rheumatoid arthritis, are hard to help with."
Berkshire Roots is cultivating marijuana and plans to open to customers with a valid medical marijuana card in the coming weeks, pending final DPH approval. It has a website and social media presence through which it plans to update customers on its plans to launch.
"We hope to be open soon," Ledewitz said.
Upon its opening, Berkshire Roots will be the first medical marijuana dispensary to open in Pittsfield. The nearest dispensary, currently, is Theory Wellness in Great Barrington.
"We're receiving wonderful support from the community," Ledewitz said.
The session was hosted by MedWell Health and Wellness, which operates across the state and plans to hold weekly hours in Pittsfield to certify patients who qualify. It has not yet set specific hours.
Adam Shanks can be reached at ashanks@berkshireeagle.com, at @EagleAdamShanks on Twitter, or 413-629-4517.
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Nuciforo’s “Berkshire Roots” medical marijuana dispensary opens in Pittsfield
“Berkshire Roots medical marijuana dispensary opens in Pittsfield”
By Jeanette DeForge | jdeforge@repub.com | Posted on April 8, 2018
Berkshire Roots medical marijuana dispensary in Pittsfield. It is the second place to sell medical marijuana in Berkshire County and the fourth in Western Massachusetts. (photos courtesy of Berkshire Roots)
“Medical marijuana dispensary opens in Pittsfield, people wait in line to enter”
By Jeanette DeForge jdeforge@repub.com – The (Springfield) Republican – April 8, 2018
PITTSFIELD - People lined up outside the door to enter a new medical marijuana dispensary which opened for the first time on Saturday, April 7, 2018.
Berkshire Roots is the first medical marijuana dispensary in Pittsfield and the second in Berkshire County. It is one of at least 22 which have made it through the arduous permitting process to be allowed to open across the state, according to the state website for Marijuana Registered Dispensaries.
More than 100 people visited the dispensary, on Dalton Avenue, on its first day. It is now opened from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday, said Jane Rohman, spokeswoman for the business.
"We had a line outside the door and we were serving coffee and doughnuts," she said. "We had one veteran who drove his bike 15 miles to visit us."
People complimented the owners on the variety of products available, especially for a new business. The company sells 10 flower strains of medical marijuana and a combination of concentrates, edibles, tinctures and topicals, she said.
"There were different people from every walk of life at our opening," she said.
In the week before its opening day, Berkshire Roots did some trial runs by allowing people to come in by appointment mainly to find and solve any glitches before opening day. Most of the people who were invited to make an appointment were on an electronic mailing list, Rohman said.
Employees will continue to take appointments for people who hold a medical marijuana card and may want more information on available products and the product that is best for them, she said.
The first application for the business, owned by Albert Wojtkowski, was filed with the state in September 2015. Berkshire Roots received its final permit to open in March, according to state records.
The business measures about 26,000 square feet and more than 90 percent of that space is preserved for the cultivation facility. "To ensure its products meet the state's rigorous purity standards...Berkshire Roots has everything tested by an independent lab," a written statement said.
The cannabis is grown indoors using natural methods and tested for pesticides and contaminants such as mold and bacteria. They are also tested for potency, quality and cleanliness, the statement said.
The company is following strict procedures to ensure all state regulations are followed. Cameras are set up outside and before being allowed in the door, people must show a medical marijuana prescription card from Massachusetts and a government identification card proving they are at least 21 to the camera. Once inside the lobby area people must fill out sign-in forms before being allowed to enter the locked dispensary, Rohman said.
"We had about 20 people who wanted to buy recreational marijuana but we can't sell that yet," she said.
Wojtkowski does plan to apply for a license to sell recreational marijuana along with many other growers, Rohman said.
Hoping to assuage fears that medical marijuana patients could find their medicine in short supply when dispensaries begin selling to the newly-legal retail market, state pot regulators on Tuesday agreed to a policy that will require dispensaries to hold some marijuana aside for medical patients.
The state Cannabis Control Commission has set regulations and plans to allow recreational shops to be opened in July.
Currently there are medical marijuana dispensaries in Easthampton, Northampton and Great Barrington in Western Massachusetts. Applications have been submitted for ones in Hampden County in Chicopee and Springfield.
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“Pittsfield City Council OKs pot regulations - including cap of 35 retail licenses”
By Amanda DraneThe Berkshire Eagle, April 11, 2018
PITTSFIELD — The city will allow up to 35 retail marijuana licenses, but those businesses must be at least 500 feet away from places where children congregate.
The City Council on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a zoning amendment regulating the marijuana industry in Pittsfield. At 35, the limit on the number of allowed marijuana licenses matches the number of liquor licenses permitted in the city.
Councilors set the cap high enough to accommodate robust interest in opening marijuana facilities in Pittsfield.
"The level of interest has been pretty high," said Nate Joyner, permitting coordinator for the Department of Community Development, who said he has heard from a dozen potential applicants.
The state this month began accepting license applications for businesses interested in opening retail marijuana operations under the November 2016 ballot referendum legalizing recreational use by adults. Retail sales could begin as early as July.
Berkshire Roots, a medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation facility that opened last weekend, became the first marijuana business in the city. It is expected to apply for a retail license, as well as two other companies.
The limit of 35 licenses represents a middle ground between two earlier versions of the regulations: The Community Development Board last month approved a limit of 10 licenses, but the council's Ordinances and Rules Committee last week recommended that no cap be set.
Councilors were persuaded to set some limits in response to concerns expressed by Board of Health members and leaders of the Berkshire Family YMCA and Boys & Girls Club of the Berkshires. Those leaders, Randy Kinnas and Joe McGovern, respectively, also argued in favor of maintaining the 500-foot buffer for marijuana facilities. They were concerned about exposing the city's youth to marijuana.
Kinnas asked councilors to put themselves in the parents' shoes.
"If they have a visual of a marijuana facility how would you feel?" he asked. "That your son or daughter is exposed to a risk factor such as that?"
It might be what American society does with alcohol, he said, "but we don't want to duplicate that."
The council voted in favor of a 500-foot buffer for playgrounds, day care facilities and other locations where children congregate.
The decision made it impossible for a group wanting to buy a former church at 40 Melville St. and turn it into a cultivation facility. Though the group promised discretion given the proximity to downtown children's organizations, the council agreed that some level of separation from places like the Boys & Girls Club would be appropriate.
"We don't put these in neighborhoods," said Councilor At Large Earl Persip. "For the kids that go to the Boys & Girls Club, that's their home. That's their neighborhood."
Still, company reps said they remain interested in Pittsfield and will set out in search of similar buildings for their future indoor cultivation facility.
"We're hoping to find someplace that's happy to have us," said Steven Goldman, noting he and his colleagues are intent on settling in the Berkshires. "I hope Pittsfield's the place."
Amanda Drane can be reached at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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Over the past year, construction crews have turned the nondescript former home of the Salvation Army Family Store, beside Ken's Bowl in Pittsfield, into Berkshire Roots - poised to become Berkshire County's most lucrative farming address. Ben Garver - The Berkshire Eagle
Mark Ledewitz, sales manager of Berkshire Roots, explains the function of a vapor device used to consume cannabis oil. Ben Garver - The Berkshire Eagle
Cannabis flower is packaged for sale at Berkshire Roots.This week, the new dispensary's retail staff has been seeing customers by appointment, testing their computer systems and complying with the state Department of Public Health's "virtual gateway" ahead of a full opening in the days ahead. Ben Garver - The Berkshire Eagle
A cannabis flower matures under grow lamps at Berkshire Roots. The company's cannabis will be grown in Pittsfield. Ben Garver - The Berkshire Eagle
Berkshire Roots, at 501 Dalton Ave. in Pittsfield, becomes Berkshire County's second medical marijuana dispensary since voters approved them in 2012. Ben Garver - The Berkshire Eagle
Come July, Berkshire Roots, at 501 Dalton Ave. in Pittsfield, hopes to be among the first outlets to sell cannabis to the adult-use recreational market. Ben Garver - The Berkshire Eagle
“Harvest time at Berkshire County's first legal cannabis farm”
By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle, March 31, 2018
PITTSFIELD — From the street, only a fresh sign and a dolled-up entry hint at the multimillion-dollar transformation inside.
But make no mistake. It's flower power time at 501 Dalton Ave. in Pittsfield.
Over the past year, construction crews have turned the nondescript former home of the Salvation Army Family Store, beside Ken's Bowl, into what's poised to become Berkshire County's most lucrative farming address.
In February, the first clusters of cannabis flowers were snipped from laden stems in one of Berkshire Roots' three massive indoor grow rooms — a third of an acre, in all, of heavily regulated photosynthesis.
And one morning thisweek, the company's cultivation manager, Dennis Gibbons, had the next harvest in mind as he stood at the controls of a complex irrigation system and pumps sipped from barrels of nutrients near a 5,500-gallon emergency water supply.
Just months ago, store workers under this roof were sorting through castoff clothing.
Today, after a roughly $5 million investment, securing local and state approvals and working through a mini-Greylock of paperwork, cannabis flowers and products are reaching customers who hold state-issued medical marijuana cards.
This week, the new dispensary's retail staff has been seeing customers by appointment, testing their computer systems and complyingwith the state Department of Public Health's "virtual gateway" ahead of a full opening in the days ahead.
In a surprise move Friday, the company's board changed staffing at the top, ousting its chief executive officer, John E. Mullen IV.
A spokeswoman, Jane Rohman, said interim management is in place. That staff includes Dennis Depaolo, its chief operating officer and former director of cultivation for Maine Organic Therapy Inc. She declined to say why Mullen no longer is with the company and said Berkshire Roots continues its countdown to opening at 11 a.m. April 7.
Mullen said that before commenting on the circumstances of his departure, he planned to get legal advice.
The BR Inc. board has selected a new CEO, Rohman said, but must obtain DPH approval. She declined to name that new leader.
Berkshire Roots becomes the county's second medical marijuana dispensary since voters approved them in 2012, joining the Theory Wellness outlet in Great Barrington.
While all Berkshire Roots cannabis will be grown in Pittsfield, Theory Wellness brings its inventory from its Bridgewater headquarters.
Come July, both dispensaries hope to be among the first outlets to sell cannabis to the adult-use recreational market. Given that they are "priority" applicants and will be allowed by the Cannabis Control Commission to shift marijuana from medical to recreational use, little stands in their way.
After nearly three years of preparations, Berkshire Roots' investors and leaders come to market just as the state begins taking applications for adult-use retail licenses.
Before leaving his position Friday, Mullen took The Eagle through the facility.
He called getting the facility up and running "a massive undertaking."
When it secured its provisional license in July 2016, Berkshire Roots was known as Khem Organics. Mullen's father, one of the investors, suggested a different name.
According to state Department of Public Health filings, early top investors were Matthew C. Feeney, Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr. and Albert S. Wojtkowski.
More recent DPH filings show that Feeney contributed $1,083,989 in initial capital and an entity known as KO Resources LLC controlled by Wojtkowski provided $1,028,193.
The company notified the state in September that it was entering into a "master services agreement" with KO Resources.
Along with its new name, Berkshire Roots just underwent a purge of longtime directors. As of February, the following were listed as officers and directors in the Secretary of State's database: Mullen, as board president, treasurer and clerk; and Amy K. Peckham of Katonah, N.Y., Janelle T. Cornwell of Cherry Valley, John Bianco of Blandford, Amy N. Sanders of Boston, David R. Buchanan of Amherst and Kevin F. Tierney of Needham as directors.
All are gone. In a change Mullen submitted to the Secretary of State's Office in March, Wojtkowski is listed as president, treasurer, secretary and sole director.
The building is owned by Wojtkowski Bros. Inc.
`Spa' feel
For dozens of the nonprofit's employees, the first duty this year is to meet the needs of medical marijuana patients.They have been working out the kinks by seeing patients by appointment only. (To schedule a visit, email info@berkshireroots.com.)
The first thing patients see, after coming in under a new "BR" sign on the building's facade and being greeted by the odor of cannabis, is an outer lobby where they must show their state-issued cards to a worker behind a glass divider.
It takes one more door to get into the actual "dispensary."
The design inside, by William Caligari Interiors of Great Barrington, needs only stacks of towels and an urn of cucumber water to resemble the waiting room of a pricey spa. Instead, it's a retail outlet the likes of which Pittsfield never has seen after years of marijuana prohibition.
Once inside the dispensary, a little sign shows where to line up to buy. But the mood here is soft-sell, in a room that resembles a boutique hotel lobby: dark tile flooring, clusters of comfortable orange chairs on carpeting, and walls decorated with frames of dried and plastic plants. On two sides, a "blued steel" counter holds a half-dozen computer stations.
That's where employees will complete transactions. Patients will be handed menus listing some of the company's nine available cannabis strains, including four unique to Berkshire Roots: Silver Fox, Poet's Walk, Old School and Chalice CBD.
The breeder who developed those strains, and provided them to Berkshire Roots in seed form, has agreed not to release them to other producers.
A private consultation room, reached beyond a sliding barn-style wooden door, offers a place for the retail staff to hear more about the health benefits that patients hope to get from purchases.
A low, glass-enclosed case near the middle of the space will display products, but a bigger story of what goes on in this building will be told in photos and videos on 10 flat-screen TVs that adorn three walls. Those images largely will be the work of John Bianco, a freelance photographer and videographer who has been documenting the company's steps toward opening.
That story takes place on the other side of the dispensary's back wall, in the tightly controlled production area that includes 15,000 square feet of growing area as well as trimming, drying and curing rooms and other spaces devoted to packaging products. That side of the business is overseen by Joe Baillargeon, the director of production.
Near the back of the building, a new second floor rises within the space and is home to an extraction lab and a high-tech kitchen where chocolate bars and chocolate chip cookies lay this week on metal racks, waiting for test results to come back before being packaged.
In the lab, a brownish solution containing cannabis oil swirled in a large mechanized beaker, allowing ethanols used to extract the psychoactive ingredient to be removed.
Brian Dubs, who is in charge of extraction and infusion, reached into a cabinet and pulled out a finished container of gelled cannabis oil. A nearby rack held, on parchment paper, a thin layer of "shatter" — one of the extracts popular among customers who use vaping devices to ingest cannabis without burning actual flowers.
`Mother' plants
But it is back down a wide metal staircase, on the sprawling first floor, where Berkshire Roots digs in.
The company started its initial plants from seed, as the state requires. Seeds were germinated in September.
The other day, Gibbons, the cultivation manager, stood watching a computerized Agricare monitor attached to the system steer precise mixes of nutrients through what looked to be miles of pipes and tubes.
This arterial network reaches all the way, through increasingly small pipes and hoses, to individual plants in the facility's plant nursery (its "veg" room) and three spacious halls packed with high-tech lighting and ventilation systems.
Gibbons was dialing in just the right amount of water and nutrients to plants in one of three grow rooms. Those cannabis strains were winding down ahead of a harvest, he explained, and soon would be fed only on water, so that any residual nutrients could be flushed away.
Near the big backup water tank, a grinder sat ready to chop up "fan" leaves trimmed from plants. Under state DPH rules, that plant matter would be mixed with soil, rendering it safe to dispose. Wastes must be logged. In terms of record-keeping, all activities inside the plant are documented by ever-present security cameras.
But the leaves contained little of medicinal or other value.
The water and nutrients pumped into the grow rooms are just one ingredient here. Above, banks of high-pressure sodium lights rich in the red spectrum shine 18 hours a day in the veg room, where newly cloned plants develop root systems. Higher up still, ducts move air through the rooms, controlling for temperature and humidity.
Inside them, ultraviolet light units purify the air by killing any unwanted microorganisms.
Once moved to grow rooms, the plants receive less light each day, triggering them to begin to produce flowers. They sit in individual containers atop tables that can be rolled, like library stacks, to allow workers access to specific rows.
As the plants grow, propelled by the photosynthesis occurring in their leaves, workers remove lower leaves to promote air circulation. They're also on the lookout for signs of any male cannabis plants, since this is a "no boys allowed" zone.
"We have to do a lot of scouting to catch any males," Gibbons said. "I think there's a little bit of an art to it."
But science plays a big part. One area in a flower-growing room is home today to a small forest of "mother" plants deemed to possess the most desirable phenotypes of different strains.
Instead of growing subsequent plants from seed, the company, like most producers, takes cuttings from the mother plants, induces rooting to begin and uses them to create clones with the same genetic qualities.
Those clones grow for about three weeks before spending a month in the veg room, then moving to roughly nine weeks in a flower room. From there, it takes about another month for trimmed flowers to be sorted, further trimmed, dried and cured. Along the way, every bit of cannabis is tracked on software known as the MJ Freeway, part of the state's required "seed to sale" monitoring.
Then it's on to packaging, or to the lab for extraction, if the flowers are to provide materials for edibles or other products.
Big investment
At the end of the process, Berkshire Roots' agricultural product will be, based on its farm footprint, the most valuable in the county.
By a long shot.
According to a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey, the average Berkshire County farm measures 117 acres and produces crops worth $42,797 a year. That's less income than expenses, which average $53,991 — leaving farm economics upside down.
As farms go, Berkshire Roots' expenses are high, including a 30-employee payroll that is expected to grow as production ramps up.
For electricity alone, it pays about $32,000 a month.
That's not even close to the top expense. Rent on the roughly 26,000-square-foot building is $89,333 a month, according to a lease on file with the DPH.
That works out to $1,072,000 a year, but stood to be even more. The initial base rent as of September was $151,866 a month, DPH records show. That sum was lowered in an amendment signed in January.
A rule of thumb for the industry holds that it takes $10 million to $20 million to enter the business. Investment so far is less than that.
"It will still take some time to become profitable," Mullen said Friday, hours before getting word that he was being dismissed. "It's a massive undertaking, both financially and in terms of time."
The key to success, he said, is providing what patients now — and adult-use buyers this summer, perhaps — want from the company.
At the start, customers will find those nine strains of flower, eight types of concentrates and a list of infused products, from tinctures and grapeseed oil for cooking to chewables, caramels, bars and cookies.
Other strains from the initial grow will be cloned and brought into the lineup.
Then there is the "X" factor of the cannabis trade.
"There's this stigma still with this product," Mullen said. "It's going away fast. It's about the science behind the plant, not the misinformation people like to use."
Larry Parnass can be reached at lparnass@berkshireeagle.com, at @larryparnass on Twitter and 413-496-6214.
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And “Berkshire Roots” in Pittsfield, which recently opened [on Saturday, April 7th, 2018] as the [Berkshire] county's second medical marijuana dispensary, continues to accept debit cards and has not been affected by banking issues, a spokeswoman said.
It is not the first time the federal government's stance against cannabis has tripped up business activity in Massachusetts.
Source: “[Citizens] Bank clampdown on weed-related firms renews concerns” By Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle, April 13, 2018.
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Julia Germaine, left, chief operating officer of Temescal Wellness, and Amy DiSciullo, assistant manager of retail, held a community meeting Friday at the Berkshire Athenaeum. Amanda Drane - The Berkshire Eagle
“Details, priorities aired on future Pittsfield marijuana shop”
By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle, April 15, 2018
PITTSFIELD — Leaders behind what will likely be the city's second marijuana shop are focused on youth diversion and uplifting Pittsfield.
Temescal Wellness, which is applying for a recreational retail license at its future facility at 10 Callahan Drive, made a presentation Friday before a sparsely attended community meeting. Chief Operating Officer Julia Germaine said the company broke ground at the site last week under its medical license.
As required under the permitting process, Germaine and one of her colleagues walked through the security measures they'll take at the new Pittsfield facility, and what the company will do to prevent youth consumption.
But they also talked about the good things they expect the industry to do for Pittsfield. Germaine, who lived in Pittsfield for several years and has family in Becket, said she feels the industry can draw young people back to the Berkshires.
Germaine has an undergraduate degree in plant biology, and has long been passionate in the plant's ability to reduce stress and ease pain.
"We're hoping for a happier, better-rested, more empathetic society," she said.
If a recreational retail license is granted by the state, Temescal Wellness would be the second marijuana operation in Pittsfield. Berkshire Roots, a medical marijuana dispensary and cultivation facility, opened on Dalton Avenue last weekend. It is expected to apply for a retail license as well.
Retail sales of marijuana for recreational use could begin as early as July under the November 2016 ballot referendum that legalized the drug for adult use.
Temescal's 3,000-square-foot facility will employ about 10 people, she said, promising to hire locally with an eye toward minorities negatively impacted by the war on drugs. The retail-only shop will offer marijuana in bud form, vapor cartridges, capsules, tinctures, infused sugars, oils, gummies and chocolate bars. It won't offer much in the way of edibles, Germaine said, but will have infused coconut and olive oils so customers can cook and bake with it at home.
Amy DiSciullo, the company's assistant manager of retail, said the company will use American Alarm to secure the establishment with 24-hour monitoring. At the store's entrance, those seeking entry must show identification to be buzzed into "the man trap," she said, an enclosed area where staff positively identifies you before allowing entry to the sales floor.
"Youth use of marijuana is the lowest it's been since 1994," Germaine said.
She said evidence actually suggests a correlation between marijuana regulation and reductions in young people using marijuana. As marijuana comes out of the shadows, more honest education can deter young people under 21 from damaging their developing brains. She said research is disproving the "gateway" theory surrounding marijuana, and so youth education should focus on negative impacts on the brain, and how that inhibits their future success.
"I think kids are smart and deserve a little respect," she said, noting when she was young she didn't use marijuana because she was working to get into college and concerned about "ruining my brain."
In addition to prohibiting sale to people under 21 without a medical card, the law limits retail shops from selling more than an ounce of marijuana to a person per day, they said, noting many people are still learning the laws. DiSciullo said the company is making it a mission to educate consumers on topics like open marijuana container laws — you can have marijuana in the car, they said, but only stored away in the glove box or trunk — and those against public consumption.
If staff at the store believes someone to be a risk to themselves or others, they can decide not to sell to them, Germaine said.
"That may include an intent to divert to minors," she said, adding the company will also be able to track its products back to the purchaser if it's found in the wrong hands. "It is not good for us or for Pittsfield for the product to be used inappropriately."
The company already has two dispensaries in New Hampshire, one in Maryland and plans to open two other shops in Massachusetts.
Several caregivers came to hear the presentation, noting they're seeing the stigma start to dissolve as people see how marijuana can be a healthier way to reduce pain than opiates, and a less mind-numbing way to treat anxiety than benzodiazepines, as well as a way to ease the aches and pains of aging.
Diane Wojcik, a Windsor resident caring for her mother with Alzheimer's, said marijuana could offer a way to ease the daily anxiety caused from vascular dementia.
DiSciullo said the plant drew her in after seeing how it helped her girlfriend, who at the time was coping with the effects of chemotherapy she was taking for breast cancer.
"It was a game changer," she said.
Amanda Drane can be reached at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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6/14/18 - HANCOCK - Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr., co-founder of the Berkshire Roots medical marijuana dispensary in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, uses slides for a presentation about the marijuana industry to business owners at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort 37 Corey Road in Hancock Thursday, June 14, 2018. (Mike Plaisance / The Republican)
“Capitalizing on marijuana industry spurs Berkshires business brainstorming”
By Mike Plaisance mplaisance@repub.com – The Springfield Republican – June 14, 2018
HANCOCK -- Berskshire businesses gathered Thursday to discuss how to seize the marijuana industry.
"The market is basically everybody. You've got people between the ages of 20 and 29 and you've got people between the ages of 60 and 69 and even older," using medical marijuana, said Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr., co-founder of Berkshire Roots of Pittsfield.
The company, which opened the first medical marijuana dispensary in Pittsfield in March, helped to arrange the forum called "Berkshire Roots Educates on Canna Tourism in the Berkshires."
Over 30 members of the tourism, hospitality and other businesses attended the event at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort. It was co-arranged by 1Berkshire, the regional economic development organization.
All 32 cities and towns in Berkshire County approved the 2016 ballot question that legalized recreational marijuana and the 2012 ballot question that legalized marijuana for medical use in Massachusetts.
Officials with the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission said Thursday they expect to issue licenses to permit recreational marijuana businesses to operate in July.
As of Wednesday, 53 applicants from 28 companies or individuals had submitted the entire application to open a marijuana business in Massachusetts.
At the forum here, Nuciforo, a former state senator, used slides to give a history of the marijuana ballot questions in Massachusetts, the market's growth, regulations, methods of pot consumption and other details.
Marijuana sales are projected to hit $450 million in Massachusetts this year, but in a sign of the market's power, such spending in Colorado could rocket to $1.5 billion in 2018, Nuciforo said. Colorado began permitting retail sales of marijuana in January 2014.
The market is as varied as the imagination with marijuana integrated into the lodging, cooking, tour, guidebook, retreat, transportation, dinner party and other industries, such as "sushi and joint rolling" classes, Nuciforo said.
"As you can see, there's a lot going on here. Cannabis is somehow finding its way into all these different sectors," he said.
In April 2017, Massachusetts had about 34,000 medical marijuana card holders, persons permitted to use pot for health reasons. That jumped to over 54,000 as of April of this year, he said.
The state had 26 medical marijuana dispensaries as of April 30, with Berkshire Roots the 19th when it opened at 501 Dalton Ave. in Pittsfield, he said.
Business owners and managers said they found the conference helpful in outlining the regulations binding the marijuana industry and showing ways in which such a market might help them.
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Marijuana facts:
The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) calls Marijuana a mind-altering drug. The DEA says no marijuana overdose deaths reported.
The Marijuana Plant contains more than 400 chemicals. The main chemical component is called THC is believed to produce the high users experience. THC produces a psychoactive effect. CBD does not produce a high and may treat some symptoms; may have medicinal benefits.
As of 6/22/2018, 29 states + D.C. have medical marijuana; 9 states + D.C. have recreational marijuana. There are three proven conditions that are treated by medical marijuana: (a) Chronic pain, (b) Neuropathic pain, (c) Muscle spasticity associated with M.S. The medical research is not there to support evidence for the treatment of other symptoms. There hasn’t been a long-term study of cannabis on the brain. There is some risk to marijuana use, especially among young people. Age: Teenagers more at risk to be addicted than adults. How often a person uses marijuana matters. Long-term daily use can use can lead to more negative impacts such as difficulty thinking or worsening anxiety. The concentration of THC in the cannabis matters. One in 10 people who are adults will become addicted to marijuana. There is a strong association between marijuana use and increased use of alcohol and other drugs.
Source: WCVB ABC NewsCenter 5 Primetime: “Mass Marijuana”, June 22, 2018.
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“Pittsfield pot shop plans spark worries of an oversaturated market”
By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle, July 23, 2018
Pittsfield — Marijuana shops are priming the Pittsfield market, and not everyone is pleased.
Brothers Dan and David Graziani aim to open up shop at 32 Bank Row, sparking concerns from nearby courthouse officials about the children they work with. They responded to these concerns during a community meeting Monday, which Register of Probate Fran Marinaro attended.
An influx of hopeful retailers also prompted some fresh concerns aired during recent city meetings last week. Temescal Wellness received special permit approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday, making it the fourth Pittsfield retailer moving toward a recreational license from the state.
In addition to the Grazianis' municipal application, there are two others in the works: one from Ken Crowley of Herbal Pathways, and another from Bloom Brothers on Merrill Road, which appeared before the ZBA and Community Development Board last week. The two boards wanted to see more trees on the Merrill Road property and a more attractive window design.
Berkshire Roots on Dalton Avenue, Kryppies of East Street and Green Biz of South Street already have municipal green lights and await state approvals for recreational sales.
All told, if all these companies eventually open for recreation sales in Pittsfield, that makes for seven shops. That, said a representative of Berkshire Roots, is too many, too close.
"There's not a need to have one of these things every half-mile," said Frank Demarinis, of Berkshire Roots.
He told ZBA members there aren't enough consumers to support all of these businesses, and so the city is setting them up for a rude awakening.
"I think people are going to start these businesses and immediately fail," he said.
In response to that, Dan Graziani said he respects that opinion, but "it all comes down to the spirit of competition."
"It's going to be based on who has the best products," he said.
They'll hire 10 to 12 employees at the shop, he said at the Monday meeting.
The state doesn't yet allow for social consumption of marijuana, the brothers said, meaning they can't allow customers to consume at the store. Public consumption is also illegal, they reminded Marinaro.
On behalf of the courthouse, Marinaro said: "We know it's coming."
He said he knows marijuana is legal, but leaders of the courthouse next door find it nonetheless "concerning" a marijuana shop will be so close to the courthouse, which sees families struggling with substance use.
"Much of that has destroyed their families," he said.
The point wasn't lost on the Graziani brothers.
"We hear you one 150 percent as local members of this community," Dan said. "We by no means want to contribute to that problem."
They plan to use a perforated film to obscure products from view of passing children, as is required by the Cannabis Control Commission. They'll have an alarm system and 24-hour surveillance at the store.
An enclosed ID checkpoint will separate people walking in from the street from the retail floor. Only verified adults over 21 will enter, and a staff member will hold their identification card in the meantime.
"One or both of us will always be at the store," David Graziani said. "Absentee owners don't run effective businesses."
Marinaro wanted to know if state laws spelled out anything about serving intoxicated individuals, and the brothers said they haven't seen anything like that. Still, they said, they'd deploy their "best judgment" and withhold sales to anyone who seems to be under the influence of inhibition-mitigating substances.
"There's a real fine line that people need to recognize going forward," Marinaro said.
The brothers said they plan to donate a percentage of their sales to a local nonprofit. The brothers are graduates of Pittsfield High School, formerly captains of the ski and tennis teams. Dan said he graduated a few years ago from Champlain College and works in digital marketing, and David recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in hospitality and tourism management.
"It's another business with open doors in Pittsfield," Dan said. "We want to be stewards of the community."
Marinaro said he hoped they'd keep a careful eye on the store and flag problems early. These are "maiden waters," after all.
"The reality is we don't know what's going to happen," he said.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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Our Opinion: “Pot industry not above impact of capitalism”
The Berkshire Eagle, July 27, 2018
Due to regulatory delays, recreational pot sales remain mostly a pipe dream in Massachusetts, but already the industry is experiencing growing pains. Many in the state have applied to the Cannabis Control Commission for recreational retail licenses, including existing dispensaries that sell medical marijuana under a tightly regulated system. Some potential applicants no doubt view opening a recreational outlet as an automatic golden doorway to success; after all, it isn't as though a market for their products needs to be developed. If anything, the recreational pot market is poised to explode as users anticipate unlimited access to a substance that is until recently was legally forbidden.
In Pittsfield, special permits for recreational pot retailers are granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals. Its decisions are informed by the Community Development Board, which oversees development of the businesses' site plans.
The city government has embraced the nascent pot market with all the enthusiasm of a financially strapped municipality eyeing a fresh tax base, and has presented few obstacles to the future proliferation of marijuana retailers within its borders. Potentially, seven separate marijuana businesses will open their doors if they satisfy all municipal and state requirements, and this has given rise to pushback (Eagle, July 24). A representative of the only medical dispensary currently operating in the city, Berkshire Roots, indicated that Pittsfield was issuing permits to too many businesses. Frank Demarinis, a spokesman for that company, told the ZBA that the city didn't comprise a sufficient market for so many retailers. "I think people are going to start these businesses and immediately fail," he told the panel.
Imploring authorities to restrict the number of outlets of a legal product within their jurisdiction is an argument that flies in the face of free-market principles, among those being that competition is the way to deliver the best product at the the best value to consumers. The selling of recreational marijuana is still a business, and subject to all the risks involved in running any enterprise — whether it be a pot shop, liquor store or hardware outlet. Those that thrive will be the ones that give customers the best service, quality and bang for the buck, and in the internet age word of mouth among customers moves swiftly and decisively.
It is not the city's concern whether retailers manage to make a return on their investment. During the meeting, a member of the ZBA correctly allowed that market considerations are not among that regulatory body's permitting criteria.
Pittsfield is wise in adopting a relatively liberal policy regarding the number of retailers it will allow; it is operating within the laws of the state, and following all the necessary guidelines. The law of supply and demand is not a statute that comes under the city's jurisdiction, however, and pot retailers are mistaken if they believe it's the city's role to forestall a saturated marijuana market. Ultimately, the industry will shake itself out and market forces will determine the number of businesses that survive. Would-be pot shop operators need to learn that a license to sell recreational marijuana is not necessarily a license to print money.
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Berkshire Roots, Pittsfield's first cannabis growing facility and dispensary, has received approval for recreational sales from the state's Cannabis Control Commission. The timeline for when recreational sales will be up and running in the state, however, is still up in the air. Ben Garver - The Berkshire Eagle
“Timeline hazy for recreational sales as 2nd Pittsfield pot shop gets provisional license”
By Amanda Drane , The Berkshire Eagle, October 11, 2018
Pittsfield — A second marijuana retailer has received its provisional license to sell recreational marijuana, though the timeline to actual sales remains unclear.
Berkshire Roots, open since March for medical sales, got the conditional OK from the state's Cannabis Control Commission last week. The Dalton Avenue operation is the second Berkshire County cannabis retailer to receive the early license for recreational sales. Temescal Wellness, on Callahan Drive, got its provisional license last month.
The two Berkshire shops join more than a dozen retailers statewide waiting for a final nod from the state to move forward in the "adult-use" market, as the state refers to the emerging recreational marijuana market.
More than two months have passed since the original deadline — and nearly two years have passed since voters approved recreational marijuana in Massachusetts — yet recreational cannabis sales have yet to begin in the commonwealth. The Cannabis Control Commission has been cryptic about when final approvals will come.
So far there are seven retailers with green lights from the city. Five of those companies, including Berkshire Roots and Temescal Wellness, have completed applications with the state.
Matt Feeney, one of the owners at Berkshire Roots, said the company is hoping to begin recreational sales by the end of November.
"But we just don't know, really," he said, noting evolving state regulations. "They put the pins up and we try to knock `em down as best we can."
Feeney said the company is slowly building a solid client base, and revenues are up 20 percent since opening six months ago. He said that "it's a building process," and the statewide situation remains fluid.
"It's a little bit of a learning experience every day," he said.
Meantime, Temescal Wellness is poised to open under its medical license. It is slated to become the third dispensary to do business in Berkshire County. As for lifting the "provisional" from Temescal's license to sell recreationally, the shop is slated for a post-provisional license inspection next week.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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“Vow to reform federal marijuana law prompts Western Massachusetts skepticism”
By Mike Plaisance | mplaisance@repub.com | MassLive.com | October 17, 2018
Springfield -- Local skepticism greeted a report that President Donald Trump will move to legalize marijuana for medicinal use at the federal level and address recreational pot by letting states instead of the federal government decide.
U.S. Rep. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., told foxbusiness.com that Trump has committed to establishing such pot reform after the mid-term elections Nov. 6.
Marijuana remains a Schedule 1 substance in the federal government's categorization of controlled substances. Such drugs -- heroin and LSD among them -- have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Advocates note that marijuana is a plant that has been ingested around the world for thousands of years and should be legally available throughout the United States.
Thirty states and Washington D.C. allow marijuana for medical use. Nine states and Washington D.C. have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes.
The discussion about Trump possibly reforming federal marijuana laws comes as Canada's legalization of cannabis possession and use takes effect today. Rules about matters such as the availability of marijuana differ in different provinces and territories of the U.S. neighbor to the north.
Rohrabacher said Trump has spoken in support of legalizing medical marijuana on the federal level and leaving the status of recreational marijuana up to the states.
"It could be as early as spring of 2019, but definitely in the next legislative session," Rohrabacher told foxbusiness.com
The Republican sought comments from [In part]:
Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr., co-founder of Berkshire Roots medical marijuana dispensary in Pittsfield and a former state senator.
Nuciforo:
"It appears that they're talking about something along a federal legislation and that can take a whole bunch of different forms. Does that mean dispensaries would be able to access federally insured banks? That sounds like an important consideration," he said.
Among other questions are will marijuana companies have access to the mechanics of commerce available to other businesses like bank accounts, loans, listing on public exchanges and conducting business across state lines, he said.
"These kinds of things I would like to see in the bill," he said.
"There's reason to be optimistic. I mean, this is a dialogue that never would have occurred two or three years ago. But it's happening now, so the proof will be in the pudding, if a bill is filed," he said.
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“Marijuana manufacturer looks to set up shop in Pittsfield”
By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle, October 30, 2018
Pittsfield — The former ReStore space on Jefferson Place could see a new life in the marijuana manufacturing industry.
During a community outreach meeting on Tuesday, Erik Gothelf, owner of Climb Cannabis, detailed his plans to place a marijuana processing plant in a 4,700-square-foot space at 70 Jefferson Place.
Unlike other marijuana companies getting into the Berkshire marijuana manufacturing market, Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield and Ten Ten Craft Cannabis in Sheffield, Climb Cannabis would exclusively do marijuana extractions. The company doesn't plan to grow its own marijuana, but rather will buy cheap trim in bulk for the purposes of extracting its THC and reproducing it in oil form.
"I'm trying to buy what has the most THC per dollar," he told abutters during the meeting.
Then, he said, he plans to sell those products to marijuana retailers statewide. The final product is a 1-gram cartridge of marijuana oil that fits into a vaporizer.
His likely neighbors were concerned about the smell, but Gothelf said there won't be any.
The company is a spinoff of California-based Cobra Extractions, with which Gothelf said he has a licensing agreement. Gothelf himself lives in Connecticut, has family in the Berkshires and knew Pittsfield has industrial space to spare.
Gothelf said he has a five-year lease with Pariseau Heating and Cooling. He said that because the site falls within an industrial zone, he won't need special permit approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals. Still, he'll need the Community Development Board to approve his site plan, which he hopes will happen during a meeting on Nov. 20.
Neighbors were also concerned about security, and Gothelf assured them the windows will be barred and the building will be secured.
"I don't want you to know I'm there, so if you don't know I'm there I'm doing my job," he told them.
Gothelf said he hopes to expand his company as the industry evolves, and the building allows him plenty of space to do so.
There will be about a dozen employees of the company, he said, and he aims to begin renovating the space in February. He'll give Pittsfield applicants preferential treatment, he said.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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“EHCA Votes in Favor of Retail Marijuana Shop”
By John Lynds, East Boston Times-Free Press, November 2, 2018
The plan to place an adult use retail marijuana facility on the heavily trafficked Meridian Street near Central Square, the East Boston Social Centers, a bus stop and the neighborhood’s shopping district was met with resistance at two previous community meetings.
However, in a close vote at their October meeting Eagle Hill Civic Association members voted 14 to 11 to support Berkshire Roots, Inc.’s plans to open the marijuana dispensary at 253 Meridian St.
Berkshire Roots is the largest grower of cannabis in Western Massachusetts and was the first medical marijuana dispensary to open in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
At last month’s Eagle Hill Civic Association meeting and a subsequent community meeting last month sponsored by the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, Berkshire Roots’s attorney Andrea Nuciforo said his client is intending to use and redevelop the retail space at 253 Meridian Street into a retail marijuana dispensary. The proposal for the Meridian Street pot shop includes transforming the 1,400 sq. ft. retail space on the first floor of the building into sleek and stylish dispensary with façade improvement and subtle and understated signage.
Nuciforo said there would be no cultivation, processing, or packaging on site. There would also be no product consumption on site and the product would not be visible from the street.
EHCA President Debra Cave voiced her concern at last week’s meeting.
“I just have a concern about the location,” said Cave. “It is sandwiched between two schools, the O’Donnell and Umana Schools, and it is right near the Social Centers. I know this is for adults but I don’t know if it is a good match for a residential neighborhood. I see lots of children and lots of kids everyday in that location.”
Nuciforo said that the City of Boston identified the issue of keeping these adult use retail shops away from children by creating zoning and specific zones the business can be located.
“This location does fall within the permitted zones as defined by the city,” said Nuciforo. “The city established a 500-foot setbacks away from where children congregate, a 500 foot setback away from schools and the shop can not be within a half mile of any other marijuana dispensary location. There is a very limited number of place this use is actually permitted and this address happens to be one and adheres to all three rules put into place by the city.”
There was also some concern over security. However, unlike a liquor store where access is relatively easy for underage people the facility would follow a rigorous protocol before people can even enter the dispensary.
There will be a security guard at the front door. When a potential customer enters he or she must present either a valid Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Card or a valid state license or identification card proving the customer is over 21 years of age. Between the front door and the actual dispensary is a locked door. The front door and internal ‘locked’ door are never open at the same time. Once the customer is approved by the security guard an employee inside the dispensary would have to activate a buzzer for the internal door to allow the customer inside.
“It’s a very strict and rigorous process,” said Nuciforo.
The proposal had City Councilor Lydia Edwards calling for a hearing to discuss potential policy changes affecting the siting of enterprises serving cannabis as well as alcohol in the immediate vicinity of substance abuse treatment facilities during last week’s Council hearing.
Edwards pointed to the proposed dispensaries close proximity to North Suffolk Mental Health, an agency that helps addicts with their substance abuse problems.
Currently, the City of Boston regulates the distance between cannabis establishments at one-half mile and creates a 500-foot buffer between such businesses and K-12 schools. The City also regulates businesses that serve or sell alcohol through licensing and zoning, but has not enacted a similar distance-based buffer.
Zoning changes typically do not impact existing enterprises but would apply to new development and could potentially apply to substantially renovated buildings. The hearing will explore whether such a buffer should be created, potential impacts and how to create parity between industries.
link: http://eastietimes.com/2018/11/02/ehca-votes-in-favor-of-retail-marijuana-shop/
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The fiscal 2019 budget signed by Gov. Charlie Baker projected $63 million in marijuana-derived revenue for the year. Since missing the July 1 deadline for the start of recreational marijuana sales, the state has missed out on a potential $20 million in revenue, according to Question 4 backers. credit: Carlos Osorio - The Associated Press
“For some, rollout pace for recreational pot in Massachusetts carries sense of déjà vu”
By Sophia Eppolito , Boston University Statehouse Program, November 3, 2018
Boston — Nearly two years after recreational marijuana was legalized in the commonwealth, experts are concerned that the rollout will be caught up in delays and red tape like medical marijuana, another voter-approved measure four years earlier.
When Massachusetts voters approved Question 4 in 2016, they established a Jan. 1, 2018, launch date for sales. That was pushed back by legislators to July 1. By mid-October, the Cannabis Control Commission created by the law had issued only six final licenses — two for retail, two for independent testing labs, a fifth for cultivation and one for product manufacturing. And they still have several steps to take before they will be approved to open.
The fiscal 2019 budget signed by Gov. Charlie Baker projected $63 million in marijuana-derived revenue for the year. Since missing the July 1 deadline, the state has missed out on a potential $20 million in revenue, according to Question 4 backers.
Will Luzier, the former campaign manager for the 2016 ballot campaign, said this slow-moving pace is eerily similar to when medical marijuana was legalized in Massachusetts in 2012. The medical statute said that there could not be more than 35 medical dispensaries open in the first year, but 2 1/2 years, later only five had opened, Luzier said.
"The concern — the fear, if you will — is that this rollout will be as slow as or slower than the medical marijuana facility rollout," he said. "There's been a record of glacial movement on marijuana commerce."
Jim Borghesani, the spokesman for the ballot campaign who now works with Luzier at a marijuana business consulting company, voiced similar concerns. He attributed the slow rollout to "slow-moving bureaucracy," indifference from elected officials, as well as municipal opposition from local cities and towns.
State Sen. Patricia Jehlen, D-Somerville, co-chair of the Legislature's Marijuana Policy Committee, said the recreational rollout has been a much more transparent process than the medical one.
"A major difference between the rollout of the recreational marijuana industry and medical marijuana is that the Legislature, in creating the CCC, required the recreational process to be public," Jehlen said in a statement. "We know what is causing delays because the commission is required to publicly disclose and discuss what's going on at each step of the process. We didn't have that with medical, and therefore we don't really know what caused those delays."
Medical marijuana currently falls under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Health, while adult use is being overseen by the recently-formed Cannabis Control Commission. There are now plans for the medical marijuana regulatory scheme to be subsumed by the CCC by the end of this year.
Shaleen Title, who sits on the CCC, said the recreational process is progressing the way that she "would have expected."
"This is about what I would expect, given how highly regulated the industry is in the original law and given just how much importance there is to making sure that it's rolled out in a way that is compliant."
Voters in Nevada and California also passed recreational marijuana laws in November 2016, but adult-use retail shops opened in Nevada in July 2017 and in California in January.
As it stands, there are 63 adult-use locations operating in Nevada, along with 123 adult-use cultivators, 10 adult-use labs and 87 manufacturers. Five of the state's 17 counties have at least one retail shop. The use of medical marijuana became legal in Nevada in 2001, but at that point people had to grow their own. State-licensed establishments were legalized in 2015.
"We had a really functional medical marijuana program in place with really solid regulations, so we were able to build on that," said Stephanie Klapstein, a public information officer for the Nevada Department of Taxation, which manages marijuana regulation. "I think that's part of our success in being able to get up and running early."
Title said it isn't fair to compare Massachusetts with these other states, because their markets are more widespread and they had several more medical marijuana businesses.
"I've been involved in that process in many other states and I would disagree that we're further behind," she said. "I think it's an apples-to-oranges comparison."
Borghesani said one major difference between Massachusetts' legalization process is that the other states didn't institute similar delays.
"First of all, neither Nevada or California delayed things by six months like we did in Massachusetts," Borghesani said. "None of them put forward a statutory delay ... and the whole licensing application approval process has moved much slower in Massachusetts than it has in those states."
Although there is no hard deadline for when retail stores will open, Luzier said he "wouldn't be surprised" if there are about three or four open by Thanksgiving.
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“Massachusetts’s first recreational marijuana sales will begin Tuesday [11/20/2018]”
By Nik DeCosta-Klipa, Boston.com – November 16, 2018
More than two years after Massachusetts voted to legalize marijuana for all adults over the age of 21, the state’s first recreational sales are set to begin Tuesday, November 20, 2018.
On Friday afternoon [11/16/2018], the Cannabis Control Commission authorized two existing medical marijuana dispensaries — Cultivate Holdings in (1764 Main St.) Leicester and New England Treatment Access, or NETA, in (118 Conz St.) Northampton — to begin sales [on November 20th].
The commission issued a third retail license to Verilife, a medical marijuana dispensary in Wareham, earlier this month. The store still has to get a “commence operations” notice from the commission before it can begin recreational sales.
The commission is also posed to issue two more retail licenses at its meeting Tuesday.
As of the commission’s last meeting on Nov. 1, [2018] state officials said they were in the process of reviewing 58 applications from businesses hoping to open recreational marijuana stores.
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“Cannabis retailers in Pittsfield, Great Barrington get final licenses”
By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle, December 13, 2018
Pittsfield — Recreational marijuana should make landfall in Berkshire County within the month.
On Thursday the Cannabis Control Commission green-lighted final licenses for Temescal Wellness, on Callahan Drive in Pittsfield, and Theory Wellness, on Stockbridge Road in Great Barrington.
Both retailers are already selling to consumers with medical marijuana cards, but the decision clears the way for the shops to sell to anyone 21 or over. They will be the first in Berkshire County to do so, two years after Massachusetts voters legalized recreational cannabis.
Retailers await final inspections from the state before they can open their doors to the general adult public, but are expected to be up and running within the month.
There are so far two recreational marijuana retailers open for businesses in Massachusetts — one in Northampton and one in Leicester. Between the two of them, they've netted more than $7 million in gross sales since the industry launched to much fanfare on Nov. 20.
Leaders at Theory and Temescal say that in the days ahead they'll busy themselves with transferring their medical supply to recreational, and plugging into a state database used to track cannabis inventory.
After that, Theory CEO Brandon Pollock said, the state will do one last "sales ready" inspection.
"And then we should be good to go," he said. "I can say it's weeks now, not months."
Pollock said he hired 15 additional people at the Great Barrington operation, lined up traffic detail through the Great Police Department and put together parking maps in preparation for the start of recreational sales.
"Once we get that approval we'll be ready to open immediately," he said.
Julia Germaine, Temescal's corporate development director, said since the retailers will need to schedule state inspections amid the holiday season, she's expecting the Pittsfield shop to open for recreational sales in four weeks. "We're being conservative," she said.
Pollock said his team is considering putting purchase limits in place to make sure supply keeps pace with demand, since "it's a real unknown how busy we will be."
"We're very excited about it," he said. "We think it's going to be a great thing for our community, both culturally and economically."
Germaine echoed the sentiment: "We're very excited to serve consumers in the Berkshires and beyond."
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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Berkshire Roots has received "provisional" licenses from the state, meaning it is an inspection or two from being awarded final licenses: Berkshire Roots, Pittsfield, license types: cultivation, product manufacturing, transportation, retail.
After voters in 2016 approved adult use of cannabis, the state finally fulfilled the promise of retail weed in November, when pot shops opened in Northampton and Leicester. Sales are just weeks away in Berkshire County. Eagle file photo
Top Stories of 2018: No. 2: “Adult-use cannabis sales hit the registers”
By Kristin Palpini, The Berkshire Eagle, December 29, 2018
What a long, strange trip it's been.
After voters in 2016 approved adult use of cannabis, the state finally fulfilled the promise of retail weed in November, when pot shops opened in Northampton and Leicester. Sales are just weeks away in Berkshire County.
So far, 19 businesses have submitted applications to the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission for marijuana retail, production, manufacturing and transport licenses in the Berkshires.
Two of these establishments — Theory Wellness in Great Barrington and Temescal Wellness in Pittsfield — have been issued final licenses and will open recreational shops soon.
Meanwhile, municipal officials have chipped away at writing bylaws dictating where and how cannabis businesses can operate in their towns and cities, if at all. Lenox and New Marlborough elected to extend marijuana moratoriums into 2019.
In the coming year, Theory Wellness CEO Brandon Pollock said, he will be following development of consumption and delivery licenses for Massachusetts businesses. Now, a person age 21 or older can purchase pot, but the state has not set rules around businesses where people can gather and consume marijuana — think "cannabis cafe."
The Cannabis Control Commission also will be digging into the status of home marijuana delivery.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how the state starts putting together delivery and social consumption — the future parts of the cannabis industry that have not been tackled," said Pollock, who estimated that his firm's medical marijuana dispensary in Great Barrington will open for recreational sales in two weeks.
"Social consumption is kind of like the final frontier," Pollock said. "They're starting to get implemented out west in California, Alaska and Colorado — it's a private venue that has a one- or three-day event permit that allows people to use cannabis on-site."
Sales force
Temescal and Theory Wellness will likely be the first to sell legal recreational weed in the Berkshires, but five other businesses are not far behind.
The following have received "provisional" licenses from the state, meaning they are an inspection or two from being awarded final licenses:
- Berkshire Roots, Pittsfield, license types: cultivation, product manufacturing, transportation, retail;
- Commonwealth Cultivation Inc., Pittsfield, license type: cultivation;
- Green Biz LLC, Pittsfield, license type: retail;
- Berkshire Welco LLC, Sheffield, license type: cultivation. (The company also has submitted applications for retail and product-manufacturing licenses in Sheffield.);
- Silver Therapeutics Inc., Williamstown, license type: retail. (Silver Therapeutics also has a provisional cultivation license for a spot in Orange.)
In addition, the state has seen the opening of two more marijuana shops since the original two: Insa in Easthampton and Alternative Therapies Group in Salem.
CEOs at Temescal and Theory Wellness said they are working with local police departments to keep traffic moving in the face of an anticipated deluge of customers.
Companies that have submitted applications to the state to establish Berkshire County weed businesses, but have not yet been awarded licenses, are:
- Canna Provisions, Lee, retail. (The company has also applied for a retail license in Holyoke.);
- Elevated Gardens, Pittsfield, cultivation;
- Keystone Bluff, Chester, marijuana micro-business;
- Krypies, Pittsfield, retail;
- LC Square, Adams, cultivation;
- Mass Yield Cultivation, Pittsfield, cultivation;
- New England Renewable Resources, Chester, cultivation;
- Slang, Pittsfield, retail;
- Ten-Ten, Sheffield, cultivation, product manufacturing, retail;
- Green Railroad, Great Barrington, retail;
- Evergreen Strategies, North Adams, retail.
Bylaws
Local authorities were busy this year drafting bylaws, getting them approved by town meetings and negotiating "host agreements" with potential cannabis entrepreneurs.
Host agreements are letters of support from town officials that are required in any marijuana license application.
In exchange for their support, most towns are getting 3 percent of a recreational marijuana establishment's sales, a 3 percent local-option marijuana tax on nonmedical sales, and donations of money or time to community organizations that seek to keep young people away from mind-altering substances and cure addiction.
Communities with established host agreements include: Adams, Chester, Great Barrington, Lee, North Adams, Pittsfield, Sheffield and Williamstown.
On the flip side, some communities have extended marijuana moratoriums.
New Marlborough has banned in-town recreational weed businesses through June and Lenox has done the same through May.
Noting that the town of 160 people doesn't have a single commercial operation, Mount Washington voters last May permanently banned pot businesses.
Other communities have made or are finalizing local regulations. West Stockbridge and Lee, for example, have bylaws that do not allow pot shops downtown. Sheffield created a marijuana "overlay" district, a term that designates allowable locations.
And last month, Hinsdale somewhat reluctantly approved a new seven-page marijuana bylaw that caps the number of establishments and other restrictions. Planning Board members said that without a bylaw, the town would be a potential "free-for-all" for marijuana entrepreneurs interested in opening a business in a community with no pot regulations.
Early players
People 21 and older from the Berkshires looking to make a weed purchase today have a few options, but only outside the county. Open recreational marijuana establishments are: Alternative Therapies Group (ATG), Salem; Cultivate, Leicester; Insa, Easthampton; and New England Treatment Access (NETA), Northampton.
In an effort to maintain supply, all four locations have purchase caps limiting how much an individual can buy in one trip.
The closest weed shops are in Hampshire County and about an hour's drive from Pittsfield. The line around NETA has shrunk, but waiting for over half an hour to get into the store is common. Insa opened right before Christmas with less fanfare than the first two pot shops in the state, and, in general, has shorter lines than Northampton, as well as a more restrictive purchase cap.
Kristin Palpini can be reached at kpalpini@berkshireeagle.com, @kristinpalpini, 413-629-4621.
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The state Cannabis Control Commission on Thursday granted Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield its so-called final license to open a retail store, grow up to 10,000 square feet of marijuana, produce marijuana-infused products and transport marijuana. It already is selling to consumers with medical marijuana cards. Eagle file photo
“Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield gets 'final license' to open retail pot store”
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service, February 7, 2019
Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield is poised to become the third Berkshire County marijuana dispensary to sell pot on a retail basis.
The state Cannabis Control Commission on Thursday granted the company its so-called final license to open a retail store, grow up to 10,000 square feet of marijuana, produce marijuana-infused products and transport marijuana. It already is selling to consumers with medical marijuana cards.
Berkshire Roots still must pass one more state inspection. It has taken other businesses about three to five weeks to get from the final licensure stage to receiving permission to begin legal sales.
Matt Feeney, one of the owners at Berkshire Roots, said he hoped to open up the shop for recreational sales within the next 30 days.
"Obviously, it's dependent upon the filing of the final inspection," he said.
It has been a long time coming, he said, and "we're almost over that final hurdle."
Beyond that, Feeney said he looks forward to opening up to city shoppers.
"We hope we can appeal to the consumer base and be one of the places people choose to go to," he said.
Last month, Theory Wellness in Great Barrington became the first Berkshire County marijuana retailer, followed days later by Temescal Wellness in Pittsfield.
The commission has greenlighted nine retail marijuana stores across the state, and eight have opened their doors to customers. The first stores opened Nov. 20, and through Jan. 27, customers have spent about $28 million on marijuana products in Massachusetts, the commission said.
Chairman Steven Hoffman said Thursday that he does not expect the commission will alter its plans or the pace at which it considers and approves business licenses. Hoffman previously has said that he expects four to eight new retail stores will open their doors each month.
In the past month, the commission has authorized four retailers to begin operations. Three of them have opened for business, and the fourth awaits local permission to open. No retailer has received permission from the commission to open since Jan. 16.
"I'm comfortable and I've defended this many times. I'm comfortable with the pace that we've gone at to this point, I think we've done it right," Hoffman said. "We are absolutely concerned about how this industry looks over the long term, and we feel like we're doing it at the right pace and in the right manner."
With some stores having been open for almost three months, Hoffman said he also is comfortable with the access that retailers have to banking services. Because marijuana remains wholly illegal at the federal level, many banks have balked at doing business with marijuana firms so as to not risk their federal protections.
Two Massachusetts banks — GFA Federal Credit Union based in Gardner and BayCoast Bank based in Swansea — have begun to work with marijuana businesses. A third bank, which Hoffman said has asked not to be identified publicly, also is serving marijuana businesses.
Eagle staff writer Amanda Drane contributed to this report.
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The Cannabis Control Commission also gave Berkshire Roots a final license to open a recreational marijuana shop in the same Pittsfield location where it currently operates a medical marijuana dispensary.
Berkshire Roots was also given licenses to cultivate marijuana, manufacture products and transport marijuana. The company bills itself as the largest grower of marijuana in the Berkshires. It operates a medical marijuana dispensary at 501 Dalton Ave. in Pittsfield. It also sells marijuana wholesale to other Massachusetts dispensaries.
Berkshire Roots is run by President Albert Wojtkowski and CEO Stephanie Aussubel. Former Democratic state Sen. Andrea Nuciforo, a Pittsfield attorney, is a co-founder of the company.
Source: “First ‘mom and pop’ marijuana store in Mass. approved” Boston Business Journal – This article first appeared on MassLive.com. – By Shira Schoenberg – MassLive.com – February 8, 2019
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“Two East Boston Adult Use Marijuana Proposals Sign Host Agreements with City”
By John Lynds, East Boston Times – Free Press, February 22, 2019
East Boston Massachusetts Newspaper -- News
An adult use marijuana facility proposed for Meridian Street and another proposed for Maverick Square both signed host agreements with the City of Boston last week.
Berkshire Roots and East Boston Bloom, LLC both agreed to make quarterly payments equal to three percent of gross sales revenue to the city within thirty days after the end of each quarter.
Berkshire Roots is the largest grower of cannabis in the Berkshires and was the first medical marijuana dispensary to open in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
The group recently received support from the Eagle Hill Civic Association to open an adult use facility inside a retail space at 253 Meridian Street.
Aside from paying the city three percent of its sales per quarter, Berkshire Roots also agreed to install security cameras in and around the business and to participate in public safety and beautification initiatives in and around the business.
According to the agreement with the city there will be no benches or social gathering areas in or around the business and Berkshire Roots agrees to prohibit smoking, vaping or any other form of consumption of marijuana onsite. The company also agrees to share data and reports to the Boston Public Health Commission as well as assist in the dissemination of materials related to public health, public safety and prevention efforts.
Luis Vasco, Steven Vasco, Nick Spagnola, and Julis Soko, owners of East Boston Bloom recently gave an presentation on their plans to open an adult use marijuana facility on the ground floor of a building owned by the Vasco Family in Maverick Square.
The presentation was very similar to the other five or six adult use facilities being proposed in the community. There will be top notch state of the art security, a high level of professionalism, a floor plan that ensures access to the facility is by adults 21 years or older. There will be no advertising, flashy signs or the ability to see the product being sold from the street. In fact, according to Vasco, customers will come in, place an order and the product will be retrieved from a locked vault in the back of the store.
East Boston Bloom’s proposal has gained the attention of many in the community looking for local entrepreneurs to emerge and take advantage of the new emerging business instead of outsiders.
All partners in East Boston Bloom from the Vascos to Spagnola and Soko are longtime Eastie residents with Luis Vasco being a celebrated business owner for the past 15 years. Vasco and his family have run Taco Mex in the square without incident and is a popular destination for thousands of residents.
Like the agreement between the city and Berkshire Roots there will be no benches or social gathering areas in or around the business and East Boston Bloom also agrees to prohibit smoking, vaping or any other form of consumption of marijuana onsite. The company also agrees to share data and reports to the Boston Public Health Commission as well as assist in the dissemination of materials related to public health, public safety and prevention efforts.
East Boston Bloom also agreed to install security cameras in and around the business and to participate in public safety and beautification initiatives in and around Maverick Square.
“These new host community agreements represent the city’s commitment to ensuring the cannabis industry in Boston brings opportunity to all communities, and continues the administration’s focus on creating a more equitable Boston,” city spokeswoman Samantha Ormsby said in a statement.
Both companies will now seek a “Conditional Use” permit from the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals on March 12 [2019].
If the two companies receive ZBA approval they can go on to the next step of obtaining a state marijuana licenses from the Cannabis Control Commission.
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“Berkshire Roots, which plans to grow and sell pot, still awaits final state OK”
By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle, March 31, 2019
Pittsfield — More than six weeks after earning a license to sell recreational cannabis, Berkshire Roots still awaits a final state inspection before it can swing open its Pittsfield doors.
The company would be the third to sell recreational cannabis in the county, and the first Berkshire retailer to grow and manufacture its cannabis products on-site. Theory Wellness in Great Barrington and Temescal Wellness in Pittsfield, which both opened to the general adult public in January, have production facilities outside the Berkshires.
Matt Feeney, an owner at Berkshire Roots, said he is disappointed that the Pittsfield store hasn't been able to commence recreational sales yet.
"Nobody's more frustrated," he said.
Berkshire Roots is busy doing what the Cannabis Control Commission asks of the company, he said, and "I can't imagine it's going to be much longer."
Feeney declined to elaborate on the steps the commission asked his company to take, but said the approval process is complex.
"It's a really, really detailed process, and I don't think it's unique to us," he said.
According to information provided by the commission, all inventory must be properly tagged and uploaded into the required seed-to-sale tracking system, Metrc, before the final inspection. Commission staff will then confirm that conditions of the final license have been met, and that agents of the establishment are registered and properly badged before approving the start of recreational sales.
A spokesperson for the commission did not respond to requests for more details about what the company must accomplish in order to win an appointment for a final inspection.
So far, there are 11 retailers open statewide, four of which are in Western Massachusetts — two in Berkshire County and two in Hampshire County.
Silver Therapeutics in Williamstown received its final license March 7 but also awaits a final nod from the commission. Two other Pittsfield retailers, Slang and Green Biz, received provisional licenses on the same date. A Lee retailer, Canna Provisions, received its provisional license in February.
Companies with provisional licenses must receive final licenses before working with the state to land a final inspection.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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Berkshire Roots on Dalton Avenue in Pittsfield will open Saturday for retail sales of adult-use marijuana. Eagle file photo
The sales staff of Berkshire Roots dispensary, Berkshire County's first on-site cannabis-growing and manufacturing facility, has a meeting in the retail lobby in Pittsfield last year. Eagle file photo
A cannabis flower thrives under grow lamps at Berkshire Roots, Berkshire County's first on-site cannabis-growing and manufacturing facility. Eagle file photo
“Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield to begin recreational pot sales Saturday”
By Amanda DraneThe Berkshire Eagle, April 4, 2019
Pittsfield — The city will get its second recreational cannabis store Saturday.
Berkshire Roots first opened to medical cardholders a year ago, and now it readies to swing open its Dalton Avenue doors to the general adult public.
The company will be the third to sell recreational cannabis in the county, and the first Berkshire retailer to grow and manufacture its cannabis products on-site. Theory Wellness in Great Barrington and Temescal Wellness in Pittsfield, which both opened for recreational business in January, have production facilities outside the Berkshires.
Berkshire Roots is scheduled to open for medical and VIP customers at 9 a.m. Saturday, according to Brittany Pufahl, the company's marketing manager. The opening is at 10 a.m. for everyone else. Customers must be 21 or older and must bring valid identification. Pufahl said the company plans to pass out THC-free edible samples to those waiting in line, as well as coffee and doughnuts from Tyler and Pine Bakery. The band Prismal will perform live, Pufahl said, and staff will raffle off discounts on non-cannabis products.
The company will provide ample parking in the area of the store, and staff and security guards will show people where to go.
Police Chief Michael Wynn said that after reviewing the company's plans, he doesn't believe a traffic detail is required.
"Based on our prior experience and their detailed plans, our staff determined that no additional detail would be necessary," he said. "They have been instructed to contact the patrol commander in the event their plans do not prove adequate, and we will assist at that point."
Medical customers at Berkshire Roots can pre-order online, and Pufahl said the company would look to roll out that service for recreational customers after "the dust settles."
The store will be open seven days a week for recreational business, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Customers can pay with cash or via cashless ATM, meaning they can use their debit cards for a third-party fee from their bank.
The product menu isn't yet online, Pufahl said, but those who are interested can keep checking berkshireroots.com for updates.
The company has built a good relationship with its medical customers, she said, and looks forward to branching out into the recreational realm.
"We're excited — a little anxious — to see how everything is going to roll out," she said.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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“Pittsfield recreational marijuana store opens Saturday, becomes second in the city”
By Felicia Gans, Boston Globe Staff, April 5, 2019
Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield will begin recreational marijuana sales on Saturday [April 6, 2019], becoming the state’s 15th recreational store and the second in the Western Massachusetts city.
The company announced the opening Friday, one week after receiving a “commence operations” notice from the state that allowed the business to open after three calendar days.
In addition to its Pittsfield store, Berkshire Roots is looking to open a recreational store in East Boston, where it has been caught up in a debate over city zoning regulations. Despite the confusion, Berkshire Roots has received approval from Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeal to move forward.
Pittsfield’s first recreational marijuana store, Temescal Wellness, opened in January.
Here’s what you need to know if you’re visiting Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield:
Where is the store?
Berkshire Roots is located at 501 Dalton Ave. in Pittsfield.
What are the hours?
The store will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Berkshire Roots will also have two hours per week — 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Wednesday and Saturday — for medical patients only. Customers with medical cards also can purchase products during regular operating hours.
Parking
Parking will be available for adult-use customers at the parking lot outside of Berkshire Roots, half of which will be reserved for medical patients.
Adult-use customers also can park on streets surrounding the shop, where recreational parking spots will be clearly marked, a Berkshire Roots representative said.
Payment
Customers can pay in cash or use the company’s cashless ATM system that will accept debit cards.
Purchasing limits
Berkshire Roots will have some purchasing limits beyond the state limit. Some of those limits are based on weight and others on the number of products in given categories.
More details will be available at the store.
Felicia Gans can be reached at felicia.gans@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @FeliciaGans.
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“Unclear rules for East Boston pot shops”
The Boston Globe, Editorial, April 11, 2019
Legal marijuana in Massachusetts was supposed to be an engine for social equity, providing business opportunities for marginalized groups. But at least in Boston, the city is improvising the rules governing local approval of pot shops as it goes along, creating an opaque system that creates another obstacle for applicants.
For the latest example, look no further than the standoff involving two East Boston marijuana shop applicants, an incident that underscores the need for reforms of the city’s marijuana application process to make it more transparent for applicants. Two companies, Berkshire Roots and East Boston Bloom, want to operate a marijuana retail establishment in Eastie. But the proposed stores are located less than a half-mile apart, which under the city’s zoning rules is a no-no. Still, City Hall, which is in charge of deciding which applicants advance to further review at the state level, signed host-community agreements with both applicants anyway.
Two weeks ago the Zoning Board of Appeals met to consider both projects. Berkshire Roots had the good fortune to appear first on the agenda, and it got the go-ahead. Then, because of the buffer zone violation, East Boston Bloom went home empty handed. It wasn’t lost on the community that the Berkshire Roots team included a former state senator, Andrea Nuciforo, while the East Boston Bloom included Latinos in its leadership.
This week the zoning board deferred action on the East Boston Bloom application until July. But the questions remain: Why did the city sign agreements with both applicants if they were too close to one another, and how did it decide to tip the scales to Berkshire Roots? If the city just made a mistake by failing properly to calculate the distance, why is only one of the applicants paying a price for that mistake?
No one knows exactly what guidelines Boston’s one-person department in charge of marijuana uses to assess proposals, nor who ultimately made the decisions on the 11 host-community agreements the city has signed so far. That’s why City Councilor Kim Janey has proposed
a local cannabis board to oversee the application process. The board would use a straightforward set of criteria, prioritizing equity and local control, to evaluate prospective pot shops in Boston.
The idea is gaining steam, because the East Boston decisions aren’t the only baffling actions by the city. A few weeks ago, the Globe reported that new rules seem to be popping up randomly in Boston. For instance, the city is apparently holding back certain marijuana applicants unless other marijuana firms have also applied to open in the same area, a rule that applicants say was never communicated to them before they started paying rent on storefronts. “If you talk to any of these entrepreneurs, they have all made serious complaints about the lack of response from this office,” Janey said.
There appears to be no easy way forward in East Boston that won’t muddle the city’s rules even more. City officials say neither store is in violation of the zoning rule, because their interpretation has always been that cannabis businesses must be opened a half-mile or further from existing cannabis establishments. Since no stores exist in the literal sense, there can be no violations. But if both East Boston stores are allowed to move forward, it would surely set a precedent in the licensing process that other stores would demand to take advantage of. On the other hand, if East Boston Bloom doesn’t receive its zoning variance, it’ll deepen questions about the process that favored Berkshire Roots.
The city’s confusing, seemingly arbitrary process hasn’t instilled much confidence that it takes seriously the equity goals of marijuana legalization. Boston gets only one chance to build a marijuana industry that honors the intent of voters who approved the 2016 legalization referendum, and if it takes a more transparent process to get one, that’s what the city should create.
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April 11, 2019
Re: Nuciforo “rules”
The Boston Globe Editorial Idiots noted that Andrea Nuciforo, who is a former state Senator, received a “go-ahead” for his marijuana business in East Boston over another marijuana company that included Latinos in its leadership. It looks like a back-room deal at Boston City Hall that favored Nuciforo over non-connected applicants.
Nuciforo was also the first to receive a “go-ahead” for his marijuana business in Pittsfield. Like Boston City Hall, Nuciforo received a back-room deal at Pittsfield City Hall. Nuciforo’s “Berkshire Roots” marijuana business is set up to sell marijuana in East Boston and Pittsfield, whose greater market includes New York State, Connecticut, and Vermont.
In the past, I wrote about Nuciforo’s corrupt politics and business dealings. In 2006, Nuciforo was able to strong-arm 2 women candidates for a state government “election” for Pittsfield Registrar of Deeds, which is really a “no show” plum for politically-connected hacks. Nuciforo used his sinecure to go to NYU to get an MBA, and also plot a failed run for U.S. Congress in 2012.
When Nuciforo was a Pittsfield State Senator, he was also a corporate Attorney in Boston who represented big banks and insurance companies. Nuciforo chaired financial committees while at the same time representing them as legal counsel. In 2007, he lobbied then Governor Deval Patrick to nominate him to be Commissioner of Insurance after he was sworn in as Pittsfield Registrar of Deeds.
My personal negative experiences with Nuciforo included Nuciforo conspiratorially having people associated with his political network bully me without Nuciforo leaving behind his own fingerprints/DNA since the Spring of 1996 when I was 20 years old. Nuciforo also filed multiple “ethics” complaints against my father from the Fall of 1997 – Spring of 1998 to try to get my dad fired from my father’s then state government job and force my dad’s resignation from his elected post on the Berkshire County Commission. During the Spring of 1998, Nuciforo made false allegations against me to the Pittsfield Police Department to have me arrested and sent to his close ally then-Sheriff Carmen Massimiano’s county jail.
Nuciforo is Pittsfield’s inbred political Prince! Nuciforo’s late-father was a Pittsfield State Senator and then a Probate Court Judge. Nuciforo’s late-aunt was Pittsfield’s first woman Mayor and a career Professor at Berkshire Community College. Nuciforo uncle was a Pittsfield state Representative. Nuciforo is one of Pittsfield’s Good Old Boys, which means he is from one of Pittsfield’s interrelated politically-connected families. Pittsfield politics has long been run by the Good Old Boys, which is ran like a Mafia.
Nuciforo is like a spoiled brat who unethically uses his political connections in Pittsfield and Boston to his advantage. If anyone else pulled the same or similar acts of corruption as Nuciforo, they would be in jail and denounced in the news media. Somehow, Nuciforo always gets away with strong-arming his way through politics and business, whether it be his new marijuana business that sidelined a minority group applicant in East Boston, his questionable political and legal connections with big banks and insurance companies, his ability to intimidate 2 women candidates out of a state government “election”, his ability to conspiratorially bully and hurt people like me who he doesn’t like, and his misuse of his Good Old Boys status in Pittsfield politics.
Nuciforo “rules” mean that he can do whatever he wants, while everyone else gets the shaft!
- Jonathan Melle
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SPOTLIGHT
“For sale in the pot industry: political influence”
By Andrew Ryan, Beth Healy, Dan Adams, Nicole Dungca, Todd Wallack and editor Patricia Wen of The Boston Globe Spotlight Team. Ryan wrote this story. May 1, 2019
Last in a series
Lobbyist Frank Perullo had good reason to believe his client’s proposal to open a medical marijuana store would receive a warm reception from the Cambridge City Council. After all, Perullo counted six of the nine councilors as his political clients, including Leland Cheung, whom Perullo served as campaign treasurer.
Cheung was ready to do his part. He planned to offer a resolution supporting the marijuana shop.
But Perullo wasn’t going to leave anything to chance at the August 2016 council meeting. So his staff sent Cheung an e-mail labeled “talking points,” describing Commonwealth Alternative Care’s exotic marijuana products.
“LC, please see attached for this evening,” a staffer wrote, addressing Cheung by his initials. “Let me know if you have questions.”
Nothing happens quickly in Massachusetts politics, or in the business of pot, for that matter. But Perullo’s diligence — and carefully cultivated relationships — paid off. Today Commonwealth Alternative Care’s pot shop is under construction in Inman Square.
Marijuana may be the hot, new retail business in town, but it largely plays by the old political rules. The competition for new licenses all over the state has been a bonanza for some in the influence game, none more so than Frank Perullo.
New England Treatment Access, which has marijuana stores open in Brookline (above) and Northampton, had paid lobbyists $530,000 since 2014, records show. (JOHN TLUMACKI/GLOBE STAFF)
A college dropout who found work at the secretary of state’s office, he now co-owns Boston-based Novus Group, which claims to be “one of the nation’s leading cannabis consulting firms.” He estimates that he has deployed his extensive political connections and expertise to help push 40 to 50 proposed pot shops in Massachusetts. He helped recruit two prominent political clients — former state public safety secretary Andrea Cabral and former Boston city councilor Tito Jackson — to run pot companies, further expanding his reach.
And now Perullo is a pot executive himself, part owner of an enterprise that says it has raised nearly $100 million to build a business in Massachusetts and other states.
But Perullo’s hustle and influence are pushing the boundaries in a new industry where often-overmatched regulators are supposed to prevent a few players from dominating. He stands at the forefront of a cadre of politically connected lawyers, consultants, and lobbyists whose work to promote their well-capitalized clients is having an unintended side effect: undermining the state’s promise to create an egalitarian marijuana industry in which small operators could thrive, a Spotlight Team review found.
The 2017 law that legalized recreational marijuana tried to make room for the little guy by limiting the number of pot shops a company could own or control. The new law also directly encourages pot shop proposals from black and Latino entrepreneurs whose community members were often unfairly targeted for arrest when pot was illegal.
But, so far, winning a license to sell pot in Massachusetts often seems to be determined by whom you know — or if you can afford to pay a lobbyist or consultant who knows people.
At least 12 of the 17 recreational pot stores open as of May 1 hired lobbyists or former politicians. The Boston Globe Spotlight Team obtained, through public records’ requests, thousands of e-mails relating to pot shop proposals in a host of communities. The fingerprints of influence peddlers — consultants, lawyers, lobbyists — are all over them.
Scores of former government officials have flocked to the marijuana industry, including former state senator Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr., former Boston police superintendent-in-chief Daniel Linskey; and former Boston city councilor Michael P. Ross. (BOSTON GLOBE FILE)
This should be no surprise; it would be a surprise, in fact, if the influence business had taken a pass on the lucrative potential of pot. But the flood of former government officials coming into the pot business — including former governor and current presidential candidate William F. Weld, former state House speaker Thomas M. Finneran, former state senator Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr., former Boston city councilor Michael P. Ross and even former Boston police superintendent-in-chief Daniel Linskey — is striking.
And the lobbying payments can be eye-popping. For example, New England Treatment Access, which has opened pot stores in Brookline and Northampton, has paid $530,000 since 2014 for a lobbying effort that included work by former state senator Robert A. Bernstein and former representative James E. Vallee. Pot companies have paid Perullo and Novus Group at least $760,500.
State lobbying records do not track marijuana as an industry, so it’s difficult to calculate the total growth of the pot influence-peddling business. But even among lobbyists, Perullo stands out. The man is everywhere, the engine behind a web of entities and investors deployed in a host of deals.
Perullo and investor Abner Kurtin are proposing three pot stores in Greater Boston and a growing facility in Athol through their company Ascend Massachusetts, where Perullo’s former client Cabral is chief executive. Kurtin also runs a private equity fund with Greg Thomaier, who is backing yet another pot company, Union Twist — where former state representative Marie St. Fleur, another Perullo client, is an executive.
Operators of a third company connected to Perullo and Kurtin want to open yet another shop next to the Athol cultivation site. An employee of Kurtin’s investment fund was listed on the shop’s corporate records and Perullo and Kurtin would be the store’s landlord.
If all are approved, that could give them influence over at least seven pot shops. The state’s three-shop legal limit has clearly not been an impediment so far.
Frank Perullo says he and his consulting firm have worked on 40 to 50 proposed marijuana shops in Massachusetts. (CRAIG F. WALKER/GLOBE STAFF)
Perullo, in an interview with the Globe, said it was premature to raise questions about Ascend and license limits. Pot is a new industry with a relatively small pool of capital, he said, so overlap is to be expected among the early investors. State regulators will scrutinize everything, including relationships between companies, he said.
“It will be reviewed,” Perullo said. “And if it needs to be modified, we’re happy to modify it.”
But, for some local officials, the labyrinthine networks of ownership and investment raise concerns about whether they are getting the full story about who’s in charge.
“There are corporations within corporations within corporations. If you track them back, they all go back to the same small number of people,” explained Rebecca J. Bialecki, chair of Athol’s Board of Selectmen.
Frank Perullo, she said, “is one of those people.”
Perullo said his firm simply provides expertise that helps guide clients through an often murky licensing process.
“I’ve been very, very fortunate to have clients that appreciate what I do and [they] pay me for what I do,” Perullo said. “And I think this industry is a dream come true for someone like me who likes to get in with their hands and do the hard work.”
Other players in the pot industry feel likewise. Despite the proliferation of upstart marijuana companies, many of the same faces — the same lawyers, consultants, and lobbyists — show up again and again at hearings for proposed stores. At the Greenfield Zoning Board in February, attorney Phil Silverman from the national pot law firm Vicente Sederberg quipped that he had been “to 50 communities recently doing the same thing.”
Or take Jay A. Youmans, a former Department of Public Health official who describes himself as lead author of the state’s medical marijuana regulations. Youmans jumped into influence peddling so quickly that his last paycheck from the state arrived after he’d already registered as a lobbyist for his new firm, Smith, Costello & Crawford.
Youmans said he abided by the state’s cooling-off period, which required him to wait a year before lobbying his former DPH colleagues, but that still left him plenty of other work he could do. In his first 20 months since leaving state government, Youmans has received $322,000 from pot clients for his lobbying services on Beacon Hill alone, a figure that doesn’t include payments for his work at the local level in Boston, Cambridge, Nantucket, and beyond.
Lobbyists with a background in government like Youmans’s bring expertise that hard-pressed local officials sometimes lean on. When Cambridge City Councilor Craig Kelley had a question about zoning in 2018, the chief executive of Revolutionary Clinics quickly turned to his lobbyist.
“Jay Youmans, copied here and who worked at DPH, is a person that is an expert in these matters,” wrote Keith W. Cooper on Aug. 8, 2018. “Please feel [free] to speak with him.”
In an interview, Youmans said he is not trying to tilt the playing field in favor of the powerful, noting that his firm represents an economic empowerment marijuana applicant pro bono and helped organize a job fair to get more people of color involved in the industry. His firm will not represent clients, he said, who try to circumvent the license cap and other state rules.
“We’re a part of the solution,” Youmans said. “I don’t view us as part of the problem.”
Still, some worry that lobbyists will enable large corporations to define the new industry. In Massachusetts, few municipalities require lobbyists to disclose their work at the local level. That gap, Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu warns, “is a recipe for political connections and big money to take over.
“There are daily calls from lobbyists,” said Wu, who championed new municipal lobbying regulations for Boston. “Some of the smaller operators are also trying to make sure they’re reaching out, but when you can pay someone to get you meetings and face-to-face conversations, it’s a very uneven playing field.”
A pioneering consultant
Perullo, 42, learned the value of hard work in high school, he said, washing dishes at his family’s restaurant, Max’s Restaurant and Pub in Lynn. He took classes at Suffolk University but found his calling after a family friend with political connections made a phone call and got him a job at the secretary of state’s office.
That job at age 20 put Perullo on track to rise to where he is now, more than two decades later. He eventually oversaw Massachusetts’ first centralized voter database — a significant technological milestone because disparate voter records had previously been kept locally at the state’s 351 cities and towns.
Perullo parlayed that technology into a business. He became a pioneering political consultant who used the mining of voter data to redefine campaigns. He sold voter lists, data, and more to some 6,000 political campaigns across 21 states. (Perullo also did polling, including work for The Boston Globe.)
He was an entrepreneur, Perullo told the Globe in 2006, “driven by a desire to get rich.” Marijuana may make his dream come true, with the foundation of his pot business built on his network of political clients, stretching from the Berkshires to Cape Cod.
In Boston, Perullo looked to his former clients, or those of his consulting group — Senator Joseph A. Boncore of Winthrop, Representative Aaron Michlewitz of Boston, and Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim — to write letters supporting Ascend’s flagship store near North Station. (The lawmakers told the Globe they supported Ascend because of its store location, not Perullo.)
“It’s just persistence,” Perullo said. “It’s knowing when to call and who to call and having that subject matter expertise to know the process and how to get it done.”
He also made himself valuable to local officials.
“I like Frank,” said Athol Town Manager Shaun A. Suhoski. “When he tells me something’s going to be done, it gets done.”
Perullo’s income from marijuana is difficult to tally. The Novus Group does not disclose how much it charges and the $760,500 the firm has been paid for lobbying by pot clients since 2015 does not reflect all of the firm’s work. But records from Perullo’s recent divorce offer one indication of his financial resources: He agreed to child support payments starting in January that total $180,000 a year.
Perullo’s income may be hard to quantify, but his impact is clear. His team at Novus has helped the Florida-based investors behind Sea Hunter Therapeutics pursue licenses for nine pot stores through a network of interconnected corporate entities. Though that’s considerably more than the state cap of three per company, Sea Hunter executives say they will not have control over more than the limit.
Perullo helped conceal the sprawling ambitions of his client. When Greenfield Mayor William F. Martin asked about the state cap on licenses, Perullo told him only about the pot stores being pursued by one of Sea Hunter’s affiliates.
“There is a limit of three. We have three,” Perullo wrote back in a July 2018 e-mail obtained by the Globe through a public record request. “Greenfield. Easthampton. Amherst.”
But Perullo didn’t say that his consulting firm was also working closely with another Sea Hunter affiliate, Verdant Medical, to open pot stores in Provincetown, Rowley, and the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston.
Asked recently if he believes Perullo was fully forthcoming, Greenfield’s mayor replied: “Obviously not since they were part of a larger group seeking franchises, if you will, in different parts of the state.”
Perullo said his response to the Greenfield mayor was “very accurate” because Sea Hunter and its individual affiliates were separate clients. But the actions of one of Perullo’s staffers showed the extent of Novus’s involvement in Sea Hunter operations.
For several months, records show, Anne Nagle worked for both Novus and Sea Hunter’s other companies, using different e-mail addresses to keep her roles separate. One day last year, Nagle wrote nearly identical messages to officials in Greenfield and Provincetown, within minutes of each other, one using her Novus address, the other her Verdant Medical e-mail.
“We work very hard to help these companies, which most of the times [are] having a hard time finding the resources that they need to hire full-time folks,” Perullo said in defending Novus’s approach to helping clients. “Our role was to assemble a team of experts to get them through the permitting process and help them get their doors open.”
Now as an executive and part-owner in the startup, Ascend Wellness Holdings, Perullo said he has a chance to help shape a new industry. That includes recruiting marijuana executives such as Andrea Cabral. In an interview, Cabral recalled that Perullo bucked the establishment and worked for her successful 2004 campaign, helping her to become the first woman and first African American elected Suffolk sheriff.
Former state public safety secretary Andrea Cabral, now chief executive of Ascend Massachusetts, saw the marijuana business as a rare opportunity to shape a new industry. (CRAIG F. WALKER/GLOBE STAFF)
“People forget what the atmosphere was back then,” Cabral said. “There was considerable political risk to supporting me.”
Cabral was secretary of public safety when medical marijuana was legalized and served on a state marijuana advisory board. After she left office, Perullo asked Cabral to run Ascend’s business in Massachusetts.
The marijuana business intrigued Cabral, she said, because there are “very few brand new industries in this country and fewer that present a wide open opportunity for women to be in leadership or people of color to be in leadership.”
Cabral then persuaded her longtime friend, former state representative Marie St. Fleur, to join the pot industry, both women said. St. Fleur, a native of Haiti, described Perullo as a “connector” but said he had no role in her Boston-based pot company, Union Twist, beyond Novus’s work as a consultant. St. Fleur said she and her business partners are making decisions and are in control of the company. Corporate records, however, list Union Twist’s president as Greg Thomaier from Kurtin’s investment fund.
Perullo also recruited one of the best known African-American politicians in Boston, former city councilor Tito Jackson, to be chief executive at Verdant Medical.
Perullo expressed pride about his role in recruiting people of color into leadership in an industry that, when it was illegal, led to the disproportionate incarceration of blacks and Latinos.
“People of color in this city have been stepped on and stepped over for far too long,” Perullo said. “And if it’s my opportunity to help bridge the gap for their opportunity, I will never apologize for that.”
Now, Perullo is taking a leave from Novus Group and making a big bet on his own Ascend Wellness, which is pushing to open stores in four states. He has cast his lot with Kurtin, an investment veteran who once worked for the well known Boston hedge fund the Baupost Group.
Kurtin and Thomaier founded a high-end investment club focused on pot that became JM10 Partners, which has taken stakes in four marijuana firms that already have opened stores in Massachusetts. Kurtin said that all of JM10’s investments, including Union Twist, will follow the law — with holdings no greater than 9.9 percent in any company.
But Kurtin wanted to start his own operation, too. Over several breakfasts with Perullo at Newton’s Rox Diner, they decided to launch Ascend Wellness.
“You have guys flying in from Palm Beach and Illinois and California who potentially are getting a lot of the licenses in Mass. And we were like, why?” Kurtin said. “We really wanted to found a company that could do a better job.”
Lobbying in the far corners
The pot lobbying frenzy has reached even the most distant corners of the commonwealth, including 30 miles offshore in Nantucket. There, one of two planned pot licenses has already been awarded to a company that hired Perullo’s Novus to help build community support.
That left one remaining license on the island, and the fight got so intense this winter that one company offered to walk away for a $15 million payoff.
But the fight went forward. One company vying for the Nantucket license was Acreage Holdings, whose board includes Weld and former US House speaker John Boehner. To make local connections, Acreage hired former Nantucket select board member Patricia Roggeveen.
“I was hoping we could sit down and talk about your concerns regarding Acreage Holdings,” Roggeveen e-mailed Selectman Matt Fee in July 2018. “I’ve just started to work with them, and want to understand more about where you’re coming from.”
But Roggeveen wasn’t the only former government official fighting for the license. Another pot company, ACK Natural, hired its own lobbyist — Youmans, the former Department of Public Health official.
“Great to connect today — so appreciated,” Youmans e-mailed Nantucket’s deputy director of planning. “How might 11/28 work for me to meet with you and the team in Nantucket?”
As a vote on the license neared, a select board member sounded exasperated.
“I know all the people involved in both of these groups,” Selectwoman Dawn E. Hill Holdgate said. “I’m being lobbied left and right. I feel like I’m in an incredibly unfair position.”
In the end, the side that hired Youmans won, but that was just one flashpoint in a much larger battle. Acreage may have lost on Nantucket, but the company still had plenty of ambitions, backing pot stores in Leominster, Shrewsbury, West Tisbury, Framingham, and beyond.
Andrew Ryan can be reached at andrew.ryan@globe.com. Any tips and comments can also be sent to the Boston Globe Spotlight Team at spotlight@globe.com or by calling 617-929-7483.
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May 1, 2019
Re: Nuciforo used his political connections for marijuana millions
Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr., among other former Massachusetts politicians, used his political connections to open his marijuana businesses in Pittsfield and pending dispensary in East Boston. The Boston Globe’s spotlight report explained that hundreds of millions of dollars in investments are at play in the commonwealth’s new multi-billion dollar pot industry. Despite the new rules on paper or in theory, the same old rules of politics are the real rules that demonstrably favor most marijuana dispensary investors.
The Boston Globe states: “[W]inning a license to sell pot in Massachusetts often seems to be determined by whom you know — or if you can afford to pay a lobbyist or consultant who knows people. …At least 12 of the 17 recreational pot stores open as of May 1 [2019] hired lobbyists or former politicians. …Despite the proliferation of upstart marijuana companies, many of the same faces — the same lawyers, consultants, and lobbyists — show up again and again at hearings for proposed stores.”
Moreover, the system is overly bureaucratic. The Boston Globe states: “[T]he labyrinthine networks of ownership and investment raise concerns about whether they are getting the full story about who’s in charge.” Rebecca J. Bialecki, chair of Athol’s Board of Selectmen, explained: “There are corporations within corporations within corporations. If you track them back, they all go back to the same small number of people.”
It is obvious that “political connections and big money” (quote credit: Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu) took over Massachusetts’ marijuana industry!
A few years ago, I wrote that I wondered if Nuciforo and others former politicians like him would use their political connections to open marijuana businesses. After reading the Globe’s spotlight report, I see that my intuition was right.
I have experienced and read about Nuciforo’s method of operation for years. Nuciforo is from a political family. His late-father was a Pittsfield state Senator and then a Probate Court Judge. His late-aunt was Pittsfield’s first woman mayor and a career Professor at Berkshire Community College. His uncle was a Pittsfield state Representative. Nuciforo followed in his late-father’s footsteps by serving one decade in the state Senate, all while hoping to oust Congressman John W. Olver.
I first met Nuciforo 23 years ago during the Spring of 1996 at a Democratic Party candidate forum in Dalton, Massachusetts, where my dad was running for Berkshire County Commissioner. Ever since that fateful day in my life when I was 20 years old, people associated with Nuciforo’s conspiratorial network bullied me for years on end on Nuciforo’s behalf without Nuciforo leaving behind his own fingerprints/DNA. In 1996, Nuciforo won his first election as Pittsfield State Senator, while my dad won his election as Berkshire County Commissioner. Nuciforo went on to lead a campaign to abolish Berkshire County government, while my dad opposed Nuciforo’s plans and proposals. Nuciforo retaliated against my father by filing multiple “ethics” complaints against him from the Fall of 1997 – Spring of 1998. Nuciforo tried to get my dad fired from his state government job at the Pittsfield District Court Probation Office, and force my dad to resign from his post as a Berkshire County Commissioner. Fortunately, Nuciforo’s political/legal retaliations against my dad did not succeed, but Nuciforo was able to pass his legislation to abolish Berkshire County government with a termination date of July 1, 2000. Also, from the Spring of 1998 – Summer of 1998, Nuciforo made false allegations against me to the Pittsfield Police Department to have me arrested because Nuciforo said I made “veiled” threats against him. Fortunately, I was never arrested during that period of time when I was 22 going on 23 years old. Then, in the Summer of 2005, when I turned 30 years old and I had moved to Southern New Hampshire over one year prior, Nuciforo’s network had his people spread vicious and hurtful rumors against me to the Pittsfield area that all “Jonathan Melle did was stalk a Jewish woman from Otis”, and that “Jonathan Melle belongs in a psychiatric institution.” What bothers me the most is that after these past 23 years, no one who hurt me from Nuciforo’s network of bullies ever apologized to me or my family!
I read about Nuciforo strong-arming 2 women candidates out of a state government “election” during the Spring of 2006 to anoint himself to Pittsfield Registrar of Deeds. The names of the 2 women candidates he forced out of the “election” was a Pittsfield Registrar of Deeds staff member named Sharon Henault and former Pittsfield Mayor Sara Hathaway. In the early-winter of January of 2007, The Boston Globe reported that Nuciforo asked then newly-elected Governor Deval Patrick to appoint him to be Commissioner of Insurance, but the position went to another candidate, who was a woman and former Judge named Nonnie Burnes. The Boston Globe explained that from 1999 – 2006, Nuciforo was unethically serving in both the public and private sector in the financial industry. Nuciforo chaired the state Senate’s financial committee, while he also served as a corporate Attorney for the law firm “Berman and Dowell” as legal counsel for Boston area big banks and insurance companies.
While Nuciforo served 6 years as Pittsfield Registrar of Deeds, he plotted his 2012 campaign for U.S. Congress against U.S. Representative John W. Olver. Nuciforo lied to his supporters and fellow Democrats by falsely telling them Olver was retiring due to the redistricting, and that Olver wanted Nuciforo to succeed him. Congressman John Olver publicly refuted Nuciforo on all counts! Olver said he was running for reelection in 2012, but then later he did retire. Olver went on to endorse Springfield Congressman Richard Neal, who defeated Nuciforo by 40 percentage points in early-September of 2012.
Nuciforo went on to co-found Berkshire Roots, which is his marijuana dispensary and cultivation business in Pittsfield. Nuciforo used his political connections to receive Pittsfield’s first permit to open his marijuana business. Nuciforo went on to receive a “go-ahead” permit to open another branch of Berkshire Roots in East Boston over another applicant with Latino and Veterans investors.
In closing, I knew it all along when it comes to Nuciforo’s method of operation and his use of his political connections to make millions of dollars off of the cultivation and sales of marijuana in Massachusetts! For 23 years I have experienced and read about the way Nuciforo operates. He uses his political power to his advantage, while everyone else loses.
- Jonathan Melle
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"Pot legalization seemed so sweet — then the national industry pounced"
The Boston Globe, Letter, May 2, 2019
To all of you who voted to legalize pot, next time be more careful what you vote for (“For sale in pot sector: political influence,” Page A1, May 2). When I finished reading the last in the Globe Spotlight series about the marijuana industry in Massachusetts, it hit me that the national pot industry has won all that it wants.
Surely there were many who voted yes on the referendums who saw legalization as not all that big a deal, and it made sense not to put anyone in prison for smoking it. What they didn’t foresee was a billion-dollar powerhouse waiting to pounce on the state. We now know this industry has busted in and set everything up in its favor.
There are highly paid lobbyists, behind-the-scenes deals, huge vertically integrated pot companies posing as local retail stores, slick promotion campaigns, and state, town, and city politicians being influenced with money. The national industry has brilliantly promoted pot as some type of miracle substance that will cure everything and cause “wellness.” It is rich white men who run the industry, and they pay lip service to minority and female pot shop ownership.
What is going on resembles the California gold rush, with all the corruption and moneymaking. Is this really what those who voted for legalization wanted to happen? Well, if they didn’t, it is too late to turn back now.
Robert Sullivan, West Newbury
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“Berkshire marijuana: open and coming soon”
By Kristin Palpini, The Berkshire Eagle, June 14, 2019
Marlborough — The state's only cannabis company founded and led by a female physician opened its newest dispensary on June 9, Garden Remedies, in the Marlboro Square Shopping Center. The location began adult-use retail operations last week and is awaiting regulatory approval for medical cannabis sales.
Meanwhile in Lee, Canna Provisions could open soon. The proposed retailer right by the Massachusetts Turnpike on/off ramps received its final license from the Cannabis Control Commission on May 30.
Since Massachusetts began licensing recreational marijuana retailers in November, here's a list of what's open and what cannabis operations might be coming to the Berkshires:
Open now
Silver Therapeutics, marijuana
retailer, Williamstown;
Temescal Wellness of Massachusetts, marijuana retailer, Pittsfield;
Theory Wellness, marijuana retailer, Great Barrington;
Berkshire Roots, marijuana retailer (2), cultivator, product manufacturer, licensee transporter, Pittsfield.
Coming soon
The following businesses have received final licenses from the CCC, meaning that they are a few state inspections from opening:
BCWC, marijuana cultivator, Sheffield;
Canna Provisions, marijuana retailer, Lee;
Theory Wellness, marijuana cultivator, Sheffield;
A little further off
The following businesses have received provisional licenses from the CCC, meaning that they are being evaluated:
Slang, marijuana retailer, Pittsfield;
Green Biz, marijuana retailer, Pittsfield;
Commonwealth Cultivation, marijuana cultivator, Pittsfield;
Berkshire Welco, marijuana cultivator, Sheffield.
It's going to be a while
And here are the rest of the companies that have submitted applications and are awaiting state evaluation:
BCWC, marijuana cultivator, Sheffield;
Ipswich Pharmaceutical Association, marijuana cultivator, Hinsdale
Ten-Ten, marijuana cultivator (2), Sheffield;
LC Square, marijuana cultivator, Adams;
Elevated Gardens, marijuana cultivator, Pittsfield;
West County Collective, marijuana cultivator, Pittsfield;
Berkshire Welco, marijuana cultivator, Sheffield;
Pure Botanicals, marijuana cultivator, Pittsfield;
Higher Purpose Corp., marijuana cultivator, Lee;
Wiseacre Farm, marijuana cultivator, West Stockbridge;
Ten-Ten, marijuana product
manufacturer, Sheffield;
Berkshire Welco, marijuana product manufacturer, Sheffield;
Climb Cannabis, marijuana product manufacturer, Pittsfield;
Higher Purpose Corp., marijuana product manufacturer, Lee;
Community Growth Partners,
marijuana retailer, Great Barrington;
Krypies, marijuana retailer, Pittsfield;
Ten-Ten, marijuana retailer, Sheffield;
Liberty Market, marijuana retailer, Lanesborough;
Berkshrie Welco, marijuana retailer, Sheffield;
Herbal Pathways, marijuana retailer, Pittsfield;
Green Railroad Group, marijuana retailer, Great Barrington;
Evergreen Strategies, marijuana retailer, North Adams;
D2N2, marijuana retailer,
Great Barrington;
Spencer House, marijuana retailer, Becket;
Highminded, marijuana retailer, Great Barrington;
Pure Botanicals, marijuana retailer, Pittsfield;
Elev8 Cannabis, marijuana retailer, Williamstown.
Sources: Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, Associated Press
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August 11, 2019
Re: Predatory industries are used for the advantage of unethical and inequitable pols
Both Marijuana and Alcohol are Predatory industries and gateway drugs.
The un-Holy Trinity of Sinful behaviors:
* Prostitution and/or sexual promiscuity
* Alcohol, Marijuana, and/or other drug use
* Gambling, and/or "beg, borrow, and/or steal" desperate people
What happens in Vegas doesn't always stay there! In other words, there are negative societal costs and impacts on people who engage in Sinful behaviors.
It used to amaze me how politicians use the "un-Holy Trinity" of Sinful behaviors to prey on the poor, uneducated, youth, and the like, to line their own coffers with inequitable money. Then, I learned about "Perverse Incentives", which means unethical power-brokers inequitably make money off of the socioeconomically disadvantaged people in society by causing deleterious socioeconomic outcomes.
For example:
The state Lottery and now casinos are nothing more than regressive taxation (or a tax on the poor). It is Robin Hood in reverse! Money goes from the have-nots to the haves. It is all nothing more than a financial method to lessen the taxation burden on the rich taxpayers who donate to politicians.
- Jonathan Melle
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“Pittsfield nets $206,000 in taxes from summertime cannabis”
By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle, October 15, 2019
Pittsfield — Tax revenues from two marijuana shops in Pittsfield shook out to about $206,328 for city coffers during June, July and August.
The latest disbursement reflects about $6,877,600 in recreational cannabis sales in three months between the city's two shops.
The check for the city's 3 percent sales tax, sent to the city by the state's Department of Revenue on Sept. 30, is the city's third since its first cannabis retailer, Temescal Wellness, opened in January. Since then, Pittsfield has collected $302,201 to date for reporting periods running from January to August.
Pittsfield's second retailer, Berkshire Roots, opened in April. The city collected $10,532 for Pittsfield for only January, and then collected $85,341 for sales in March, April and May.
The state collects 20 percent in taxes on every recreational cannabis sale, kicking 3 percent back to Pittsfield and other communities that have decided to impose the local sales tax. Medical sales are not taxed.
Taxes aren't the only way local governments profit from marijuana shops. Pittsfield also charges flat annual community host fees on a graduating scale, beginning at $60,000 annually, and increasing to $200,000 annually for the fourth and fifth years.
And there are more pot shops in the pipeline — there are, so far, 11 retailers with green lights from the city. Bloom Brothers on Merrill Road, Green Biz on South Street and Kryppies on East Street have provisional licenses from the state and await final clearance to commence operations.
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@berkshireeagle.com, @amandadrane on Twitter, and 413-496-6296.
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Project engineer Frank DeMarinis goes into more detail on the construction of the proposed steel and glass grow facility on Dalton Avenue.
“Pittsfield Planners OK Three-Story Marijuana Cultivation Facility”
By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff, November 23, 2019
The Community Development Board reviews conditions for a marijuana facility and a cell tower on Tuesday.
Pittsfield, Massachusetts — Berkshire Roots was given the OK to go forward with the construction of a three-story grow facility but only after making some final design concessions.
Attorney Andrea Nuciforo Jr., representing KO Resources, came before the Community Development Board on Tuesday seeking permission to build the cultivation structure near the existing grow, production and retail operation at 501 Dalton Ave.
"What we are proposing now is a new structure ... the new structure would have only the cultivation functionality in it," he said. "In effect, these are two floors of an indoor garden with mechanicals ... on the ground floor."
Project engineer Frank DeMarinis went into more detail over the actual structure that will be constructed from insulated steel panels and vertical glass. He said currently a steel frame sits on the site.
"We wanted to make the building look as attractive as possible by adding some vertical glass it is a little bit tricky because we can't add light into the flower rooms," he said. "I think we made the building more attractive, I think it came out pretty nice."
He said landscaping and decorative columns are being used to break the square building up and more windows added where possible. The building was also lowered nearly 7 feet at the prior request of the board.
There was no direct opposition to the site plan but City Councilor Nicholas Caccamo felt the proposed 70 parking spots were excessive. He said 55 are needed per city regulations.
"Maybe 50 is the right number but 70 seems really excessive and purely observationally, I don't think they demonstrated the need for that capacity," he said. "It seems like a shortcut to an opportunity to develop this parcel ... I think green space and landscaping would help this project."
The board agreed and felt instead of parking more green space was needed to "soften" the building.
DeMarinis said they plan to bring on 15 new employees with this expansion and currently at peak hours there are 60-plus employees on site. He added that Berkshire Roots needs this capacity especially in an industry that is in such flux.
He was willing to accept a condition that would force the conversion of some parking spots back to green space if there were no capacity issues. The other option would be to be able to come back to the board and seek permission to turn greenspace into parking space.
"That could be a really nice balance for a special condition," he said. "We don't want to build it if we don't have to."
But the commission felt the building was still too big and too imposing.
"I don't think that it is there yet," board member Matthew Herzberg said. "I do think you have made improvements but I don't think that it is there yet."
Herzberg had questions about specific materials and other possible aesthetic options but City Planner CJ Hoss suggested allowing the group to move forward and hashing out some of these details in the near future before building permits are awarded.
DeMarinis said they would be happy to consider tweaking plans to satisfy the board but agreed with Hoss — they wanted to get moving sooner rather than later.
"Timing is of the issue this is a very dynamic industry," he said.
He said approval is important for the state licensing process and added that the impetus for the expansion is to supply their to be East Boston establishment with product.
The board did approve the site plan with a few conditions. Most notably Berkshire Roots must seek approval from the board before it is awarded a building permit. This will allow the board to square away some of the aesthetic issues it may have with the current design whilst allowing Berkshire Roots to move forward in the state application process.
The other notable condition would allow Berkshire Roots to petition the board to turn landscaped space into four more parking spots.
On Wednesday, Nuciforo and DeMarinis were before the Zoning Board of Appeals and received their special permit with matching conditions.
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Howie Carr: “Please explain why weed is OK but menthols are not?”
By Howie Carr, op-ed, The Boston Herald, November 27, 2019
Have I got this right — marijuana is now legal in Massachusetts, but in six months, menthol cigarettes won’t be?
I suppose Tall Deval could still do the right thing and veto this latest legislative overreach, but I wouldn’t bet a carton of Newports on it.
Have these solons on Beacon Hill ever heard of Prohibition? For that matter, have they ever heard of New Hampshire?
“I was at the VFW Post last weekend,” Rep. Dave DeCoste (R-Norwell) was saying on my radio show earlier this week, “and one of the guys said to me, ‘What are you people thinking of? Now I’m going to drive to New Hampshire and pick up cartons for everybody.’ ”
If menthols are outlawed, only outlaws will have menthol. And New Hampshire, of course.
No one thinks smoking cigarettes is a good idea, but how much Big Nanny can any individual state take? Is this really the sort of first-in-the-nation legislation you want to be bragging about tomorrow when over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house you go?
It appears menthol cigarettes were caught up as the vice-to-be-named later in Tall Deval’s recent vaping shakedown. Speaking of which, isn’t it odd how most vaping is apparently okay again, now that a 75% excise tax has been imposed, kinda like even after the referendum approval, marijuana legalization was still … stalled, until the tax could be jacked up for the benefit of the hackerama.
The virtue-signalers are of course saying they’re doing it for the “communities of color,” because blacks are disproportionately fans of menthols, as are younger smokers, which means I guess that they also did it “for the children.”
But as Sen. Don Humason (R-Westfield) pointed out in the debate last week, if you’re old enough to vote and join the military at age 18, “You are certainly smart enough to make up your mind for yourself.”
In 49 states you are, but apparently not in Massachusetts.
The vote in the Senate, by the way, was 32-6.
How does it make any sense to ban one kind of cigarette, but not any other types? It’s like banning, say, bourbon, but not vodka or Scotch.
Given the crackpot makeup of the Legislature, perhaps the only way to have stopped this would have been to point out that carbon emissions are going to increase as more people drive to the Granite State to buy their fix. Banning menthol cigarettes means polar bears will die.
Or how about this argument:
“Mr. Speaker, you may not care about tax-paying law-abiding American citizens, but do you realize that many illegal immigrant fentanyl dealers in Lawrence prefer menthol cigarettes, and that to deny them their smoke of choice is a hate crime.”
I went to college in North Carolina in the 1970s, when there was no sales tax on cigarettes. So whenever I drove back to Massachusetts, I would always load up the trunk of my ’59 Chevy Impala with cartons of untaxed cigarettes — being a butt bootlegger was a great gig. Not only did I make a few bucks per carton, but all my customers were happy and grateful.
I mainly stocked Marlboros and Winstons, with some unfiltered Camels, Pall Malls and Luckies for the older crowd. Menthols — Kools were the big brand then, until into the 1980s — were an afterthought.
But if I ever got back into cigarette smuggling, I’d go strictly with Newports, and maybe a few Kools, Salems and Marlboro menthols. If something’s illegal, the profit margin’s higher. That’s Economics 101.
Once methols are outlawed, business is going to be booming. Do they still make those loser menthol brands like Alpine and Belair? Come June 1, I’ll bet you could even move some of them, if they’re still around.
Well, thanks to our idiotic Legislature, New Hampshire has a lot to be grateful for tomorrow — skyrocketing gas taxes, charging for grocery bags and now this.
Do you remember Boston City Councilor Albert Leo “Dapper” O’Neil? He would have turned 100 next year, but he smoked … Kools. Two packs a day. The Dap still made it to 87.
I know what Dapper would be saying if he’d lived to see his beloved Kools outlawed.
“It’s enough to make you want to throw up on TV.”
Check out Howie’s latest podcasts at howiecarrshow.com.
Related Articles:
Boston bans mint, menthol tobacco products from corner stores
Boston convenience store owners rally against proposed menthol regulations
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“Baker shortens e-cigarette ban but signs law restricting sales of flavored tobacco, vaping products”
By Victoria McGrane and Naomi Martin, Boston Globe Staff, November 27, 2019
Governor Charlie Baker signed into law Wednesday the nation’s toughest restrictions on the sale of flavored tobacco and vaping products and announced he would end his temporary ban on all e-cigarette sales early, paving the way for them to return to store shelves as soon as mid-December under strict new rules.
Baker said his ban on nicotine and pot vape sales, which started in late September in response to a nationwide surge of vaping-related illnesses, would end on Dec. 11, when health officials pass rules implementing the new law. He framed his dual actions as Massachusetts policy makers protecting public health in a realm where Washington has fallen short.
“It is pretty clear at this point in time there isn’t going to be a federal policy on this anytime soon,” though that would be best, Baker said. “But I cannot understand why anybody would think — given all the data and all the evidence, all the information that’s out there at this point in time — that the right thing for us to do would be nothing.”
The governor also said he would leave oversight of marijuana vaping products to state pot regulators, who have halted cannabis vape sales.
The Thanksgiving eve announcement was an inflection point in the national debate between consumer freedom and public health.
The new law bans the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, and gives the Department of Public Health greater regulatory authority over e-cigarettes.
Those rules, Baker officials said, could include mandating signs in retailers on the dangers of vaping and provisions to preserve the department’s ability to ban products in the future.
The Cannabis Control Commission, which oversees the state’s pot industry, has quarantined marijuana oil vapes while regulators decide how to ensure safety. The agency is working to properly test the vapes for vitamin E acetate, a honey-like additive that federal officials have identified as a main culprit in the outbreak of illnesses. The commission next meets Dec. 19.
Cannabis leaders praised Baker’s announcement.
“In the spirit of the season, hallelujah,” said David O’Brien, president of the Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association.
Federal officials have linked most of the illnesses nationwide to illicit vaping products, particularly additives used in cannabis oils. Unlike in other states, the Department of Public Health has not disclosed whether any of the state’s 68 vaping-related lung injuries were believed to be caused by regulated marijuana or nicotine products.
The cannabis commission formally requested that information earlier this month, and on Friday, two commissioners took the unusual step of testifying at a public hearing to urge the department to share that data. On Wednesday, Dr. Monica Bharel, the state public health commissioner, said she didn’t remember whether any of the state’s illnesses were linked to licensed cannabis retailers, but she said the department was collecting that information and planned to share it with the public and with the commission soon.
“Given the urgency for medical cannabis patients in particular, we need that information in order to make our investigation as efficient as possible and to inform our regulations,” Commissioner Shaleen Title said.
The new tobacco and nicotine vape law targets online and retail sales of both traditional and electronic cigarettes, including banning sales of mint and menthol flavors of each. It hits vaping products with a 75 percent excise tax and dramatically hikes the penalties for selling or providing tobacco to underage customers, making it a $1,000 fine for a first offense.
The law prohibits the sale of menthol cigarettes as of June 2, 2020; the other flavor products are banned immediately.
Convenience stores can only sell low-dose, nonflavored vape pens. Stronger products can only be sold at licensed, adult-only retail tobacco retailers and smoke bars. Consumers can only purchase flavored vape products at 21-plus smoking bars and could not take them home. But consumers won’t face punishments for possessing flavored vape products.
Beacon Hill’s action on the vaping issue stands in contrast to the Trump administration, which has backtracked on promises to enact a similar ban on fruit, candy, and mint-flavored e-cigarettes.
Health advocates also say the law is a crucial step to protect a generation of young people from getting hooked on nicotine products amid an “epidemic” of teen vape use.
“This is not, by any stretch, a nanny state effort,” said Attorney General Maura Healey, describing conversations with worried pediatricians and parents desperate to help their severely addicted children. The law, she said, is an effort to combat “a significant public health issue for our young people.”
Nearly 2,300 people nationwide have suffered vaping-related illnesses, and at least 47 people have died, including three Massachusetts residents.
While medical professionals praised the new law, it also triggered backlash from consumers and small business owners who said it will take away a key alternative for people trying to quit smoking cigarettes and will push people to the illicit market.
Some vape consumers vowed to drive to New Hampshire.
“The plain tobacco e-juice doesn’t taste like anything,” said Jay Wolfe, 46, of Roxbury, an ex-smoker who prefers apple-tobacco flavored vapes. “It’s like you’re huffing on the fog machine at a concert. It’s just pasty and dry and eh.”
Anshuman Patel, owner of Bizarro Smoke in Brighton, New Bedford, and Fall River, said the law would likely kill his and other struggling vape businesses because most customers buy flavored e-liquids.
“It looks like the government has made up their mind to shut all of these small businesses down,” said Patel, who laid off two employees because of the ban. “People aren’t going to change their tastes — they’re just going to find some way to get the flavors online or from other states.”
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said he opposed banning flavors, adding “our focus should be” on keeping vapes out of high schools.
But doctors praised the law, saying it protected young people from Big Tobacco companies pushing addictions for profit.
“Our children’s lungs are guinea pigs for these products,” said Dr. Alicia Casey, a pediatric pulmonologist at Boston Children’s Hospital whose team has treated around 25 teens for suspected vaping-related lung illnesses. The law will reduce teen vaping by making the products less accessible and “it sends the message that these things are not safe, which is different than the message they’re getting from Big Tobacco.”
Senator John F. Keenan, the lead sponsor of the flavor ban in the Senate, said he wasn’t worried about people buying unregulated flavored products.
“When demand for product drops overall, the black market disappears,” the Quincy Democrat said. “That’s the goal of the legislation.”
Felicia Gans, John R. Ellement, and Travis Andersen of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.
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Six Massachusetts patients with probable — but not confirmed — cases of vaping-related lung illnesses reported using regulated products from state-licensed marijuana companies, state health officials revealed Thursday night.
The patients represent a small fraction of the 90 probable and confirmed cases of vaping-related lung illnesses flagged so far by the state Department of Public Health, but mark the first time state authorities explicitly linked the lung illnesses to cannabis vapes purchased at legal stores and dispensaries.
Source: The Boston Globe, December 5, 2019
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“What is vitamin E acetate, and why does it seem to make some vapers so sick?”
By Megan Thielking @meggophone and Alex Hogan @hoganalex December 20, 2019
Health officials believe they have at least one likely culprit to blame for an outbreak of serious lung illnesses tied to vaping: a sticky, honey-like substance called vitamin E acetate.
While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said it’s too soon to rule out other possible causes of the outbreak, vitamin E acetate has turned up in samples of lung fluid taken from patients sickened with the lung illnesses, dubbed EVALI.
But what is vitamin E acetate — and why does it seem to be making people so sick?
The substance — used as an additive or thickening agent in some vaping products — is also added to supplements and skin creams. It doesn’t seem to cause harm when swallowed or used topically in moderate amounts. But previous research suggests that inhaling vitamin E acetate might impair people’s lung function.
That difference could be due to how the certain parts of the body can — or can’t — process the substance.
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“Presents of pot come with hidden costs”
By Boston Herald Editorial Staff, December 25, 2019
Chances are that isn’t the smell of chestnuts roasting on an open fire wafting your way today. Bay State marijuana sellers have seen a holiday surge in sales as folks put pot on their gift list.
“We were preparing for a holiday push and we have definitely seen one,” said Amanda Rositano, president of New England Treatment Access. As the Boston Herald’s Hillary Chabot reported, Rositano expected NETA locations in Brookline and Northampton to remain packed right through Christmas Eve.
“This is the first year that consumers can buy marijuana for a friend or loved one during the season,” Rositano said.
Jim Borghesani, who helped craft the adult-use marijuana ballot question that voters approved in 2014, said marijuana is meant to be given much like people give wine or scotch.
“It was specifically written into the law to be able to gift cannabis because it was meant to be treated just like alcohol,” he said.
And therein lies the issue: Marijuana should be treated like alcohol, because the negative effects are similar. As with every holiday, reports usually follow of drunk-driving accidents, especially around New Year’s Eve. Stoned driving is no different, as states who legalized pot before us have learned.
Car crashes were up as much as 6% in states where the recreational use of marijuana has been legalized, according to studies by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute.
The Highway Loss Data Institute study focused on collision claims between 2012 and October 2017, and compared against four control states where marijuana remains illegal.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety focused on police-reported crashes before and after retail marijuana was allowed found Colorado, Oregon and Washington saw a 5.2% increase in the rate of crashes per million vehicle registrations, compared with neighboring states.
Marijuana use is hardly a boon to productivity. A study reported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found employees who tested positive for marijuana had 55% more industrial accidents, 85% more injuries and 75% greater absenteeism compared to those who tested negative.
Yes, these stats do harsh the buzz — but safety concerns took second place to the promise of profit and revenue. And business is booming. The state currently has 33 pot retailers open for business across the state — with earnings of up to $2 million a day and a total of $437 million in sales since the first stores opened.
And the focus has been on getting more people into the business, especially achieving ownership equity for blacks and other minorities.
From a business standpoint, it’s all great. But when you consider community safety and workplace issues, it’s a lot of stems and seeds.
NETA’s Rositano stressed that she emphasizes new consumers “go low and slow,” starting with small amounts of marijuana edibles or bud.
“This is new to a lot of people,” she said, “so we just want to make sure they are responsible and careful as they enjoy the season.”
Perhaps, like the ads advising people to “drink responsibly,” that might have some effect.
But these are still early days for Massachusetts as a legal marijuana state. And when our own stats stack up over a few years tallying the effects of legal pot on driving and workplace safety, we’ll see the true cost of this lucrative industry.
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Letter: “What are pot store owners doing with wealth?”
The Berkshire Eagle, January 10, 2020
To the editor:
I read with interest Friday's Berkshire Eagle article "Pot taxes help Pittsfield save for rainy days." The article states that in the past six months, Pittsfield has received $448,000 in tax revenue from two recently opened marijuana dispensaries. The article further states that "Cities and towns can also choose to impose an additional 3 percent excise on establishments within their borders to help fund local needs."
While I am not a rocket scientist, I can do basic math. If $448,000 represents up to 3 percent of marijuana sales in six months, then the gross sales are almost $15 million. Are these figures correct? If so, I would be very interested to read a story in The Eagle about these two new marijuana stores. Who are the owners and what do they plan to do with their newfound wealth? After all, the possibility of opening a store and immediately enjoying $15 million in sales is akin to winning the lottery.
Mark Tully, Pittsfield
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“Marijuana sales help Pittsfield save for rainy day”
The Boston Globe, January 10, 2020
Recreational marijuana sales have been a boon to Pittsfield’s ability to stash money away in case of an emergency or downturn, a strategy that a state official said Thursday could be useful in other communities.
Through the first two quarters of fiscal year 2020, Pittsfield brought in $448,000 in revenue from the two adult-use recreational dispensaries that operate within the city. A third will likely open soon, which could push the total figure close to $1 million per year, Mayor Linda Tyer said Thursday.
Half of that money goes directly to Pittsfield’s general stabilization fund, which budgeters often refer to as a “rainy day account.” As a result, pot sales could lead the account to grow $500,000 a year — a dedicated focus on savings that city officials said they had not been able to execute before the stores opened in 2019.
“We’re not a community that typically raised and appropriated money to go into the stabilization account,” Pittsfield Finance Director Matthew Kerwood told the Municipal Finance Oversight Board at a Thursday meeting. “We’re looking to grow our reserves, and we saw this as a way to do that with new revenue we’ve never seen.”
“That’s the first time,” Kerwood added, citing his past experience alongside Tyer as city councilors. “I don’t ever remember us making dedicated deposits or investments into our stabilization account.”
Under state law, adult-use marijuana is subject to the state’s 6.25 percent sales tax and a 10.75 percent state excise tax. Cities and towns can also choose to impose an additional 3 percent excise on establishments within their borders to help fund local needs.
In Pittsfield, revenue from the local tax is divided into three dedicated uses: 50 percent toward the main stabilization fund, 25 percent for the general fund, and another 25 percent for public works stabilization.
Tyer said the public works funding could help address fleet maintenance issues or other needs as they pop up.
“We have many, many demands in terms of public works when it comes to stabilizing our neighborhoods, so having that resource from this new revenue we felt would be an appropriate use for long-term planning,” Tyer said.
In December, officials said state marijuana tax collections have been “a little bit shallow” in the first portion of fiscal year 2020 and will likely end up between $93 million and $173 million. However, they said that figure should grow to between $102 million and $189 million in fiscal year 2021.
State officials have cautioned local budget-writers against unrealistic expectations for marijuana revenue and suggested they do not include the new figures in operating budgets. In March, the Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services said cities and towns would need to submit written evidence to accommodate revenue estimates from cannabis sales because the streams “are new and there is no historical information available to help with forecasting future revenue.”
Mary Jane Handy, Bureau of Accounts director for the Division of Local Services and a member of the MFOB, said Thursday that the department still believes “budgets need to be done based on conservative estimates.”
During the meeting, she praised savings approaches like the one taken by Pittsfield as a viable strategy while suggesting representatives from Webster, which has one retail host agreement in place and another in the works, decide how to direct the money from the forthcoming 3 percent tax revenue.
“It’s a great revenue stream for stabilization and to do other things,” she said.
Lynn, the third community that appeared before the board on Thursday, just saw its first retail marijuana establishment open in October but has only brought in a few thousand dollars in revenue so far, which will be directed to its general fund, Lynn Chief Financial Officer Michael Bertino told the News Service.
Cities and towns go before the board to request the state issue bonds — which it can do with a better rating than most local governments — on behalf of the communities for capital projects and larger expenses that cannot be addressed by annual operating budgets. The state then withholds a portion of local aid every year to cover borrowing payments.
The board unanimously approved Pittsfield’s request for $17.3 million in bonds for a range of projects, including reconstruction of Tyler Street, purchase of an empty former gas station, vehicle acquisitions, and more. The board also authorized $9 million in bonds for Lynn, set to be used on other bond refunds and purchase of heavy equipment vehicles, and $5.05 million in bonds for Webster for work on a water filtration plant and first responder vehicles.
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“First Boston pot shop approved, opening just ‘weeks away’”
By Sean Philip Cotter, The Boston Herald, February 6, 2020
The first Boston pot shop has received final state approval and its owner is planning to open within the month.
“Ideally last weekend in February or first week of March,” said an upbeat Kobie Evans, one of the owners of the soon-to-open Pure Oasis.
The pot shop at 430 Blue Hill Ave. received final approval on Thursday from the Cannabis Control Commission. Evans and his business partner Kevin Hart aren’t setting a firm opening date because they still need to pass a final state inspection, including registering all product and staff.
“It’s exciting. It’s just a culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of perseverance,” Evans said, saying the opening is just “weeks away.”
Pure Oasis not only would be the first recreational marijuana shop in the city, but the first in the state to open led by “economic empowerment” candidates — companies where minorities make up more than half of the owners and staff or meet certain other criteria. Evans said he believes Pure Oasis will be the first minority-owned pot shop on the East Coast.
Two other Boston pot shops have received provisional licenses: Ascend Mass at 268 Friend St. downtown and Berkshire Roots at 251-253 Meridian St. in East Boston.
Boston has 14 host community agreements with prospective pot operators, and two medical dispensaries open. Three of the 14 are economic empowerment candidates.
Mayor Martin Walsh in November signed a law change that created a new pot licensing board, but Walsh hasn’t yet appointed anyone to it. The mayor’s office has said Walsh expects to have more details in the coming weeks.
The pot ordinance, spearheaded by City Councilor Kim Janey, was meant to further boost people of color, especially established Boston residents, and people who have been locked up for selling marijuana when it was illegal. The new law also will create a fund to help companies run by such candidates start up.
Evans said he plans on working with neighbors to keep the community impact in control.
“Our goal is to be a good community partner,” Evans told the Herald.
He said there will be measures in place to make sure people aren’t buying more than allowed — or doing something like “smurfing” and “looping,” activities the attorney general recently warned of, when a customer keeps coming back to the same pot shop multiple times in a day in order to resell illegally at a higher price.
“Our license is on the line, so we are going to do this right,” Evans said.
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“Pot report points to weed worries over too many outlets”
By Joe Dwinell, The Boston Herald, February 22, 2020
Too many pot shops clustered together could lead to more adults being drawn to weed, a new cannabis commission review warns.
The pot panel’s “Baseline review and assessment” cites a study that showed an increase in pot use among adults who lived “within 18 miles of a store and frequent use” increasing among those “within 0.8 miles of a store.”
The report goes on to add that “careful monitoring of the impacts of cannabis retail store density remains critical.”
The review also says heavy pot users are willing to pay more for legal weed, but a hike in prices could push them back to the black market.
“Heavy cannabis users report greater sensitivity to price,” according to a “Baseline Review and Assessment” of the state of legal weed in Massachusetts.
The report, filed by the state Cannabis Control Commission, cites studies from around the nation and around the world in pointing out trends for pot purveyors and lawmakers to consider, including:
Sales are growing through the roof, with $394.3 million in gross sales from November 2018 to the same month in last year.
371,596 pot plants have been “legally produced” for the adult market over that same period.
“Buds” are the top sellers and concentrates with the highest THC potency next in line.
And in a key finding, legal weed was preferred to illegal pot — as long as the price remains reasonable.
Pot proponent Jim Borghesani, a leader of the 2016 cannabis legalization campaign and now a consultant, said the industry must continue to find a “balance.”
He said the pot panel’s update is welcome, but it’s too soon to tell how legal weed is working in Massachusetts — but it’s off to a solid start.
“It’s being shown that people are willing to pay more for a safe buying experience,” Borghesani said. “Supply will ultimately equal demand, but we’re not there yet.”
He said fears of youngsters being able to buy legal weed have, so far, been debunked. He also said lawmakers should think twice about raising any more taxes off legal weed sales. Cannabis consumers now pay a 6.25% sales tax and 10.75% excise tax. Some cities and towns tack on a 3% local tax.
There are more than 30 retail pot shops in Massachusetts, but none in Cambridge or Boston. That is about to change and that’s when the pot picture will begin to fill out. For now, the pot report cites studies suggesting an average sale per pot user of about $40.
“But there are lines at some of these pot shops now,” Borghesani added. “Some of these places are doing $12 million worth of sales a month.”
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On Monday, [March 2, 2020,] a third cannabis shop opens in the city [of Pittsfield, Massachusetts]. Bloom Brothers, 2 Larch St., will be the county’s sixth marijuana retailer. At least 10 more shops countywide near the regulatory finish line.
Source: “What’s up in Pittsfield?” – “Look Ahead, Pittsfield: Restaurant week, Super Tuesday and coronavirus prep”, By Amanda Drane, The Berkshire Eagle, March 1, 2020.
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“Ordered to close and excluded from federal aid, marijuana entrepreneurs staring down insolvency”
By Dan Adams - bostonglobe.com - March 30, 2020
To open their businesses, Massachusetts marijuana entrepreneurs already had to navigate a long and expensive obstacle course, overcoming zoning restrictions, hostile neighbors, municipal demands, a plodding state licensing process, and a scarcity of financing.
Now, small cannabis companies are warning that Governor Charlie Baker’s decision to shutter recreational marijuana facilities until at least April 7 amid the coronavirus pandemic — while leaving medical marijuana operations and liquor stores open as “essential” services — could force them to give up altogether.
Compounding their plight: Because the drug remains illegal at the federal level, marijuana operations are ineligible for small business relief funds approved Friday by Congress and also cannot declare bankruptcy.
“These businesses are in a pretty dire situation,” said Laury Lucien, a Boston lawyer and consultant who works with small cannabis firms. “If what you sell is federally illegal, you don’t have access to those funds. It really is unjust, especially for stores that just opened."
For a moment earlier this year, it seemed Massachusetts was finally making progress on its legal obligation to provide a leg up to small, locally owned cannabis businesses — especially those owned by members of communities hit hardest by the war on drugs.
The state’s first Black-owned marijuana store, Pure Oasis, opened in Boston’s Grove Hall neighborhood in early March. Meanwhile, other small businesses were beginning to win licenses, thanks in part to policies implemented last year by the Cannabis Control Commission that prioritized their applications.
While most other states where marijuana is legal have deemed both medical and recreational operators “essential” and allowed them to continue operating, Massachusetts is allowing only medical facilities to stay open. (Only those certified by a physician and registered with the state can purchase medical marijuana.)
Executives of smaller cannabis startups note that most medical marijuana firms are larger, longstanding, investor-backed concerns. Small companies, on the other hand, are just now emerging from a protracted licensing process, and are desperate to begin generating revenue and paying back creditors. Many already have laid off or furloughed employees, and say their cash reserves will run dry in weeks.
Meanwhile, local officials and state legislators are preoccupied with responding to the virus, delaying local licensing hearings and pushing back consideration of proposed bills that would make local approval easier and cheaper.
“Massachusetts was already really slow and expensive, and as a result the businesses are heavily leveraged,” said Adam Fine, an attorney at the cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg, whose analysts estimate the marijuana industry will lose hundreds of millions of dollars nationally and cut thousands of jobs amid the pandemic. “This is just going to compound that, and I think new operators will face the biggest challenges.”
Angela Brown, cofounder of small Wareham marijuana processor T. Bear, said that after years of work, the cannabis commission recently gave her company final approval to ship its first-ever batch of edibles and vape cartridges to retail customers on March 25. But her hopes were dashed when Baker ordered recreational companies to close by noon on March 24.
Brown’s company has now placed its six employees on unpaid leave and is stuck with an unsellable inventory of finished products worth up to $750,000 retail; a large payment on an equipment lease is due on Wednesday.
“We were right at the end,” she said. “We got through this crazy process, we spent the money, we have finished product, but now we can’t sell it. It was so defeating. It was the worst gut-punch we’ve had. You just feel helpless and hopeless, and there’s no end in sight.”
Caroline Frankel, who last year opened the state’s first independent recreational shop in Uxbridge, Caroline’s Cannabis, said she paid her 10 workers this week but will soon be forced to place them on leave.
“It’s heartbreaking — these are people who live week to week on paychecks,” Frankel said. “As a small-business owner, I take pride in making my staff happy. They’re like family to me."
Brown, Frankel, and other small marijuana business owners say it’s only fair for local recreational companies to be deemed “essential” and allowed to operate under similar procedures as medical dispensaries or liquor stores, which can admit small numbers of customers or offer curbside takeout. They argue that many recreational consumers are using the drug for medicinal purposes.
Entrepreneurs said that banning recreational operations will force consumers into the illicit market, the source of tainted vapes that caused a public health crisis last year. The move, they say, could also prompt customers to get certified as patients and shop the medical market, which is not taxed — depriving the state of revenue just as it faces a severe financial shortfall because of the virus.
“I just can’t believe they’re allowing restaurants to deliver liquor but you can’t sell cannabis,” said Caroline Pineau, who plans to open a marijuana store in Haverhill soon and has been pleading with suppliers to maintain their commitments to supply her shop with inventory. “It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
A spokesman for Baker pointed to comments the governor made last week, when he said the “main reason” for the shutdown is that recreational pot shops attract many visitors from nearby states. Indeed, some cannabis stores in Western Massachusetts draw most of their customers from New York, the epicenter of the outbreak.
Industry groups counter that sales could be restricted to Massachusetts residents, and that heavily regulated marijuana firms could easily adopt safety protocols used by other essential businesses.
Beacon Hill progressives have backed the push, with 12 state legislators signing a letter to Baker urging the governor to deem recreational pot “essential.” On Thursday, state Representative Chynah Tyler of Boston, whose district includes Pure Oasis, held up a package of virus-related reforms by insisting on the inclusion of an amendment that would mandate the state treat marijuana firms and liquor stores equally. The unusual effort was unsuccessful.
The opening of Pure Oasis “was a big deal in my community,” Tyler said, “and I’m trying to do everything I can on the state level to see that through. This is about making sure that we give the same consideration to these businesses that we gave to liquor stores. They’re not going to be bailed out. We have to help them somewhat.”
While COVID-19′s rapid spread has damaged broad swaths of the economy, many US marijuana firms already were stumbling after a tough 2019, in which pot stocks were hammered and financing dried up. That makes it all the more critical, marijuana companies said, that the state provide them payouts equivalent to those offered by the federal government to other businesses, so they can keep paying workers and vendors. Some also want the commission to relax its regulations and waive fees while the crisis plays out.
In a statement, the commission said "in addition to doubling down on precautionary measures at licensed facilities, the agency is making every effort to maintain normal operations and is bolstering its commitment to building a safe, equitable, and effective marketplace.”
Dan Adams can be reached at daniel.adams@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Dan_Adams86.
Related: From police stops to marijuana executives: The long journey for owners of Boston’s first pot shop
The virus outbreak, however, has derailed any such momentum.
Related: Massachusetts marijuana companies, workers, patients bracing for worst as coronavirus disruptions loom
Related: Americans want medical marijuana dispensaries deemed ‘essential’ amid coronavirus outbreak, poll finds
Related: Amid pandemic, cannabis commission closes offices, urges marijuana firms to take precautions
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“Lawmakers urge Baker to reconsider recreational marijuana shops closure amid pandemic”
By Erin Tiernan | etiernan@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald | April 8, 2020
Boston, MA — Massachusetts’ recreational marijuana industry might not recover from its forced shutdown — costing the state millions in tax dollars amid the global coronavirus pandemic, said a group lawmakers urging Gov. Charlie Baker to reconsider pot shops as essential services.
Baker shut down recreational pot shops along with hundreds of other businesses deemed “non-essential” on March 31 [2020]. Cannabis businesses aren’t eligible for the federal financial safety nets and loans that seek to support most industries suffering shutdowns amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Baker has repeatedly refused to consider opening recreational pot shops ahead of May 4 [2020] — the earliest date the shutdown on non-essential services could be lifted.
In a letter to Baker this week signed by 34 legislators, the lawmakers said millions of tax dollars are in jeopardy at a time when the state is facing plummeting state revenues and an uncertain financial future.
Since January of this year, retail cannabis sales have brought in $157 million in tax dollars and more than $115 million in state and local revenues.
“Marijuana revenues can mean hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in local municipal aid at a time the Commonwealth is planning large-scale budgetary setbacks,” lawmakers wrote.
Baker closed the stores to discourage out-of-staters from flocking to one of the Northeast’s sole legal marijuana meccas and bring the COVID-19 virus with them. Legislators argue retail shops can operate safely using online ordering, curbside pickups and by limiting sales to Massachusetts residents only.
Leaving them closed also leaves businesses in limbo and more than 2,000 people are furloughed or unemployed depending on already-strapped state services.
The request by legislators is on par with what’s happening in other states — of the 33 with legal medical or recreational markets, nearly all have designated the businesses as “essential services,” allowing them to say open just as a pharmacy or liquor store does.
Cannabis Control Commission Chairman Steven Hoffman told reporters Friday he was “concerned” about what kind of havoc the shutdown would wreak on the industry.
Medical marijuana registrations are surging — something that could also eat away at revenues even after the temporary shutdown on recreational sales is lifted as the medicinal product is not taxed. In the last 10 days of March, the CCC received more than 1,300 new patient registrations — nearly three times what the commission saw in the 10 days prior.
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
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“Cannabis stores receive green light to reopen next week”
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service, May 18, 2020
Recreational marijuana stores will be allowed to reopen for curbside pick-up next Monday, just more than two months after they were ordered to close as part of the essential work order Gov. Charlie Baker put in place to control the spread of COVID-19.
Though medical marijuana treatment centers have been allowed to fulfill patient orders throughout the pandemic, adult-use cannabis operations -- not just retailers, but also the growers and product manufacturers -- were shut down effective March 24.
Baker said they will be allowed to reopen Monday, May 25, for curbside pickup of orders.
"The whole point behind curbside is it doesn't require people to go inside and stand around," he said. "And there's plenty of evidence at this point that inside spaces with a long period of time in which people are there, especially if they don't have the ability to socially distance, is probably the biggest and most significant opportunity for spread."
Cannabis advocates have been calling on Baker for weeks to allow non-medical marijuana sales to resume, and the chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission has said he thinks the industry could operate safely and effectively. A group representing many of the state's cannabis retailers said Monday that it is glad Baker is allowing pot stores to be among the first businesses to reopen.
"We appreciate this gesture of confidence by the Administration and believe it is reflective of our industry’'s commitment to workplace and consumer safety, as well as our history of compliance and significant regulatory oversight," David Torrisi, president of the Commonwealth Dispensary Association, said. "In addition to beginning to restore access to safe, tested adult-use cannabis, this determination provides a first step in providing meaningful economic relief to the more than 2,000 Massachusetts cannabis employees who will be able to return to work—workers who otherwise do not qualify for federal relief."
While adult-use shops have been closed, the CCC has seen a surge in registrations for the medical marijuana program. Though the product is largely identical, the medical program offers several benefits not available in the recreational market: medical marijuana is not taxed, patients can get marijuana delivered to their homes, and patients can buy edibles with higher THC levels than are allowed in the non-medical market.
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Letter: “Marijuana to blame for mental health problems”
Letter to the Editor of the NH Union Leader, May 29, 2020
Marijuana impacts mental health issues
To the Editor: Former Chief Justice John Broderick Jr. shared his message about increasing mental health services especially for our youth where suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year old. However, he never mentioned marijuana use as a cause of mental health problems.
Dozens of health studies have linked consuming marijuana with psychosis and schizophrenia. In 2017, the National Academy of Medicine found strong evidence that marijuana use can cause schizophrenia and additional evidence that it increases the risk of suicide, depression, and social anxiety disorder.
Marijuana is dangerous to mental health. In addition, marijuana users have a higher risk of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, as well as joblessness, homelessness and more. Simply review the states (California, Colorado, Washington, Oregon and Hawaii) that legalized marijuana 5-10 years ago.
Why now?
Today’s marijuana is normally 20-40% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol); that is 10-20 times stronger than the marijuana that President Clinton did not inhale. Edibles and soda are even higher in THC.
No one is discussing this. Lobbyists have made marijuana into a “political issue” and not a “health issue” because Big Marijuana like the tobacco industry is more concerned with profit than American lives.
Prevention is practiced everywhere. Fire prevention, accident prevention, heart attack prevention, food poisoning prevention, cancer prevention, COVID-19 prevention. Why not drug prevention?
Because one political party wants to legalize drugs in New Hampshire and our nation; therefore, it is a political issue sacrificing the mental health and future of our young people.
Stop New Hampshire legalization of marijuana now!
Bob Batson, Wolfeboro, NH
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June 10, 2020
Nuciforo did it! He used his political connections from his decade as a State Senator in Pittsfield and Boston to make money selling marijuana.
To read more, please visit my blog page:
https://luciforo.blogspot.com/2017/03/luciforo-invested-in-pittsfield-medical.html
Best of luck, Jonathan Melle
http://eastietimes.com/2020/06/10/easties-berkshire-roots-to-become-second-recreational-marijuana-shop-in-boston/
“Eastie’s Berkshire Roots to Become Second Recreational Marijuana Shop in Boston”
By John Lynds, East Boston Times-Free Press, June 10, 2020
East Boston’s first adult use retail marijuana facility planned for Meridian Street will now open any day according to Western Mass’s Berkshire Roots, Inc.
Berkshire Roots received its final license from the Cannabis Control Commission to open shop at 253 Meridian St. and once open it will become only the second adult use shop to open in Boston. Pure Oasis, an adult-use marijuana dispensary located in the Grove Hall neighborhood of Dorchester, opened in March.
“We’re following in the footsteps of thousands of newcomers to East Boston in the past 300 years,” said Berkshire Roots in a statement. “Berkshire Roots will be bringing our award-winning dispensary and cannabis product line up to the city of Boston. We hope you’re as excited as we are. Serving adult use customers, we will be located at 253 Meridian Street, East Boston. Just minutes walk from the Maverick Square T stop on the Blue line, Berkshire Roots is opening up in a lovely little neighborhood that we’re glad to be becoming a part of.”
Berkshire roots received community support from the Eagle Hill Civic Association and was later granted a Conditional Use Permit by the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals last year.
Berkshire Roots is the largest grower of cannabis in Western Massachusetts and was the first medical marijuana dispensary to open in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Berkshire Roots’s Meridian Street shop includes 1,400 sq. ft. retail space on the first floor of the building that the company says will be a sleek and stylish dispensary with façade improvement and subtle and understated signage.
There will be no cultivation, processing, or packaging on site. There would also be no product consumption on site and the product would not be visible from the street.
There will be a security guard at the front door. When a potential customer enters, he or she must present either a valid Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Card or a valid state license or identification card proving the customer is over 21 years of age. Between the front door and the actual dispensary is a locked door. The front door and internal ‘locked’ door are never open at the same time. Once the customer is approved by the security guard an employee inside the dispensary would have to activate a buzzer for the internal door to allow the customer inside.
Aside from paying the city three percent of its sales per quarter, Berkshire Roots also agreed to install security cameras in and around the business and to participate in public safety and beautification initiatives in and around the business.
According to the agreement with the city, there will be no benches or social gathering areas in or around the business and Berkshire Roots agrees to prohibit smoking, vaping or any other form of consumption of marijuana onsite. The company also agrees to share data and reports to the Boston Public Health Commission as well as assist in the dissemination of materials related to public health, public safety and prevention efforts.
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Berkshire Roots cannabis shop in East Boston. credit: Berkshire Roots
“East Boston pot shop can open as early as this week”
By Felicia Gans, Boston Globe Staff, June 30, 2020
An East Boston pot shop is slated to become Boston’s second recreational marijuana dispensary.
Massachusetts cannabis regulators gave a “commence operations” notice on Monday to Berkshire Roots, allowing the store to open its East Boston dispensary as early as Friday. The store is located at 253 Meridian St.
Berkshire Roots opened its first recreational marijuana store in Pittsfield in April 2019, and the company received its final license in Boston in early June. Boston’s first recreational marijuana store, Pure Oasis, opened in March in the Grove Hall neighborhood.
Last year, while vying for zoning approval, Berkshire Roots was involved in a contentious debate about Boston’s buffer zone rule. In Boston, marijuana dispensaries are supposed to be a half-mile apart, but Berkshire Roots and another cannabis company, East Boston Bloom, were each asking the Zoning Board of Appeal for approval to open a dispensary within the same half-mile.
The debate involved a disagreement about whether either company could be rejected by the zoning board when neither dispensary actually “existed” yet. Both companies were ultimately approved.
The Cannabis Control Commission also signed off on several other companies Monday, giving “commence operations” notices to Temescal Wellness to open an adult-use store in Framingham, Silver Therapeutics to open an adult-use store in Orange, Blackstone Valley Naturals to operate a microbusiness in Uxbridge, and Solar Therapeutics to open a cultivation and manufacturing facility in Somerset. All the businesses can start operating as early as Friday.
Felicia Gans can be reached at felicia.gans@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @FeliciaGans.
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File photo
“Boston’s second retail marijuana shop gets green light to open”
By Frank O'Laughlin, WHDH – 7 News Boston – (2020 Sunbeam Television), June 30, 2020
Boston (WHDH) - Boston’s second retail pot shop has been given the green light to open for business.
The Cannabis Control Commission on Monday announced that Berkshire Roots, Inc. can commence adult-use retail operations in East Boston as early as Friday, July 3 [2020].
The business will serve adult-use customers at 253 Meridian Street, a short walk from the Maverick Square T stop.
Berkshire Roots, Inc. also has a second location in Pittsfield [Massachusetts].
Pure Oasis — the state’s first minority-owned marijuana business — opened in Dorchester earlier this year.
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“East Boston marijuana store, city’s second, now open”
By Dan Adams, Boston Globe Staff, July 20, 2020
A long-planned marijuana store opened Monday in East Boston, becoming the second recreational cannabis retailer in the city.
Berkshire Roots, which also operates a dispensary in Pittsfield, quietly began operations at its new East Boston location at 253 Meridian St. around 11 a.m. — part of a “soft open” meant to ease the shop’s systems and employees into action. The company said Monday afternoon that about 100 to 150 customers were expected the first day.
The store will typically serve customers from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m., except on Sundays, when it will open at 11 a.m. and close at 6 p.m.
For now, sales are by preorder only, with shoppers required to reserve cannabis products ahead of time and pick them up during a specific appointment window.
“The store is ready,” Berkshire Roots chief executive James Winokur said in a statement. “We have great neighbors, and it’s really a special place in Boston, given the mix of cultures, language and history.”
Berkshire Roots faced a complex path to opening: The store became mixed up in a zoning dispute last year, after city officials mistakenly recommended approval of both the Berkshire Roots location and another proposed pot shop nearby — even though the two cannabis businesses were not separated by at least a half-mile, as mandated under city regulations.
Boston’s Zoning Board of Appeal eventually approved both shops. But the incident sparked an unusual public fight between the Walsh administration and the City Council, which briefly held up Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s appointments to the zoning board over his handling of the buffer issue, even as its chair warned the move could halt development across Boston.
The first marijuana store in Boston, Pure Oasis in Grove Hall, opened in March — more than three years after voters legalized cannabis, and following a long struggle through the state’s wending application process.
However, the business was quickly forced to shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic. Then, just days after reopening in May, the shop was looted by thieves during racial justice protests on the other side of the city.
Pure Oasis was the first Black-owned marijuana business to open in Massachusetts, and was licensed under the Cannabis Control Commission’s “economic empowerment” program, which gives priority to businesses that are led by, employ, or benefit members of communities hit hardest by high rates of drug arrests.
new local marijuana business permitting system in Boston, being implemented this summer by the city’s new Cannabis Board, is intended to further prioritize such companies.
“In [its] application process, Berkshire Roots confirmed its commitment to providing benefits to the local community, including hiring local staff and providing mentoring, professional, and technical services for disproportionately-impacted individuals that are facing systemic barriers,” Alexis Tkachuk, Boston’s director of emerging industries in the Walsh administration, said in a statement.
An additional 10 marijuana facilities proposed for the city are awaiting approval by the state cannabis commission.
Dan Adams can be reached at daniel.adams@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Dan_Adams86
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Holly Alberti will be the senior director of marketing on Berkshire Roots’ executive team. Courtesy photo.
"Berkshire Roots hires Holly Alberti, cannabis industry expert, as the Pittsfield-based marijuana company opens in East Boston"
By Melissa Hanson | mhanson@masslive.com - The (Springfield) Republican - August 11, 2020
Berkshire Roots, a marijuana cultivator and dispensary headquartered in Pittsfield that recently opened a second location in East Boston, has hired Holly Alberti, who has 10 years of experience in the cannabis industry, the company announced.
Alberti will be the senior director of marketing on Berkshire Roots’ executive team. Most recently, Alberti was the northeast regional director of marketing and sales at iAnthus Capital’s Boston-based office. Before that, Alberti worked with worked with “Flrish,” also known as “Harborside,” which is the leading cannabis dispensary in Oakland, California, Berkshire Roots said in a statement.
“I am really excited about the team and culture Berkshire Roots has been cultivating here in my home state,” Alberti said. “The quality, dedication and passion that is delivered through every facet of the business is one of the many reasons I joined.”
Alberti’s background includes starting and managing a cannabis ancillary products in-home sales’ company, Healthy Headie. She expanding her business to Colorado and California.
After opening last year in Pittsfield, Berkshire Roots opened this summer in East Boston, becoming the second adult-use retail shop in the state’s capital city.
“Our goal is to bring the Berkshires to Boston by replicating the warmth of our dispensary, providing best-in-class training to our retail team and delivering our unique Berkshires’ inspired products,” according to Berkshire Roots’ CEO, James Winokur, Holly is a great addition to our team because of the insights she has gained through her work in the industry that will help guide us in our ongoing effort to bring our customers the products and experience they are looking for.”
Berkshire Roots focuses on small-batch, high-quality cannabis, with products including packaged flower, edibles, topicals, tinctures, capsules, concentrates and vape cartridges. The company also works with wholesale partners.
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August 20, 2020
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
There have been several mentions of me and my negative history with Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior on your awesome blog today. I complied with your request that I no longer comment about "Luciforo" on your awesome blog.
Obviously, Nuciforo used his political connections in Pittsfield and Boston to start his over 3 year old marijuana business. He is among many former Massachusetts politicians who are profiting off of legally selling dope.
I read your blog readers' comments that his Dalton Avenue marijuana operations have upset many people in Pittsfield. Your blog posters feel he is able to get away with breaking zoning laws because he is politically connected with Mayor Linda Tyer, Matt Kerwood, and many other city officials.
Nuciforo is the textbook definition of political corruption. Since I first met him in the Spring of 1996 - when I was 20 years old - when my dad was a candidate for Berkshire County Commissioner, Nuciforo conspiratorially had people connected to his political network bully me over many years of my then young adult life without Nuciforo leaving behind his own proverbial fingerprints/DNA. He filed multiple state "ethics" complaints against my dad from the Fall of 1997 - Spring of 1998 during my dad, Bob's, tenure as a Berkshire County Commissioner. On May 20, 1998, when I was 22 years old, Nuciforo made false allegations against me to the Pittsfield Police Department that I made "veiled threats" against him. Nuciforo also blacklisted me from employment, had people spread vicious rumors against me in Pittsfield, and he was overall very mean-spirited against me.
In 2006, Nuciforo stepped down from being a Pittsfield/Berkshire State Senator because he was in bed with Boston area big banks and insurance companies. That same year, in 2006, Nuciforo strong-armed two women candidates - Sharon Henault and Sara Hathaway - out of the state government "election" for Pittsfield Registrar of Deeds. He used his sinecure/no show plum job to plot a campaign for U.S. Congress to oust Congressman John W. Olver in 2012. Olver retired in 2012, and Congressman or "PAC-Man" Richard Neal defeated Nuciforo by 40 percentage points in the Democratic Party primary.
After 2012, Nuciforo stopped running for political office, as many politically connected people saw him as a fringe politician. Nuciforo used his past Beacon Hill corrupt political connections with Boston's financial district to serve as legal counsel for Boston's big banks and insurance companies.
In the Spring of 2017, Nuciforo invested hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money into his new marijuana dispensary business. Since then, Nuciforo has opened marijuana dispensaries in Pittsfield and East Boston.
The Boston Globe has published news articles over the years about Nuciforo's political corruption and connections relating to his double dipping with Boston area big banks and insurance companies, as well as his use of political connections to be one of the first marijuana businessmen in Massachusetts.
In closing, Nuciforo is totally corrupt in politics and government. He uses his political network and connections to hurt people, and also profit off of special interests, such as Boston area financial institutions, and his over three year old marijuana business.
Best wishes,
Jonathan A. Melle
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"Berkshire Roots submits application to build new marijuana facility at location of old Ken's Bowl"
By Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle, September 14, 2020
PITTSFIELD — A local cannabis company is seeking to expand its operations by demolishing a bowling alley that had closed because of the coronavirus pandemic and building a marijuana cultivation and processing facility in its place.
Berkshire Roots has submitted an application to the city to build a two-story structure at the location of Ken's Bowl, 495 Dalton Ave. The plans were submitted by KO Resources LLC, which according to Cannabis Control Commission filings owns Berkshire Roots, and call for Ken's Bowl to be demolished and a cultivation facility built in its place, according to city Permitting Coordinator Nate Joyner.
The proposal will go before the Community Development Board for review at its meeting on Tuesday, with final local authority resting with the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Berkshire Roots is attempting to create what City Planner Cornelius Hoss called a "hub" for growing and processing its products on Dalton Avenue. It is currently building a three-story structure close to its Dalton Avenue retail location. The three-story building received approval from the city in November 2019 and Hoss said it too will primarily serve as a cultivation facility once completed.
"This is a pretty big operation that will end up creating a lot of decent paying jobs," Hoss said. "This is an organization that, if this site is approved, all of the sudden becomes a pretty large employer in the city."
According to Joyner, cultivation would take place in all three buildings in line with the company's intent to expand its cannabis canopy to up to 100,000 square feet, the maximum allowed for a single licensee in Massachusetts.
"They're maxing out their canopy and doing it here," he said. "It's a new one for us, because we haven't seen this amount of grow proposed all together like this."
According to the company's application, the new building would be about 100,000 square feet split between two stories. Joyner said building plans appear to show that an enclosed walkway would connect the new structure at the former Ken's Bowl with Berkshire Roots' dispensary and cultivation site in the former Salvation Army Family Store.
Requests for comment from The Eagle that Berkshire Roots Senior Director of Marketing Holly Alberti said she forwarded to the company's executive team were not returned on Monday. The owner of Ken's Bowl, Jerry Gillette, did not respond to a phone call or message seeking comment on Monday.
However, when reached by The Eagle in early August, Gillette said his business was closed due to the coronavirus though he hoped to reopen, but due to finances and logistics could do so only if he were permitted to reopen "at full capacity."
"Everything's up in the air," Gillette said at the time, during an interview in which he was highly critical of what he described as the negative consequences of the state's public health restrictions on the health of his business. "I was having a great, great year, then they closed me down March 16."
About 20,000 square feet of the company's existing facility at 501 Dalton Ave. is used for cultivation, processing and packaging, and about 3,000 square feet serves as retail space, according to its application. The three-story building under construction will house a 26,000-square-feet cultivation facility once completed.
Ward 2 City Councilor Kevin Morandi said he has heard from constituents about odors they said emanate from the existing cultivation and processing operations, and about concerns they have about the proposed expansion's impact on local traffic.
"These are very quaint little neighborhoods, and they want to keep it that way," Morandi said. "The question for me is, how many [cannabis facilities] do we really need in Ward 2?"
Early top investors in Berkshire Roots were Matthew C. Feeney, Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr. and Albert S. Wojtkowski. The company opened an adult-use dispensary in Boston in late July, becoming the second recreational dispensary to open up shop in that city.
Amanda Burke can be reached at aburke@berkshireeagle.com, on Twitter @amandaburkec and 413-496-6296.
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Letter: "Slow down on pot cultivation sites in Pittsfield"
The Berkshire Eagle, September 11, 2020
To the editor:
Attention residents of the neighborhood surrounding Allengate, Dalton and Plastics avenues, as well as any Pittsfield resident who is concerned about any more marijuana in our city. There is a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. about another marijuana cultivation site to be built.
Their plans are to tear down Ken's Bowl and build a two-story, 100,000-square-foot cultivation site. Please read the abutter notifications for the meeting, which can be found here: bit.ly/3mkVJqv. The fifth one is for KO Resources LLC. Please follow directions and attend this meeting and/or contact the Zoning Board to voice your opinion.
They are trying to amend the first special permit for the three-story building right on Dalton Avenue and add to that permit a two-story cultivation plant. This is a business district, and by business it should mean businesses any person can go in and out of. No more light-industrial buildings or special permits should be allowed off a main street in Pittsfield for marijuana cultivation.
They are putting too much marijuana in one place. This is the third building that they want to put on one piece of property. They have sales, still building the three-story growing building, and now an even larger two-story growing building. We need to speak up. This building will have a bigger and taller footprint than what is there now. We need to see how the first three-story building affects the neighborhood before another one goes up.
Charlene Wehry, Pittsfield
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Letter: "Common sense - do we really need more pot sites?"
The Berkshire Eagle, September 28, 2020
To the editor:
I just finished reading Charlene Wehry's Sept. 13 letter "Slow down on Pittsfield pot sites."
Clearly to me, greed is leading the way, not common sense. Those who serve on Pittsfield's Ordinance and Rules subcommittee concur. I wondered why?
Here is what I learned in an April 2018 Eagle news article: "The City Council on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a zoning amendment regulating the marijuana industry in Pittsfield. At 35, the limit on the number of allowed marijuana licenses matches the number of liquor licenses permitted in the city. The Community Development Board last month approved a limit of 10 licenses, but the council's Ordinances and Rules Committee last week recommended that no cap be set.
Yet, according to an August 2019 article in The Boston Herald:" Marijuana was the most prevalent drug found in drivers involved in fatal Massachusetts crashes from 2013 to 2017. ... 'People may think they can drive safely using cannabis, alcohol or other drugs,' said Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, 'but the research just doesn't support it.' Cannabis was found in 175 — 31 percent — of the 572 drivers involved in fatal crashes from 2013 to 2017, according to the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security."
On August 20, 2020, Boston's Business Journal printed "Pittsfield reported 26 licenses." And yet, there are those in our community who are working very hard to teach our children how drugs and alcohol cause downward spirals. Why then do community representatives make decisions that work against us? Do people always have to look for the easy way out?
A.C. Mottley, Pittsfield
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Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield is proposing a three-building campus on Dalton Avenue. The only building currently being used houses its Pittsfield dispensary, and it has space for cultivation and manufacturing. credit: EAGLE file photo
Board asks Berkshire Roots for more site details for proposed pot cultivation facility
By Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle, September 16, 2020
PITTSFIELD — The Community Development Board asked Berkshire Roots on Tuesday to submit site plans with more detail, and continued its review of the company's proposal to build a new cultivation center on Dalton Avenue until its next meeting, on Oct. 20.
The company is proposing to demolish Ken's Bowl and build a 104,000-square-foot, two-story building in its place that would serve as a cannabis cultivation center and have space for administrative offices, said project engineer/designer Frank DeMarinis.
The board voted unanimously to continue its site plan review process until next month. Members asked the company to submit more detailed plans that include renderings of how the building would look and additional information about such issues as stormwater treatment.
Chair Sheila Irvin said she was "a little disappointed" that KO Resources sent members additional documents to review late, materials that City Planner Cornelius Hoss said were provided about a half-hour before the meeting. KO Resources, which owns all common stock and equity in Berkshire Roots, is the applicant for the project and was represented at the hearing by Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr., an attorney and former state senator.
Berkshire Roots is proposing a three-building campus on Dalton Avenue. The only building currently being used houses its Pittsfield dispensary, and it has space for cultivation and manufacturing. The second building was approved last fall and is under construction. The company is aiming to expand its cultivation operation to the maximum allowed in Massachusetts for a single license holder, Nuciforo said. This summer, Berkshire Roots opened its second dispensary, in Boston.
"Our facility is going to help meet existing demand for a variety of products both in Pittsfield and East Boston, and we think [it] will help us to serve a wholesale market for those that don't have their own capacity," he said.
The project requires approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals and is scheduled to appear before that board Wednesday.
Amanda Burke can be reached at aburke@berkshireeagle.com, on Twitter @amandaburkec and 413-496-6296.
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"'Dead skunk' odor complaint delays Berkshire Roots expansion proposal"
Board asks Berkshire Roots for more site details for proposed pot cultivation facility
By Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle, October 21, 2020
PITTSFIELD — Concerns about the smell that some neighbors say wafts from the existing Berkshire Roots cannabis facility on Dalton Avenue delayed the company’s quest to significantly expand cultivation.
Berkshire Roots is seeking to build a 100,000-square-foot facility at the site of the former Ken’s Bowl. It would be a two-story building primarily serving as a cannabis cultivation and manufacturing space and would create at least 80 full-time jobs, according to co-founder Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr.
If approved, it would be the company’s third and largest building at what representatives call Berkshire Roots’ “campus” at 501 Dalton Ave.
“What we are attempting to do here is build a cannabis campus,” Nuciforo said. “It will be, from what we can tell, unique for the East Coast.”
Project engineer Frank DeMarinis outlined the company’s plans for preventing odor from escaping its proposed facility.
While grow rooms would be sealed, air exhausted from bathrooms would be discharged outside the facility, but not before being treated via a multi-step process, he said.
Treatment involves sending the exhaust through an underground sand filtration system, several carbon filters and the use of “odor neutralizing mist diffusers,” which DeMarinis described as “pretty much Febreze” sprayed before the air is discharged outside.
The odor-control system, he said, was developed after he traveled to cannabis facilities outside Las Vegas and learned about systems in use there. It would involve more steps than the system in place at its existing space.
“No one’s doing as much as what we’re proposing,” DeMarinis told the Zoning Board of Appeals on Wednesday.
DeMarinis told the board members that concerns about odor from its existing dispensary, cultivation and processing facility at 501 Dalton Ave. did not surface until Berkshire Roots submitted its proposal for the new facility over the summer.
But, neighbor Charlene Wehry said she raised the concern last year, when the company was seeking approval for the three-story cultivation center now under construction in front of the dispensary. She said she detects “dead skunk marijuana smell” due to the company’s existing facility, particularly in the morning hours.
“This isn’t just now, it’s been for over a year,” she said.
Ward 2 Councilor Kevin Morandi urged the ZBA to hold off on approving the cannabis company’s request until the smell he said constituents, and he himself, have noticed coming from the existing facility is brought under control.
“My family and I live in these neighborhoods, and certainly are affected, and can attest to the strong smell consistently,” he said.
The ZBA voted unanimously to delay a decision on the company’s special permit request until its next meeting Nov. 18. In the meantime, a third-party review of the Berkshire Roots odor- mitigation system will be conducted.
One proponent of the expansion is Ken’s Bowl owner Jerry Gillette, who spoke in favor of the proposal at the ZBA meeting and at an earlier session Tuesday of the Community Development Board. That board approved the Berkshire Roots site plans Tuesday, but asked the company to provide more detailed renderings before breaking ground.
Gillette told the Community Development Board that Ken’s Bowl has been closed for seven months, since the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. He said he has no plans to reopen, so if the company’s proposal stalled, his “building would be sitting abandoned.”
“I think this is a blessing for the community to have this Berkshire Roots come in here and put this grand facility up and employ all these people,” he said. “It’s a win-win for the community.”
The company reached a purchase-and-sale agreement for the Ken’s Bowl property, according to City Planner Cornelius Hoss, with the deal contingent on the company receiving project approval.
According to Nuciforo, the existing dispensary, grow and processing facility employs 78 people. The three-story building for cultivation that remains under construction is expected to add an additional 25 full-time positions to the company’s payroll. The proposed third structure would add around an additional 80 full-time workers, the company says.
“Overall, we anticipate a head count in the city of Pittsfield of about 183 full-time employees when these facilities are up and running,” Nuciforo said.
The cannabis company would demolish Ken’s Bowl and build the new facility in its place, DeMarinis said. Pot grown there would supply Berkshire Roots’ Pittsfield dispensary, the company’s second dispensary in Boston and a third retail location Nuciforo said the company is hoping to open in the next few years.
Pending approval from the state, tours of the new facility would be offered to give the public a glimpse of what growing cannabis entails.
“We would provide some education, and that museum-type feeling for the patrons,” DeMarinis said.
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October 21, 2020
Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior is spreading his "dead skunk odor" of marijuana around Pittsfield's working class neighborhoods from his Dalton Avenue marijuana growing operations. Local Pittsfield residents have written letters to the editor of "The Dirty Bird" (Berkshire Eagle) for over a year that Nuciforo's Berkshire Roots pot business is consistently producing a strong smell that affects the people who live near there.
They don't call him "Luciforo" for nothing! Nuciforo's political family dominated Pittsfield politics for generations. Nuciforo's late-father was a Pittsfield State Senator and a Probate Court Judge. Nuciforo's late-aunt was Pittsfield's first woman mayor and a career professor at Berkshire Community College. Nuciforo's uncle was a Pittsfield State Representative. Nuciforo and his Wojtkowski side of his family are still very involved and invested in Pittsfield politics.
Nuciforo used his political connections from his decade as a Pittsfield State Senator to Boston's Statehouse to start his marijuana empire after he became a fringe politician for trying to oust Congressman John W. Olver and then Congressman Richard E. Neal. The Boston Globe and other newspapers wrote that Nuciforo used his political connections and deep pockets in Boston to open his Berkshire Roots marijuana dispensary in East Boston.
Nuciforo's political career is the textbook case for corruption. Nuciforo had to step down from the Massachusetts State Senate in 2006 because he was in bed with Boston's big banks and insurance companies. Nuciforo illegally served as both Chairman of the State Senate Finance Committee and a Corporate Attorney for the law firm named Berman and Dowell in Boston. The Boston Globe said he was an illegal double dipper from 1999 - 2006. The Boston Globe reported in early-2007 that Nuciforo lobbied the then newly elected Governor Deval Patrick to name him Commissioner of Insurance. This was after Nuciforo strong-armed two women candidates out of the 2006 state government so-called "election" for Pittsfield Registrar of Deeds.
My personal experience with "Luciforo" started when I first met him in the Spring of 1996 when I was 20 years old when he first ran for Berkshire-based State Senator and my dad ran for Berkshire County Commissioner back in the days when there were still county governments in Western Massachusetts. Ever since I first met "Luciforo", he had people associated with his mean-spirited "Nuciforo network" conspiratorially bully and threaten me without "Luciforo" leaving behind his own fingerprints and DNA.
From the Fall of 1997 - Spring of 1998, "Luciforo" filed multiple state "ethics" complaints against my dad to multiple Massachusetts state government agencies to try to get my dad fired from my dad's then state government job at the Pittsfield Courthouse and force my dad to resign from his elected post on the Berkshire County Commissioner. During the Spring of 1998, Nuciforo made false complaints to the Pittsfield Police Department that I was threatening him, but the truth was that Nuciforo was bullying and threatening me. My dad found out about it, and my dad told me to stay away from Nuciforo. Nuciforo, along with the assistance of Daniel "Bureaucrat" Bosley (who is now a Boston Statehouse lobbyist), succeeded in abolishing Berkshire County Government through a budget rider attached to the fiscal year 1999 state budget.
When I lived in Pittsfield, I gathered nomination signatures in early-2004 to try to challenge Nuciforo in the state government election for State Senator. When I talked to people in Pittsfield, many local residents feared him and said that if they signed my nomination papers, they would lose their respective jobs. That is how powerful and intimidating Nuciforo and his family's political network was (and still is) in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Also, Berkshire area State Representatives Smitty Pignatelli, Peter Larkin (who is also now a Boston Statehouse lobbyist), and Dan Bosley all declined to sign my nomination papers. I dropped out of the race, and moved to southern New Hampshire to live with my family who all relocated there.
I followed Nuciforo's careers in politics, law, him serving Boston's big banks and insurance companies, and his over three year old marijuana business over the years. In short, Nuciforo used his family's political domination over Pittsfield to enrich himself by royally screwing over anyone who stood in his way, including me, to cash in on state government, law, double dipping with Boston's financial district, and growing, distributing and selling pot.
In Truth!
Jonathan Melle
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Comment of Dan Valenti's awesome blog on October 22, 2020 by "Merry & Bright":
It seems the City Administration has put the cart before the horse pertaining to the new “Pot Castle” being built on Dalton Avenue. Anyone surprised? Shouldn’t this meeting have been held before they built the building? Same scenario as the cell tower, just opposite side of City. Could not believe Nuciforo’s comments on the Zoning Board ZOOM meeting last night. What a liar! Take it from someone that lives in the neighborhood, the stench is awful especially in the summer. Funny thing, if you call the Mayor they say it is not their problem, call the Health Dept., call them and they don’t answer the phone. Nuciforo seems to think that a few bathroom fans are going to protect the surrounding neighborhood. Most bathroom fans barely take care of a daily dump. Nuciforo must feel that the taxpayers/abutters are ignorant. But then again, in this City if you are part of the vibrant, dynamic, collaborative crowd you can do what ever you want, evidently us taxpayers are not part of this crowd. Ironically the Mayor and Kerwood can’t tell the taxpayers how much revenue has come in from these pot shops or whose pockets it is going into.
In reply to "Bikepath Barry":
In business news out projected pot revenue hit a hitch because neighbors are complaining about the smell from one of our growers. Hey kids, take one for the team! Let the green leaf grow!
I need that money… I mean the city needs that money!
Not so vibrant on that one.
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October 22, 2020
I wish to let everyone know and understand one thing about Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior: He only cares about himself. If someone stands in his way, he will run you over. He plays by the cut-throat political and business model of winning at any cost. Nuciforo is ruthless. His family has dominated Pittsfield politics for generations. He always sides with the powerful interests and power-brokers in government. He hurt himself in politics because he got too arrogant with his power. He burned too many proverbial bridges when he went after Olver's seat in U.S. Congress in early-2012 and then went on to challenge Neal's seat in U.S. Congress later in 2012. Nuciforo is now a fringe politician, but he is still trying to enrich himself with his legal counsel contacts with Boston's financial district, and his over 3-year-old marijuana firm named "Berkshire Roots". Nuciforo doesn't care that his Dalton Avenue marijuana cultivation site is causing "dead skunk odors" to the adjacent Pittsfield neighborhoods. Nuciforo will use his political connections in Pittsfield City Hall, Boston City Hall, and the Boston Statehouse to build his marijuana empire. Whatever false promises Nuciforo will give people, and state and local government, will be all lies. In closing, Nuciforo does whatever the Hell he wants, and his only goal is to enrich himself at the expense of Pittsfield neighborhoods, people, taxpayers, and state and local government from Pittsfield to Boston, Massachusetts.
- Jonathan Melle
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Marijuana - "A look back at four years of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts"
By Jessica Bartlett | Boston Business Journal, October 24, 2020
As the four-year anniversary of the legalization of recreational marijuana in Massachusetts nears, the state has made monumental progress in moving an entire industry from the alleyways into the light.
As of Oct. 9, [2020], a total of 689 licenses have been approved in Massachusetts, which includes 268 retail establishments. In total, the commission has received 904 completed applications to operate in over 160 municipalities. As of Oct. 10, 77 dispensary locations have commenced operations in the state.
The commission has created an entire regulatory market for a drug that was once illegal, and has stood up licensing, enforcement, and marketing teams faster than many companies. But as the industry moves into its third year since sales actually began, work remains. In the past two fiscal years which included recreational cannabis sales, ending in June 2020, the state has collected $122 million in taxes. That’s far below expectations, due largely to the late start to the industry, coupled with shutdowns from coronavirus.
Despite state programs and initiatives to propel disenfranchised groups, the progress has largely benefited white and male operators. Of the 901 applicants for which there are data, only 42 identified as women-owned, 73 identified as minority-owned. Over 700 — 78% — did not identify as being in a disadvantaged business group.
As of its October meeting, only 67 social equity participants and 46 economic empowerment participants had submitted completed licenses. Two economic empowerment applicants and two social equity applicant had opened.
Cannabis regulators have not shied away from the work to be done. But here are the moments that brought us to now:
2016
Nov. 8: By a margin of 54% to 46%, Massachusetts voters approve a ballot question legalizing recreational marijuana. The approval comes four years after voters legalized medical marijuana in 2012.
Dec. 15: Home use and cultivation for recreational marijuana officially legal.
Dec. 28: After passing legislation quietly on Beacon Hill, Gov. Baker signs a law delaying the timeline for licensing the first recreational marijuana store by six months, from Jan. 1, 2018 to July 1, 2018.
2017
July 17: A conference committee on Beacon Hill unveils new legislation increasing total taxation on recreational cannabis from 12% to 20%, increases the Cannabis Control Commission from three to five members, and changing how towns should go about banning marijuana.
Aug. 23-Sept. 1: The state’s Cannabis Control Commission is appointed. Three members are named each by the governor, treasurer and Attorney General, and two additional members are jointly appointed by the three authorities.
Sept. 12: Cannabis Control Commission meets and begins the work of hiring a 25-person staff, executive director, finding permanent office space, and developing regulations for the fledging industry.
2018
March 6: Commission votes on first regulations overseeing the new industry, setting up a new “priority status,” giving people disenfranchised by the war on drugs early access to apply for a license.
April 2: Existing medical marijuana dispensaries and those disenfranchised by the war on drugs can apply for priority status. Within the first day, 218 applications were started. Ultimately 122 individuals would become economic empowerment applicants, and another 82 dispensaries received priority status.
April 17: State begins accepting license applications in stages, first from priority status applicants, and then from other types of businesses on May 1.
June 1: State begins accepting applications for retailer, manufacturer and transport licenses.
June 21: The Cannabis Control Commission grants its first provisional license to a cultivation license owned by Sira Naturals. Advocates realize sales by July are not likely.
Sept 28: Boston Business Journal analysis finds vast majority of reviewed contracts between cannabis businesses and municipalities require fees above the limits stipulated in state law.
Oct. 4: Commission approves final licenses for Cultivate Holdings LLC and New England Treatment Access LLC, clearing inspection hurdles and reaching the penultimate stage to open.
Nov. 20: At 8 a.m. on the dot, customers at New England Treatment Access in Northampton and Cultivate in Leicester purchased the first legalized recreational cannabis in Massachusetts. Massachusetts becomes the seventh state to begin recreational marijuana sales, and the only state east of Colorado to allow legalized recreational cannabis, coming over two years after it was legalized.
Dec. 23: Cannabis Control Commission takes over the medical marijuana program, which was formerly overseen by the Department of Public Health.
2019
March 21:A Boston Business Journal investigation finds that several marijuana companies have exceeded the state’s licensing cap limits by working with businesses through management agreements, leading to stricter punishments for offenders and the commission to clarify its language.
June 1: The CCC launches the Social Equity program, a training program for groups disenfranchised by the war on drugs.
June 12: Guidance issued by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resource (MDAR), which regulates the agricultural industry and focuses on food safety, outlaws the sale of all CBD-infused products and tinctures. The rules spark outrage among local advocates.
Sept. 24: Gov. Baker imposes a four-month ban on all vaping products, amid growing concern that vapes are causing lung illnesses and deaths across the country.
Dec. 12:Ban on cannabis vape sales lifted a day after the state lifts its ban on nicotine vapes.
2020
Jan. 23: Over 80 applicants show up to the Cannabis Control Commission’s headquarters in Worcester for a hearing on the commission’s two equity programs, saying the programs have been too slow, and raising concerns about the diversity of the industry.
March 9: The state’s first economic empowerment applicant, named Pure Oasis in the Grove Hall part of Dorchester, opens its doors. It is also Boston’s first recreational cannabis dispensary.
March 24: Recreational cannabis dispensaries, deemed non-essential by Gov. Charlie Baker, face an order to close over coronavirus concerns. Some dispensaries turn to making hand sanitizer.
May 25: After a 60-day coronavirus-induced shutdown, marijuana dispensaries are allowed to reopen.
May 28: Cannabis Control Commission starts accepting applications for third-party delivery licenses, the first license type to go exclusively to applicants who qualify for the commission’s two equity programs.
Aug. 3: Dispensaries allowed to release quarantined vapes.
Aug. 28: Cannabis Control Commission creates new delivery license type, allowing not only a courier model to and from dispensaries and customers, but also a wholesale model allowing delivery companies to purchase product, relabel it and warehouse it.
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"Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield is expanding their grow operation"
By Jeff Hunter, New 10 ABC in Albany, New York, November 11, 2020
Pittsfield, Massachusetts - (News 10) - Right now, Berkshire Roots has 10,000 square feet of growing space in Pittsfield. At the end of December, they will expand into their new three-story 20,000 square foot space.
As demand grows, the large space is needed, CEO of Berkshire roots James Winokur explained Wednesday.
“We have a good-sized facility to expand our cultivation for our own store’s, and so we can service Massachusetts as more retailers come online,” Winokur said.
Since reopening after the coronavirus shutdown, business has been booming, according to Winokur.
The CEO hopes to expand even more as they work to purchase the bowling alley next door.
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Fifteen states now allow recreational use of marijuana. And two weeks ago, Mississippi became the 36th state to make medical cannabis legal.
Lawmakers in New Hampshire’s neighboring states have legalized marijuana use, with retail stores open in Massachusetts and Maine.
Last October, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott let become law without his signature a marijuana retail sale law that has retail stores set to open there in January 2023.
Voters in Montana, Arizona, New Jersey and South Dakota legalized possession for adults 21 or older. 2020 was a very successful year for cannabis campaigns in the U.S.
Source: "Legalizing pot looks like a doused fire in 2021", By Kevin Landrigan [klandrigan@unionleader.com], NH Union Leader, November 14, 2020
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"With new licenses approved, Berkshire dispensaries seek delivery partnerships"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, December 3, 2020
<i>Theory Wellness in Great Barrington was the first dispensary in the Berkshires to open its doors for recreational marijuana sales, on Jan. 11, 2019. After the Cannabis Control Commission approved new delivery licenses, the dispensary is looking for a delivery company to partner with for each of its locations.</i>
NORTH ADAMS — Marijuana dispensaries in the Berkshires are looking for delivery companies to partner with after state regulators approved a delivery licensing plan Monday [30-November-2020].
“We’ve had our eye on recreational delivery for a while,” said Berkshire Roots CEO James Winokur.
Berkshire Roots, for its Pittsfield location, “will identify a company or they will approach us,” Winokur said. The company already has lined up a delivery partnership for its Boston location, which could begin delivering as early as February, pending regulatory approvals.
For Theory Wellness, adding delivery at each of its locations, including Great Barrington, is “not as much of a question of ‘if’ as it is ‘when,’” said co-founder and CEO Brandon Pollock.
The Cannabis Control Commission plan includes two licenses. A “courier” license, for which applications have been open for months, will let companies charge a fee to deliver products from CCC-licensed retailers and dispensaries, such as Berkshire Roots and Theory Wellness. More controversially, a newer “delivery operator” license will allow businesses to buy their own stock to sell.
Both licenses are exclusively available to members of the CCC’s Economic Empowerment and Social Equity programs, which seek to create opportunities in the industry for people in communities “disproportionately harmed by marijuana law enforcement.” Applicants must meet eligibility requirements, and North Adams and Pittsfield are among the 29 cities listed as areas of disproportionate impact.
Massachusetts’ marijuana industry, The Boston Globe reports, is predominantly white and corporate-backed.
Advocates of equity and delivery have championed the delivery operator license, while the license has faced pushback from dispensaries and the Massachusetts Municipal Association, which expressed concerns that online sales would take tax revenue away from municipalities.
The Massachusetts Cannabis Association for Delivery, along with other supporters, argued that the delivery operator license will help level the playing field for small businesses. Opposition, it said, came from “larger groups who really want to keep the status quo.”
The Commonwealth Dispensary Association, which has threatened a legal challenge, warned that the decision could have the reverse effect by enticing larger corporations to enter delivery, creating a more difficult market for existing dispensaries.
Pollock said he shared the concern that “well-capitalized individuals” would seek “to take as much market share as possible.”
“Without limits around the number of vehicles a delivery operator can have on the road, there is an inherent risk of consolidation of the marketplace into very few well-funded enterprises,” he said. “We very much hope we are wrong in that prediction, but it is certainly a possibility, as any online retail business is most successful with large fleets and large purchasing power.”
State Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier, D-Pittsfield, was among 19 state lawmakers who signed an Oct. 15 letter that questioned whether the CCC had authority to create the delivery operator license. The CCC has maintained that it has the ability from the law allowing it to “establish and provide for issuance of additional types or classes of licenses,” including for delivery.
“We’re going to see what happens,” Farley-Bouvier said Wednesday. “We did give the CCC a lot of authority, and I guess they decided to use it.”
The Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association, in a news release, called the new regulations “a major step” toward an equitable industry.
“Since 2018 alone, the retail cannabis industry has generated over one billion dollars in revenue, but entrepreneurs with limited access to start-up capital, especially Black and Latino entrepreneurs and those who have been harmed by the failed war on drugs, have been largely shut out of this fast-growing market,” said President and CEO David O’Brien said in the release. “These regulations will open the door.”
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"Two years in, pot business adding up for Massachusetts municipalities"
By Meg McIntyre, Special to State House News Service, December 7, 2020
When the first recreational marijuana dispensaries in Massachusetts opened their doors two years ago, expectations were high that the new revenue stream would make a big impact on the Bay State.
With the state's Cannabis Control Commission recently trumpeting $1 billion in gross sales among marijuana retailers, municipalities say the local effects of legalized pot have been largely positive so far, particularly during the pandemic.
And amid a crisis that's throttled local revenues, retail cannabis has been a welcome source of income for some communities as the industry continues to grow. Between December 2018 and May 2019, adult-use marijuana brought in nearly $2.9 million in local tax revenue, according to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, and the following fiscal year, which ended in June 2020, cannabis drew roughly $14.9 million for cities and towns.
The data show that after steady growth each quarter, local marijuana tax revenue dropped during the first few months of the pandemic, when pot shops were shuttered for roughly two months under public health orders. But the latest figures from fiscal year 2021 indicate the industry is rebounding with more than $5.7 million in local tax revenue projected to date.
Beyond the local option tax on marijuana, municipalities can also collect revenue via community impact fees, which are negotiated through host community agreements drafted during the licensing process.
Cities and towns can draw up to 3 percent of a marijuana establishment's gross annual sales in community impact fees, with the stipulation that the funds must be used for costs related to the impact of the business, such as traffic or environmental impact studies, added costs for public safety staffing or substance use prevention programming.
To date, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission has authorized 90 marijuana retailers to start operations, according to commission documents, as well as a few dozen cannabis businesses of other types, such as cultivation, production and testing.
Change of heart on Cape
As the industry grows, at least one Bay State community has rethought its position on pot during the public health crisis.
In a late October Town Meeting, Orleans voters overturned a local ban on retail marijuana establishments and approved a zoning amendment allowing two retailers to set up shop in town. The proposal to reverse the ban was brought forward by the town's select board, according to Director of Planning and Community Development George Meservey, who said the original ban was proposed through citizen's petition.
"I think it's looked at as a revenue source, and right now, the town is looking for any and all revenue sources to be considered," Meservey told the News Service, noting that local tax revenues have suffered on the Cape with the drop in tourism.
Fall River expects to collect roughly $1.9 million in tax revenue next year, Mayor Paul Coogan said, with two retail locations open there so far.
When it comes to pot, the city has been in the spotlight recently after former Mayor Jasiel Correia was charged with extorting marijuana vendors in September 2019. Coogan, who took office in January, said despite the city's track record, Fall River has resolved its issues and is still attracting and pursuing marijuana-related businesses, but with a focus on finding companies that will be the best fit for the community.
"Obviously cannabis is a big revenue source for the city of Fall River, and going forward we're just picking up the pieces and going forward," Coogan said.
In Pittsfield, where four retail locations have opened thus far, local cannabis income has helped the city build up its savings, especially during the pandemic, Mayor Linda Tyer told the News Service. Marijuana revenue is divided among various savings accounts and the general fund, with 50 percent going to city stabilization funds, 25 percent going to a public works stabilization fund and 25 percent going to general municipal operations, she said.
The local option tax on marijuana currently brings in about $250,000 per quarter, and officials expect that number to grow as more establishments open.
"Having this new revenue stream as part of our overall budget, funding our overall budget certainly takes some of the pressure off," Tyer said.
Pittsfield also collects a flat fee in its host community agreements that varies depending on the type of cannabis business and increases over the five-year term of the agreements, with retailers paying $60,000 in their first year of operation. According to finance director Matthew Kerwood, the city collected $30,000 from the fees in fiscal 2019, $170,000 in fiscal 2020 and $167,500 to date for fiscal 2021. That money goes into Pittsfield's general fund, he said.
Real estate impacts
But unlike the tax revenue, income from the fees is finite.
"I see this as a limited revenue source, because eventually we'll reach that saturation point of facilities that can operate under those laws of supply and demand," Kerwood said. "And ultimately, those five-year agreements will expire, so this revenue source will ultimately go away."
Between adult-use retail, cultivation, production and testing, the city has approved 17 marijuana establishments so far. According to Tyer, Pittsfield's local ordinance allows up to 35 retail locations, but for now the city is "holding the line" to gauge how the industry is impacting the community.
"For the real estate market, there's been a lot of investment in capital improvements to once-vacant properties. There's been a lot of job creation," Tyer said. "We really feel that overall, this has had a positive effect on the city of Pittsfield."
Tyer and Coogan said their respective cities haven't seen any rise in crime or other negative side effects that could be attributed to the budding industry, while Meservey said the success of retail marijuana in other communities may partially be what helped sway Orleans voters.
"I think there were substantial concerns a year or two ago when there were no other retailers," Meservey said. "But I think townspeople and everyone across the Commonwealth has seen, after the initial sort of rush when there were very few retailers around, it's kind of leveled off."
Coogan said that beyond pledging to prioritize local job candidates and fixing up blighted properties, local cannabis businesses have also been active in the community by participating in community clean-ups and sponsoring local sports teams.
"I think they want to be good neighbors in the community, as we wish all of our companies would be, and I think that they're starting to move their way into the system and find out what they can do to make Fall River a better place to live," he said.
Concerns about delivery
Before the Cannabis Control Commission voted Nov. 30 [2020] to finalize a home delivery policy that is sure to reshape the marketplace here, municipalities lobbied hard against the commissions's wholesale delivery license with the argument that delivery not tethered to a brick-and-mortar retailer will cut into marijuana tax revenues for communities that host the physical marijuana stores.
"The Commission does not yet know how the market may react to a delivery license and we believe it would be prudent to take the time necessary to understand the disruptions this may have on the retail market before greatly expanding the license to include wholesale delivery. Many communities have welcomed recreational marijuana shops, and it would be a shame to see those shops close so early on in the recreational marijuana industry in Massachusetts," Massachusetts Municipal Association Executive Director Geoff Beckwith wrote to the CCC in October.
The mayors of Worcester, Springfield, Lawrence and Brockton separately wrote to the commission with similar concerns, as did municipal leaders from Shrewsbury, Athol, Raynham, Millis and Amherst.
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"Berkshire Roots secures key permit for 'cannabis campus' in Pittsfield"
By Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle, December 22, 2020
PITTSFIELD — The Zoning Board of Appeals has granted Berkshire Roots a special permit needed to make the company's goal of a "cannabis campus" on Dalton Avenue a reality.
The local approval paves the way for parent company KO Resources to build a two-story, 100,000-square-foot building primarily for cannabis cultivation and manufacturing where Ken’s Bowl now stands.
The company’s plans call for the Ken’s Bowl building to be demolished and a new facility built in its place. Once completed, it will be the company’s third and largest building at what representatives call Berkshire Roots’ “campus” at 501 Dalton Ave.
The owner of Ken’s Bowl is a proponent of the expansion, and he previously told the ZBA his building would otherwise sit abandoned amid the economic toll of the coronavirus pandemic.
At that time, the company had reached a purchase-and-sale agreement for the Ken’s Bowl property, according to City Planner Cornelius Hoss. The sale was contingent on the company receiving project approval.
At the request of the ZBA, which heard complaints from neighbors about odor they said wafted from Berkshire Roots’ facility at 501 Dalton Ave., the company retained O'Reilly Talbot & Okun Associates to review its plans for making sure that won't happen at the new building.
The firm identified issues with odor control, and Berkshire Roots agreed to implement five of its recommendations, said project engineer Bryan Balicki. They include use of larger carbon-filtration units, and building entryways that have two sets of “fast-acting” sliding doors.
Neighbor Charlene Wehry had been outspoken about concerns regarding odor that she said she could detect coming from the existing dispensary, grow and processing facility at 501 Dalton Ave. She thanked the company and the ZBA, at its Dec. 16 meeting, for listening and responding to those concerns by making changes to the proposal.
The board unanimously approved the special permit, with conditions that the company pay to have odor levels tested periodically. According to co-founder Andrea F. Nuciforo Jr., the new facility at the former Ken’s Bowl will employ about 80 full-time workers.
ZBA member Thomas Goggins showed support for the company’s odor strategy, calling it a “state-of-the-art odor-mitigation plan that will be well-monitored.”
His colleague on the panel, Erin Sullivan, thanked the company for working with them to amend plans in light of the concerns aired by some.
“We still want to be a business-friendly city, but we also need to take care of our residents,” Sullivan said.
related link: https://www.iberkshires.com/story/63816/-ZBA-Approves-Permit-for-Berkshire-Root-Cultivation-Facility.html
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December 27, 2020
To the Editor(s):
It is NOT bad enough that Marijuana or Cannabis – which contributes to increased and substantial Mental Health RISKS! – is a Predatory and multi-billion dollar Industry! - (Similar to Alcohol, Tobacco, Casinos, State Lotteries, and the like - Prostitution), the Politico news article, below, explains that Massachusetts state and local government and their career politicians are using this newest Predatory industry for extortion schemes.
In my native hometown of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, my enemy #1 named Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, who was a Pittsfield State Senator to Boston for one decade (1997 - 2006), is one of the first recipients of a permit to open his marijuana business in both Pittsfield and (East) Boston. Nuciforo, who is a co-founder of Berkshire Roots (operated by KO Resources), opened the first medical marijuana dispensary in Pittsfield (on April 7, 2018); and second recreational marijuana shop in Pittsfield (on April 6, 2019). Berkshire Roots is the largest grower of cannabis in Western Massachusetts.
Mayor Linda Tyer's chief bureaucrat, Matt Kerwood, (should not) operates a +$10 million City Hall slush fund (that should belong in the pockets of the proverbial little guys named Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski), while Tyer and Kerwood continue to raise municipal taxes, fees, and debts to record levels on Pittsfield's diminishing taxpayers. Also, cannabis stores in Western Massachusetts draw most of their customers from New York. Did Nuciforo and other political insiders "pay to play" and/or were they extorted by Pittsfield politicians (or their middle-men) to enrich each other with bribes and favoritism?
Massachusetts’ marijuana industry, The Boston Globe reports, is predominantly white and corporate-backed. “Since 2018 alone, the retail cannabis industry has generated over one billion dollars in revenue, but entrepreneurs with limited access to start-up capital, especially Black and Latino entrepreneurs and those who have been harmed by the failed war on drugs, have been largely shut out of this fast-growing market,” said President and CEO David O’Brien, president of the Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association, said (on December 3rd, 2020).
Marijuana is often consumed with other substances like alcohol or tobacco. Marijuana slows brain development in adolescence. Modern marijuana is very addictive for teens; suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year old. THC concentrations have skyrocketed in recent years, and growers have bred the antipsychotic properties out of today’s marijuana. Marijuana and substance abuse is often inter-generational. Higher THC concentration yields a more lucrative product. The Marijuana Plant contains more than 400 chemicals. The main chemical component is called THC is believed to produce the high users experience. THC produces a psychoactive effect. There hasn’t been a long-term study of cannabis on the brain.
Marijuana sales still violates federal laws.
To read more, please visit my blog page:
https://luciforo.blogspot.com/2017/03/luciforo-invested-in-pittsfield-medical.html
In Truth!
Jonathan Melle
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POLITICO - CANNABIS: A market for state and local corruption! By making local officials the gatekeepers for million-dollar businesses, states created a breeding ground for bribery and favoritism.
"How state marijuana legalization became a boon for corruption"
By Mona Zhang, Politico, 12/27/2020
Jasiel Correia’s star was rising.
The son of Cape Verdean immigrants in the working-class Massachusetts port city of Fall River — famed as the home of Lizzie Borden — Correia was a home-grown prodigy. At 23, he was elected mayor, fielding congratulatory calls from Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Joe Kennedy.
That was in 2015. Four years later, just a week before his reelection race, federal agents ignominiously led him away from his home in handcuffs and charged him with attempting to extort cannabis companies of $600,000 in exchange for granting them lucrative licenses to sell weed in his impoverished city.
“Mayor Correia has engaged in an outrageous brazen campaign of corruption, which turned his job into a personal ATM,” declared U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling during a press conference announcing the charges.
The downfall of Fall River’s young mayor wasn’t just a tragedy for the thousands of people who invested their hopes in him: It was emblematic of a rash of cannabis-related corruption across the nation, from Massachusetts to California to Arkansas and beyond.
In the past decade, 15 states have legalized a regulated marijuana market for adults over 21, and another 17 have legalized medical marijuana. But in their rush to limit the numbers of licensed vendors and give local municipalities control of where to locate dispensaries, they created something else: A market for local corruption.
Almost all the states that legalized pot either require the approval of local officials — as in Massachusetts — or impose a statewide limit on the number of licenses, chosen by a politically appointed oversight board, or both. These practices effectively put million-dollar decisions in the hands of relatively small-time political figures — the mayors and councilors of small towns and cities, along with the friends and supporters of politicians who appoint them to boards. And these strictures have given rise to the exact type of corruption that got Correia in trouble with federal prosecutors. They have also created a culture in which would-be cannabis entrepreneurs feel obliged to make large campaign contributions or hire politically connected lobbyists.
For some entrepreneurs, the payments can seem worth the ticket to cannabis riches.
For some politicians, the lure of a bribe or favor can be irresistible.
Correia’s indictment alleges that he extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars from marijuana companies in exchange for granting them the local approval letters that are necessary prerequisites for obtaining Massachusetts licenses. Correia and his co-conspirators — staffers and friends — accepted a variety of bribes including cash, more than a dozen pounds of marijuana and a “Batman” Rolex watch worth up to $12,000, the indictment charges.
Cigar bars were his preferred meeting spot, where he rendezvoused with aspiring marijuana licensees to ascertain their willingness to pay bribes, prosecutors allege. When one marijuana vendor asked him why he demanded so much money for a letter in support of his business, Correia said he needed the money for legal fees. A year earlier, he had been indicted on charges of wire fraud and filing false tax returns in connection with his tech startup.
“All government contracting and licensing is subject to these kinds of forces,” said Douglas Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University who authors a blog on marijuana policy. But “there are unique facets to government contracting in [the cannabis] space that makes it uniquely vulnerable to corruption.”
In Fall River, with its population of roughly 90,000, the cost of obtaining a letter of local approval from Correia’s City Hall was anywhere from $100,000 to $250,000 in bribes, according to the indictment. One vendor even agreed to give 2 percent of his sales to a friend of Correia’s who was helping to facilitate the bribes, according to court documents. This friend allegedly acted as a middleman to help conceal the mayor’s involvement in the extortion scheme.
Genoveva Andrade, who served as Correia’s chief of staff, pleaded guilty to bribery and extortion charges in December. Correia is scheduled to go to trial in February, and five marijuana applicants are expected to testify for the prosecution.
“There’s a lot of deal-making between businesses and localities that creates the environment of everyone working their way towards getting a piece of the action,” Berman said. Whether it’s city or county officials that need to be appeased, local control is “just another opportunity for another set of hands to be outstretched.”
It’s not just local officials. Allegations of corruption have reached the state level in numerous marijuana programs, especially ones in which a small group of commissioners is charged with dispensing limited numbers of licenses. Former Maryland state Del. Cheryl Glenn was sentenced to two years in prison in July for taking bribes in exchange for introducing and voting on legislation to benefit medical marijuana companies. Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s administration is the target of law enforcement and legislative probes into the rollout of its medical marijuana program.
“The state Is given full control in an industry where there is so much competition — where everyone realizes how valuable these licenses are,” said Lorenzo Nourafchan, CEO of Northstar Financial Consulting, which works with cannabis businesses.
Nourafchan cited some friends who submitted “incredible applications” for Missouri medical marijuana licenses only to see the licenses go to large, multistate operators: “It just seemed to me and many others that it was not fair … people were not given objective and unbiased treatment.”
Paying for police and restoring artwork
When advocates seek to legalize marijuana, whether through a ballot initiative or through the state legislature, there is typically a corresponding demand that local communities be given a say in whether a dispensary will be set up shop in their towns.
Inevitably, some localities would want to ban marijuana businesses as unsuitable to their tastes; others, however, may welcome them in hopes of reaping a tax windfall. When Massachusetts passed a recreational legalization initiative in 2016, the state gave wide latitude to local authorities. Not only are cannabis companies required to have a letter of support from municipalities to get a state license, they must also have a "host community agreement," which allows for a "community impact fee" of not more than 3 percent of gross sales of the cannabis business.
But the competition for licenses has been so intense that companies quickly found ways of going beyond the cap, offering more community givebacks in order to win their support. In this scramble for licenses, large, well-heeled firms were able to offer municipalities greater financial benefits compared to small, locally run businesses — the opposite of what the law intended.
For instance, the national pot powerhouse PharmaCann (“Improving people’s lives through cannabis”) offered the town of Wareham, on the Cape Cod Canal, money for police details; paid an art conservation company to restore a painting; and put up money for a local oyster festival, among other sweeteners.
These special benefits — particularly the police details — seemed to run afoul of the state’s commitment to right past wrongs of marijuana enforcement, which was the thinking behind a requirement that cannabis businesses have a "Positive Impact Plan" in order to help areas that were disproportionately targeted by marijuana enforcement.
State regulators delayed the license renewal of PharmaCann last year in order to review its agreements with Wareham. A bill to increase oversight of these agreements stalled in committee last session, but state Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, plans to reintroduce the legislation next year.
Local control is "the biggest mistake that we made," said Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commissioner Shaleen Title at a Boston University conference on marijuana law. Title is a longtime drug policy-reform advocate and serves in the Commission's social justice seat. As someone who helped draft Massachusetts’s legalization law, Title said, she takes responsibility for those shortcomings.
"We should have spelled out a lot more how local control would work … how the selection decisions would be made as to who can operate in a city or town," she said. A quick solution, she said, would be to tie municipal marijuana tax revenue to certain social equity goals like rewarding local businesses.
"Then, you get your share of tax revenue,” Title said, referring to local governments. “I think that would completely solve that issue."
Massachusetts, however, isn't the only state that is plagued by issues of local control.
California led the way for the country's modern legalization movement when it legalized medical marijuana at the ballot box in 1996. The state's early medical marijuana program was largely unregulated — no testing requirements for contaminants, no seed-to-sale tracking software that are now common in regulated marijuana markets. The industry flourished, and many saw California's program as "de-facto legalization" amid the lax regulatory structure.
Those days are long gone. Oklahoma's medical marijuana market is looking more like California's cannabis heyday when small operators didn't have to contend with the exorbitant costs of compliance. California, on the other hand, is contending with the same forces that gave rise to Correia's alleged crimes in Massachusetts: local control.
Since California voters approved adult-use legalization in 2016, giving municipal governments near-total control of the approval process, many longtime medical marijuana and underground operators struggled to enter the industry. Aside from compliance costs, there's the matter of actually securing a license. Despite California's pot-friendly reputation, most of the state’s municipalities have chosen to ban commercial cannabis businesses, fueling even greater competition among companies to enter the municipalities willing to host them.
In return, the localities have chosen to enact their own regulations on how to obtain cannabis licenses, empowering local politicians and government officials. That's given rise to a myriad of corruption cases, from bribes to local sheriffs to a Ukrainian-born man indicted alongside two associates of presidential lawyer Rudolph Giuliani, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, over campaign finance violations for plotting to funnel money to politicians in hopes of getting licenses in Nevada and New York.
In May, federal prosecutors charged two city officials in Calexico, near California’s border with Mexico, with corruption, after the pair solicited bribes from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for fast-tracking a marijuana permit application, according to court documents. "This isn't our first rodeo," one of the officials told the agent, referencing how the pair had done similar work for others. The bribery scheme was carried out under the guise of a consulting firm, which was used to launder money, according to court documents. Both officials struck plea deals.
Just a month later, FBI agents arrested Los Angeles City Council Member Jose Huizar for corruption. The city is home to the largest legal marijuana market in the world, posting more than $3 billion in sales last year.
While the federal corruption case focuses on allegations that Huizar was a central figure in a pay-to-play scheme for real estate developers, court documents in a separate suit allege that Huizar operated in a similar fashion with marijuana companies. A former staffer filed a wrongful termination complaint, claiming he was fired after sharing details about Huizar extorting cannabis companies with federal officials.
According to court documents, Huizar conditioned local marijuana permits on "political donations, 'consulting fees' funneled to the Councilmember's friends, and cash payments made directly to Huizar."
Huizar pleaded not guilty to the bribery charges in December. He denied the allegations in the wrongful termination suit, and the case is poised to be dismissed after the parties reached a settlement.
In November, FBI agents raided a Compton, California, councilman's home and the offices of a Baldwin Park city attorney as part of an investigation into their dealings with marijuana businesses, the Los Angeles Times reported. A former police officer said in a declaration that three cannabis businesses complained to him about "questionable business practices, which included paying as much as $250,000 cash in a brown paper bag to city officials."
These cases didn’t occur in a vacuum. The FBI has been warning states across the country about the public corruption threat posed by the marijuana industry.
"We’ve seen in some states the price go as high as $500,000 for a license to sell marijuana. So, we see people willing to pay large amounts of money to get in to the industry," said special agent Regino Chavez during an FBI podcast last year.
Further north in Sacramento, Andrey Kukushkin, the chief financial officer of a company that operates a cannabis dispensary, was indicted on federal campaign finance violations alongside Parnas and Fruman, who had allegedly helped Giuliani look into U.S. officials in Ukraine as part of his probe into President-elect Joe Biden. Kukushkin pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.
The Ukrainian-born Kukushkin and his partner are the “de facto pot kings of Sacramento,” the Sacramento Bee reported, controlling nearly one-third of the local market. Kukushkin was also set to partner with the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center on a cannabis research project, but the agreement was scrapped just weeks before he was indicted, POLITICO first reported.
Kukushkin, along with the other three individuals indicted in the case, planned to use funds from a Russian national for political donations in Nevada and New York in order to secure marijuana licenses, according to federal prosecutors.
Parnas and Fruman also attempted to get into the pot business in Florida, but industry insiders told POLITICO that their lack of familiarity about cannabis regulations in California and Nevada, where they claimed to hold licenses, raised red flags.
If the same players are repeatedly getting licenses, "it stifles creativity and ingenuity and new ideas in the space," Nourafchan said. "The person who has an incredible application, but doesn't have deep pockets to pay off local officials, is prevented from adding their own contribution."
Limited programs, license caps
It's not just liberal states, eager to help local communities scarred by the drug war, where corruption has emerged as an issue.
Medical marijuana programs in more conservative states such as Arkansas and Missouri have also been dogged with allegations of corruption, though none have stuck in court. In both states, applicants who lost out on licenses believe the supposed “merit-based” application process was rigged to benefit the politically well-connected.
Naturalis Health, one of the losing applicants in Arkansas, succeeded in getting a temporary restraining order against the state Medical Marijuana Commission after a Circuit Court judge ruled that the regulators carried out the licenses process in a “flawed, biased, and arbitrary and capricious manner.” But that ruling was thrown out by the state Supreme Court.
And while Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge wrote in a letter to the chief justice that allegations of improprieties are “unsubstantiated,” she raised the issue of a commissioner being offered a bribe by one of the winning companies. The commissioner did not report the attempted bribe, Rutledge wrote, and there is no law requiring him to do so. But the commissioner gave the applicant “the second-highest score that he awarded to any entity,” which was “significantly higher” than any other commissioner.
“We have no evidence that the commissioner took the bribe or based his scoring on the offer,” the letter, first reported by KHBS, read. “Still, we believe we needed to provide these facts to the tribunal.”
Other applicants similarly filed lawsuits and ethics complaints about the process.
"It was just unbelievable … the level of corruption was shocking to me," said Mildred Barnes Griggs, who was part of a team that applied for but did not receive a license in Arkansas, and responded with a series of official complaints alleging favoritism and a lack of accountability. "Open corruption. Corruption that went unpunished."
Arkansas gave out only five cultivation licenses in the first round of licensing and Griggs says the license cap played a big role in promoting wrongdoing, including awarding licenses to applicants who provided false information and one who seemed to plagiarize much of its application from another team that didn’t receive one. She and Olly Neal, another member of her application team, were both motivated to get involved in the cannabis industry after seeing high levels of poverty in their communities and the devastation of disproportionate marijuana arrests of African Americans.
Both Griggs and Neal hail from Lee County — named after the Confederate general — and went to segregated schools growing up. Neal went on to become the first Black district prosecutor in the state, and eventually served as a judge in the state circuit and appeals courts. Since voters in the state approved medical marijuana legalization at the ballot box in 2016, arrests for possession have trended upward, according to data from the American Civil Liberties Union. In Lee County, Black people are four times more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white people, slightly higher than the national average.
Griggs and Neal felt that allowing their application, which was rooted in a Black community that had suffered from the drug war, would spur economic development and heal some of the wounds. But they say that despite encouragement from the state to apply, the process was rigged from the beginning.
Neal filed a complaint with the Arkansas Ethics Commission, pointing to Medical Marijuana Commissioner Travis Story's ties to one of the winning licensees, Osage Creek Cultivation. As a lawyer, Story had helped the owners of Osage Creek in previous business and land-use matters unrelated to medical marijuana. The commission dismissed the complaint, saying that licensing medical marijuana businesses did not qualify as a "procurement matter" under state ethics laws.
Story’s ties to state Sen. Bob Ballinger, who is a partner at his law firm, raised eyebrows for the various campaign contributions Ballinger received from medical marijuana hopefuls.
Story has denied any allegations of bias or impropriety during the licensing process.
Other legal challenges were also filed by those who didn't secure licenses, including by Griggs' team. Those lawsuits alleged that the regulators violated their own rules during the licensing process, and that the licenses were awarded in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner. None of them prevailed in court except one: Abraham Carpenter, a farmer in Grady, Ark., who also grows produce and hemp. Carpenter Farms was the only 100 percent Black-owned applicant. Despite the application's high score, it was disqualified based on a "scriveners' error," a minor inconsistency in two parts of his application, despite the fact that one of the winning applicants had the same error.
During a commission hearing in June, Carpenter explained how he had taken his grievances to the attorney general's office, the commission, and even the governor's office. Everyone told him his only remedy is through the courts.
"We'll, we've been all the way to the Supreme Court and we prevailed," he said. "We are yet to be treated fairly."
The licensed cultivators "want to fix prices at high levels," said Billy Murphy, the Baltimore civil rights attorney who represented Carpenter in the case. "We belong at the table. We've earned it with our blood, sweat, tears, our prison sentences."
The state Supreme Court ruled that the commission violated equal protection, amounting to racial discrimination. The regulatory agency "differentiates among individuals (the 100 percent minority-owned applicants and everyone else)," the court wrote.
Carpenter eventually got a license, but another lawsuit from existing growers is trying to stop newer licensees.
License caps similarly befell Missouri's medical marijuana program earlier this year after regulators decided to cap the number of licenses to the minimum required under the law. The limited licenses and perceived scoring disparities led to more than 800 administrative appeals, law enforcement and legislative investigations, and a lawsuit challenging the license cap.
Even if there wasn’t outright corruption, state Sen. Peter Merideth told POLITICO earlier this year that even the appearance of corruption was problematic. A legislative report penned by a lawyer for the state Democratic caucus cited “credible allegations” of executive branch interference with the corruption investigation. But the Republican-led investigation fizzled out, and it’s unclear whether the Special Committee on Government Oversight will pick it up next session.
"Where there’s money, there’s people in powerful positions able to steer contracts or granting of licenses in one direction," Kenneth Warren, a political science professor at Saint Louis University, said of the conflict-of-interest allegations. He cited an "endless" list of groups involved in the medical marijuana program that are connected to the Parson administration.
While Arkansas' marijuana regulators scored the applications themselves, Missouri regulators hired a third party. In both cases, detractors pointed to scoring irregularities and questioned how "blind" the process really was.
A major sticking point in Missouri's licensing process was the late addition of "bonus points" for locating businesses in certain ZIP codes after many applicants had already secured real estate for their businesses.
During a trial over the state’s medical marijuana program, the top cannabis regulator testified under oath that the FBI subpoenaed the agency for information involving four medical marijuana license applicants. The subpoena was likely tied to an FBI investigation into utility contracts in Independence, the Missouri Independent reported. The judge in the trial ultimately tossed the case.
"Because the state is delegating exactly who is in control, who is doing the review process of the licenses, who approves them, who creates the applications, etc. it's a breeding ground for corruption," Nourafchan said.
The cannabis industry is “particularly vulnerable to lacking a set of safeguards or regularity that might hedge against corruption in other areas,” said Berman, the Ohio State law professor. Even with other vice industries like alcohol or gambling, policymakers have been working on regulating those industries for decades. “In the cannabis space, we’re almost literally making it up as we go. No history, no background, no norms,” he said.
States that have largely avoided corruption controversies either do not have license caps — like Colorado or Oklahoma — or dole out a limited number of licenses through a lottery rather than scoring the applicants by merit — like Arizona. Many entrepreneurs, particularly those who lost out on license applications, believe the government shouldn't be in the business of picking winners and losers and should just let the free market do its job.
"It was far more political than I had ever anticipated," said Barnes Griggs of her application experience. "People were encouraged to apply, but you didn't stand a chance. It was already rigged."
link: https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/27/marijuana-legalization-corruption-450529
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"Going to pot? Legal weed sales in nearby states could affect industry in Berkshires — though not immediately"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, May 29, 2021
When Berkshire County’s first dispensaries opened their doors in 2019, parking lots filled up with cars bearing out-of-state license plates.
For nearly two years, Massachusetts was the only state on the East Coast where stores were licensed to sell recreational marijuana, before Maine began licensed sales in October 2020.
By the end of those first two years, the industry hit $1 billion in sales. Money flowed not only into companies that entered the market early, but also to cities and towns, which collect taxes for hosting businesses.
But, New York’s legalization of recreational marijuana March 31 served as a reminder of what many already had recognized: Other states eventually would catch up.
In the near future, though, those who run Berkshire dispensaries aren’t overly concerned about losing business. Greater competition could lower products’ prices, closer to where they are on the unlicensed market, but that might not happen for a while, either.
For one, it could take years for a licensing process to be established, said Brandon Pollock, co-founder and CEO of Theory Wellness in Great Barrington. Beyond that, local cultural events and attractions likely still will draw tourists into the area, said James Winokur, CEO of Berkshire Roots in Pittsfield.
“Any loss of customers might be mitigated by that activity that’s always here in the Berkshires with events and second homes,” Winokur said. “I think with the big tourist community, we might be in a better place than others where we’re situated. We’ll still attract people.”
Companies that operate locally, including Theory Wellness, Berkshire Roots and Silver Therapeutics in Williamstown, are considering expanding into New York. But, even if those companies can cash in on New York sales, local municipalities that received considerable revenue would be affected by any sales that leave the Berkshires.
Some communities have been careful to avoid relying upon marijuana revenue. Great Barrington plans to use most of the $3 million it received from marijuana sales in fiscal year 2019 for one-time expenses, rather than recurring costs, said Select Board member Ed Abrahams.
“From the beginning I’ve said we need to look at this as a windfall, not ongoing revenue,” Abrahams said. “Because when it dries up, we would have to come up with some other money.”
Local impacts
Early on, Berkshire County’s location — it is near borders to three states that had yet to legalize sales — proved advantageous for the industry.
Canna Provisions, for instance, tells website visitors that its Lee dispensary is the closest recreational dispensary to New York state, “located minutes off Exit 2 on I-90.” Also, Berkshire Roots has advertised in some New York publications, Winokur said.
Dispensaries cannot track where their customers live, but Pollock estimated that slightly less than half of Theory Wellness customers come from out of state. From one-third to one-half of customers at Silver Therapeutics might be nonresidents, said co-founder and CFO Brendan McKee. That translated into an influx of cash for municipalities that host dispensaries. Communities can assess a 3 percent local excise tax and 3 percent community impact fee on sales.
Of the $3 million Great Barrington received in fiscal year 2019, $1 million will go toward keeping property taxes down, Abrahams said. While taxes still would increase to fund the $12.9 million operating budget and $1.2 million in capital requests, subject to approval at the town meeting, marijuana revenue would reduce the rate of increase. Abrahams said $160,000 would cover durable equipment, including a police car, that otherwise would have been funded by taxpayers.
While fiscal 2020 revenue might be even greater, Abrahams expects New York sales, once they begin, to “definitely cut into” the town’s marijuana revenue, he said.
Pittsfield puts about 75 percent of the revenue it collects from marijuana sales into stabilization or “rainy day” funds, where cash is set aside to be used in future emergencies. The remaining 25 percent goes into city operations.
The city has received $938,534 in fiscal 2021 through a sales tax, but it does not charge a community impact fee, opting instead to collect an annual host community fee from businesses, said Finance Director Matthew Kerwood.
Kerwood said it’s unclear what impact legalization in other states would have on Pittsfield’s marijuana revenue, and that sales “will all depend on where shops in [New York] are located and consumers making a choice based on distance and other factors as to where to go to make a purchase.”
Community impact fees are meant to mitigate possible negative impacts of marijuana businesses, although some industry watchers have argued that the fees overburden companies. The initial fear was that more people might drive while impaired, but police have not reported an increase in such drivers, Abrahams said.
Some locals might celebrate if further legalization takes business away from the area. A group of Great Barrington residents wanted to limit the number of stores in the town, although voters last year turned down that proposal.
“People have talked about us having too many stores,” Abrahams said, counting seven that the town has licensed, including four that have opened. “Probably New York legalizing would take care of that. I can’t imagine there would be an awful lot of new stores coming, and we may lose one or two of the ones here with competition.”
Market shifts
Some company executives compare the legalization process for recreational marijuana to the state-by-state repeal of alcohol Prohibition in the early 20th century.
“What you started to see was some big companies mass-produce items that led to lower prices,” Pollock said. “But, there were also locally based brands that made craft products that have been very successful in beer and wine.”
Berkshire stores seem to be prioritizing the latter path, hoping to continue to draw customers with what they say are superior product quality, service and local roots.
While New York and Vermont, like Massachusetts, have proposed some measures that seek to prevent large businesses from cornering the market, there is concern among some that as more states legalize, already large multistate operators can increase their advantage over locally owned businesses.
The costs of starting a business are high, and banks tend to be hesitant to lend to marijuana businesses or charge high fees. Host communities also typically sell to the highest bidder. That dynamic favors people with access to capital, with the industry increasingly turning toward venture capital.
While Massachusetts’ social equity and economic empowerment programs aim to help those hurt by drug criminalization profit from legal sales, high startup costs have led many of the hundreds of applicants to those programs to struggle to get businesses up and running.
And even though Massachusetts limits businesses to three store licenses, companies with out-of-state investors have worked to circumvent regulations, The Boston Globe has reported. Affiliates of publicly traded companies such as Curaleaf and Green Thumb Industries also have established themselves as influential players in the state’s market.
As those companies continue to scale up and drive down their costs, they could widen their advantage over smaller operators.
But, companies operating in the Berkshires don’t want you to worry about them.
“We’re scrappy,” said McKee, of Silver Therapeutics. “There are these craft microbusinesses whom we always seek out and want to work with because we fall in that category as well.”
“In beer, you’ve got your Budweisers and your craft beers and your Sam Adams somewhere in between,” said Winokur, of Berkshire Roots. “We think we can be a really great local operator who’s focused on where they reside — that’s our mission.”
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"Legal pot has helped Pittsfield"
The Hartford Courant, Letter to the Editor, June 12, 2021
For years marijuana was thought as the gateway drug to more dangerous drugs. Just from this rumor many citizens skip over the beneficial facts about marijuana. Not only are there medical benefits, but there are financial benefits.
I had a chance to interview former Massachusetts State Sen. Andrea Nuciforo about the financial benefits of medical and recreational marijuana. He said that in Massachusetts, anyone who sells must collect a 20% tax, which is broken down to a 6.25% sales tax, 10.75% excise tax, and a 3% local option tax. The 3% local option tax is determined by the town or city, which in most cases is accepted by the town, because who turns down money?
Growing up in Pittsfield, I have seen the best and worst of the city. With the dispensaries moving into Pittsfield, the city has seen an increase in revenue and jobs. The leading dispensary in Pittsfield, Berkshire Roots, employees nearly 100 people.
Yes, marijuana has had a bad reputation for years, but it’s time to turn the page and focus on the benefits that recreational and medical marijuana can bring. The tax rate will keep money circulating throughout the area, as well as give community members well-paying jobs. Growing up in a struggling city and now finally seeing it turning around, I strongly back the idea of recreational and medical marijuana, and if you want to see your city or town boom, I would support the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Cole Wojtkowski, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
The writer attends the Salisbury School in Connecticut.
NOTE: Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior (a.k.a. Luciforo)'s mother's maiden name was Wojtkowski. Nuciforo's late Aunt Anne Everest Wojtkowski was the first woman Mayor of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Nuciforo's Uncle Tom Wojtkowski was a Pittsfield (Massachusetts) State Representative in Boston. The Wojtkowski family, which Nuciforo is part of, is heavily invested in the marijuana business in Massachusetts.
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"Berkshire Roots Will Ask Community Support for Delivery, Other Changes at Upcoming Meeting"
By John Lynds, East Boston Times-Free Press, September 15, 2021
Owners of the recreational marijuana dispensary, Berkshire Roots, on Meridian Street are hosting a virtual community meeting on Thursday, September 30 at 6:00 pm via a Webex meeting forum. The meeting’s link can be found at https://bit.ly/3hmkrFL and the password is meridian. Residents can join the meeting by phone at 617-315-0704 using the access code 2346 317 1345.
At the meeting Berkshire Roots representatives will discuss partnering with a cannabis delivery service, expanding hours of operation as well as adding a medicinal marijuana option to the dispensary.
The recreational cannabis delivery service, Zip Run, recently partnered with Berkshire Roots on Meridian Street. Zip Run, the state’s first-ever recreational cannabis “delivery-only” retailer, already hosted one meeting on the proposal back in August 2020.
Zip Run was recently granted a Social Equity Membership from the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) and the company’s pre-certification application to legally deliver cannabis in Massachusetts has been approved.
“We have established a partnership with Berkshire Roots in East Boston,” said Elis Omoroghomwan, Zip Run’s Chief Growth Officer at the meeting back in 2020. “We have created an on-demand delivery service via mobile application and website for recreational cannabis products. Zip Run has secured investments to help up-start our business. The Chief Executive Officer, Gabriel Vieira, and I grew up in communities of Boston that have been disproportionately affected by marijuana prohibition and enforcement. With help from the CCC, Gabriel has become a member of the social equity program, which grants individuals like us an opportunity to gain ownership within the cannabis industry. One of our goals is to further the CCC efforts by employing and empowering people that are from disproportionate areas to prevent the continuation of an inequitable status quo.”
Berkshire Roots became Eastie’s first retail adult-use marijuana shop after receiving its final license from the CCC to open a shop at 253 Meridian St.
The 1,400 sq. ft. retail space on the first floor of a three story building is a sleek and stylish cannabis dispensary with façade improvement and subtle and understated signage.
Berkshire Roots received community support from the Eagle Hill Civic Association and was later granted a Conditional Use Permit by the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal.
The company is the largest grower of cannabis in Western Massachusetts and was the first medical marijuana dispensary to open in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
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"Marijuana legalization was a mistake. Highly concentrated pot is destroying my son's life."
An Op-Ed by Aubree Adams in the USA Today, October 17, 2021
I absolutely loved living in Colorado.
Family-oriented Pueblo is the state’s best-kept secret. Lake Pueblo, Pueblo Mountain Park and Devil’s Canyon are perfect places to hike. We lived in an old Craftsman home in the historic district, with a beautiful garden and wonderful neighbors. I felt like I was living in a dream.
And then legalized marijuana came, and everything changed. It has taken nearly a decade for Colorado’s elected leaders to understand the damage pot is doing to our children. I saw it years ago.
My eldest son entered eighth grade in 2014, the year recreational marijuana stores opened in Colorado. Soon, his behavior changed. He became irrational and repeated things that didn’t make sense. I dismissed it as adolescent mood swings. He had just broken up with a girlfriend. That’s all it was, I told myself.
By his freshman year, I realized he was using marijuana. I was still in denial, though, until he attacked his younger brother and then tried to kill himself. The hospital treated him and sent him home. A few days later, when it was clear he was still suicidal, I took him back to the emergency room. Don’t worry, they told me. It’s just marijuana.
Marijuana is a serious drug
Eventually, my son told me he was dabbing, which I had never heard of. A dab (or wax or shatter) is a highly concentrated form of THC, marijuana’s active ingredient. It’s heated and smoked, delivering an instant, overwhelming high. Crack weed, my son called it. He knew it was making him crazy. He wanted to quit, but addiction had him firmly in its grip.
And yes, he was addicted. Addiction is a pediatric disease. In 9 out of 10 cases, it originates with drug or alcohol use before age 21. Marijuana, which has been linked to mental illness and psychosis in teens and young adults, slowly takes away your humanity. That’s what it did to my son, who turned to running the streets with homeless people. He had no trouble finding people to feed his addiction in return for selling their legally homegrown marijuana.
I quit working, making it my full-time job to save my son. I soon found out that getting treatment wasn’t easy. Beds were full. Officials minimized marijuana's addictiveness.
I found a highly regarded treatment center in Utah; they required $36,000 up front that I didn't have. Finally, I found a place in San Diego that helped restore his health. He regained confidence and looked good. In the meantime, I had learned about a recovery community in Houston, where host families provide positive peer support. My son got better when he left Colorado, so I moved him there in 2016. My other son, who had developed posttraumatic stress disorder, and I followed in 2018.
Rein in this monster
Sadly, my story isn’t unique. Families across Colorado have experienced the same heartbreak and worse. More and more, marijuana is implicated in teen suicides. Marijuana was present in more than a quarter of teen suicides. Pot is taking our children from us.
That’s why a bipartisan legislature this year passed a bill that begins to rein in this monster. The bill:
►Authorizes a study on the effects of high-potency THC products on the developing brain and how to keep those products away from teens. These unbiased experts will make a recommendation for next steps to the legislature.
►Requires doctors issuing medical marijuana recommendations to consider the person's mental health history.
►Orders a report on hospital discharge data when marijuana use is likely.
►Directs coroners to screen for THC in nonnatural deaths.
►Reduces the amount an 18-year-old medical card user can purchase in a single day. This closes a loophole that could be exploited to stock up on marijuana concentrates, which they sell to their younger friends.
It’s a baby step, but it’s significant that the state that pioneered marijuana legalization is finally recognizing there are harmful consequences.
We can’t keep going down this road. We can’t keep sacrificing our children on the altar of pot. Big Marijuana promotes high-potency, addictive concentrates with no proof they are safe for anyone. Colorado’s commission, when it reviews all the research already done, will confirm that this product is dangerous to children and much too easy for them to get.
Maybe lives will be saved. Maybe other states will be warned against following Colorado’s lead. Maybe no more families will have to endure the hell that mine has.
But it comes too late for me and my oldest son. He started using again. I haven’t seen him in a year.
Aubree Adams is director of Every Brain Matters. She is the parent coordinator for a Houston recovery community, where she lives with her youngest son and two dogs.
You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @usatodayopinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To respond to a column, submit a comment to letters@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Marijuana legalization was a mistake. Youth addiction is real.
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"Three years after it was legalized, marijuana sales in Mass. reach $2.3 billion"
By Colin A. Young, State House News Service, November 19, 2021
With the state's three-year anniversary of legal non-medical marijuana sales approaching Saturday, Cannabis Control Commission Chairman Steven Hoffman took stock Thursday of his agency's accomplishments, the legal industry's growth and the challenges that remain ahead.
The first two recreational marijuana retailers — New England Treatment Access in Northampton and Cultivate in Leicester — opened their doors to consumers on Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2018 and the industry that voters legalized on Nov. 8, 2016 has since grown to include hundreds of businesses, thousands of employees and, as of Monday, roughly $2.3 billion in cannabis sales.
"That's a pretty phenomenal number and you know, I think on top of the numbers, one of the things I'm proudest of is just how smooth the rollout has been and the growth of this industry," Hoffman said. "There's certainly been some things that have happened along the way, but for the most part, it's been an extraordinarily smooth rollout and I would compare it favorably to any other state that either preceded us or opened at the same time we did. So I'm very proud of that."
Hoffman is the last man standing from the original makeup of the CCC as it was created in September 2017 and is the only commissioner who was involved in the launch of retail sales. His appointment from Treasurer Deborah Goldberg extends until Sept. 1, 2022.
Executive Director Shawn Collins, who began shaping the state's cannabis rollout while working in Goldberg's office before being tapped as the CCC's first administrative head, ticked through other CCC milestones and accomplishments during his report to commissioners Thursday.
In the three-plus years before Thursday's meeting, the CCC had approved 945 marijuana business licenses, including for 379 retailers, 285 cultivators and 218 product manufacturers. It approved even more licenses later in its meeting Thursday.
So far, 176 retail stores have opened their doors, 62 cultivators (including eight outdoor grows) are tending to a cumulative 1.79 million square feet of marijuana canopy and 55 companies are manufacturing products like edibles and vaporizer cartridges.
Collins said the CCC has also approved licenses for 14 independent testing labs (eight of which have been cleared to begin testing activities), a crucial part of the supply chain since all marijuana sold in Massachusetts must first be tested by such a lab. In 2019, when only two testing labs were in operation, one major retailer blamed a testing backlog for shortages of flower at its stores.
Collins' presentation to the CCC indicated that there are more than 17,000 active employees in the adult-use marijuana industry here and more than 8,800 active employees in the medical marijuana space.
Despite the accomplishments of the last several years, Hoffman acknowledged Thursday that the CCC still has plenty of work ahead of it. Boosting participation in the industry among people from communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs is a perennial focus of the CCC, the agency is still working to make home delivery of marijuana more available and its vision for social consumption establishments has not yet come to fruition.
"We all recognize we have lots more to do to meet our legislative mandates, to live up to our mission statement, to meet our commitment of making Massachusetts the role model for this industry for the entire country. So we do have a lot of work to do," the chairman said. He added, "We're going to get what we need to done and we're going to build an industry that, as I said, is a role model for the rest of the country. And I'm very proud to be part of it. Now, let's go back to work."
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March 22, 2022
Hello Editor of the New Hampshire Union Leader,
In response to State Representative Sue Homola's op-ed criticizing the proposed legalization of marijuana bill in the State of New Hampshire, the government should not be so reliant on predatory businesses that are nothing more than regressive taxation schemes, including casinos, sport betting, state lotteries, alcohol, marijuana and tobacco, and so on. The government falsely promotes these so-called sin enterprises as sources of public revenues that will help to fund public education and other worthy causes, but the government doesn't disclose the socioeconomic costs and problems they cause to no, low- and moderate-income people and families, plus other people and families. If the government wants more predatory industries to raise more regressive taxation public revenues, then they should in turn educate the citizenry about predatory business tactics that target vulnerable people and families with financial exploitation, especially the financially illiterate, uneducated and low educated people and families, public health, domestic violence and crime, political corruption, and how it all really amounts to a big state government tax break for the upper classes and big business. Lastly, I believe that the economic function of state and local government is to invest in people, families and small businesses so that they will in turn invest in their homes, community and state, which these predatory industries do little to nothing to advance despite the false promises of increased funding to public education, property tax relief and other worthy causes.
Jonathan A. Melle
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"Rep. Sue Homola: Marijuana Legalization; What the Public Deserves to Know"
The Berkshire Eagle, March 21, 2022
A DEBATE on marijuana legalization was heard during a February House session, and HB 1598-FN passed 235 to 119. This bill is now being considered in the House Ways and Means Committee. It will come back to the House for a final vote at the end of March, and then on to the Senate.
The bill proposes marijuana legalization despite nearly 10 year’s worth of data from other states documenting how legalization has led to significant increases in underage marijuana use, marijuana-related traffic deaths, child welfare caseloads, and the number of infants being born with THC present in their bloodstream. The negative consequences have been so damaging in Colorado that the governor recently signed a landmark reform bill to reign in the most harmful aspects of their marijuana laws. At the very least, every state legislator should closely examine these reforms before making any decisions on legalization.
In addition, concerns about high-concentrate marijuana have been documented for decades. We now have the hindsight of many longitudinal studies that show a verifiable increase in addiction and psychosis among heavy marijuana users. Another issue is the relationship between opioid abuse and marijuana usage, as detailed in a 2017 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry. This documents how marijuana use is linked to increased occurrences of new-onset opioid use and opioid use disorder.
It is important to note that in Nashua and Manchester, drug overdoses during 2021 increased by 110% when compared to 2020. Given this startling trend, and New Hampshire’s tragic history of being a state hit hardest by the opioid epidemic, it is unconscionable that legislation is now being proposed that will make this situation worse. In addition, this bill proposes a $25 million fund to treat drug addiction. Sadly, it will help mitigate a problem we ourselves make worse with this legislation.
Another intent of HB1598-FN is the state-sanctioned distribution, selling, and profiteering of marijuana — which no other state has done so far. According to the Criminal Justice Committee Majority Report, this bill “…allows consumers to purchase a clean, superior tax-free product at a consumer friendly price that is competitive with the black market.” (Surely New Hampshire can have better goals than to be competitive with the black market.) This bill also appropriates $14 million of taxpayer money for start-up costs so the Liquor Commission can manage 10 state-run retail outlets. This commission also estimates an additional $5 million will be needed annually for operating costs, salaries, and benefits for 70 state employees.
We must ask ourselves: Do we really want to legalize a drug that we know will result in more harm to our most vulnerable citizens, and empower state agencies to essentially act as a cartel, a drug dealer, and a money launderer?
If we think we should legalize because some say it’s inevitable, then we are ceding control of the issue and ignoring the negative consequences already demonstrated in other states.
If we think we should legalize and manage the sales ourselves because it will put more money in the state’s general fund — then we should examine the actual budget revenues in other legalized states. In reality, we will discover that marijuana revenues are never enough to pay for the societal ills caused by this drug’s use.
Finally, do we really believe that legalizing marijuana will put an end to this discussion? No, it won’t. When your main selling point for a drug policy is the promise of untold millions being put to use for school funding and property tax relief, despite the documented harmful effects on vulnerable populations, then it merely paves the way for the legalization of other drugs if the profit margins are attractive. Make no mistake, HB1598-FN opens the door to a whole new discussion.
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BUSINESS: Massachusetts businessman buys former Monolith building in Slingerlands
Larry Rulison, The Albany Times Union, June 1, 2022
BETHLEHEM - A western Massachusetts businessman with ties to the cannabis industry has purchased the former Monolith Solar property at the Vista Technology Campus in Slingerlands.
Monolith abandoned the half-constructed shell of its $4.8 million headquarters at Vista in 2018 after experiencing financial difficulties and eventually going out of business.
Pioneer Bank, which provided Monolith with the construction loan for the project, eventually acquired the property for $1 million at a foreclosure auction.
Pioneer sold the building and the four acre lot to a Pittsfield, Mass. company called 5th Dimension Capital District LLC for $770,000 on March 2. 5th Dimension was formed by Albert Wojtkowski of Pittsfield, Mass. back in December.
Wojtkowski is listed as one of the investors in Berkshire Roots, a medical and adult-use retail cannabis shop in Pittsfield.
It is unclear what 5th Dimension Capital District is planning to do with the building. Wojtkowski and his family also own other businesses in western Massachusetts.
Wojtkowski did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday on his plans for the property, although any project could potentially be available for construction tax breaks from the Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency.
Robert Leslie, the head of economic development and planning with the town of Bethlehem, could not immediately be reached for comment on the potential use of the property.
New York currently only allows for medical cannabis sales, although the state is putting into place regulations to manage an adult-use recreational program that has already been approved by the state. However, its too early for potential retail dispensary owners to submit official applications yet, according to the New York State Cannabis Control Board.
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June 2, 2022
Nuciforo's cousin purchased an abandoned property in Slingerlands, New York, for $770,000 on March 2nd, 2022. Nuciforo's late-mother's last name was Wojtkowski. Nuciforo's late-Aunt Anne Everest Wojtkowski was the first woman Mayor of Pittsfield. Nuciforo followed his late-Father's footsteps as a Pittsfield State Senator in Boston. The "All in the Family" Nuciforo and Wojtkowski Pittsfield family dynasty's Berkshire Roots company is the largest grower of marijuana in Western Massachusetts with multimillion-dollar marijuana dispensaries in Pittsfield and East Boston. New York State is getting ready to allow marijuana dispensaries to legally sell their recreational drugs there. Similar to alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and the like, marijuana dispensaries are predatory businesses that profit off of exploiting low to moderate income people and communities. I do not know anything about Slingerlands, New York, but it probably is a distressed community outside of Albany. Pittsfield (MA) is a severely distressed community within an hour's drive to Albany. It is always in the distressed communities where the predatory lawyers, politicians, businessmen, and so on, thrive. Nuciforo was a corrupt politician who bragged about hurting people with state "ethics" complaints and wanting not just to win, but to win big. Nuciforo had to step down from being a State Senator in Boston in 2006 because he was allegedly illegally double dipping as Chairman of the State Senate Finance Committee while at the same time working as a Corporate Attorney for Boston area's big banks and insurance companies. Nuciforo's infamous corrupt cutthroat reputation of wanting to win big followed him when he used his political connections in Pittsfield and Boston to be one of the first marijuana businessmen in Massachusetts. The Boston Globe wrote news stories and editorials over the years about Nuciforo's corruption in state government and in the multibillion-dollar marijuana industry. Since Nuciforo's corrupt political career and cutthroat reputation became known as a fringe political outsider in 2012, various people told me that Nuciforo spends most of his time in Boston, while staying invested with his Wojtkowski side of his family in Pittsfield. Nuciforo still has a law office in Boston's financial district. The Boston newspapers write about disgraced politicians such as Dianne Wilkerson running for her old seat in the State Senate in 2022 without writing that while she paid her debt to society, Nuciforo and others like him were far more corrupt than she was, and they profited from their alleged misdeeds to the tune of many millions of dollars. In closing, I feel sorry for Slingerlands, New York, because Nuciforo is a no-good son of bitch who belongs in state prison for his decades of corruption in Massachusetts!
Jonathan Alan Melle
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"Berkshire County’s recreational cannabis industry pulls in about $200 million a year. One company accounts for a quarter of that"
By Danny Jin, The Berkshire Eagle, June 11, 2022
Three years after Theory Wellness opened as the first retail cannabis outlet in Berkshire County, 24 licensed recreational-use companies in the Berkshires pull in roughly $200 million in yearly sales.
One company, Theory Wellness, accounts for more than a quarter of that, according to estimates The Eagle derived through public records requests.
“Budtenders” at Berkshire stores now help customers find products as varied as seltzers and ice creams. Brands that previously could only be found on the West Coast are appearing in local stores.
“We are all still on an upward trajectory in terms of customer base and foot traffic and also cultivation and production,” said Jesse Tolz, marketing director for The Pass in Sheffield. “Right now, everybody is kind of very optimistic.”
Massachusetts voters approved a ballot question to legalize recreational-use marijuana in 2016 and licensed dispensaries opened in late 2018. The state now has exceeded $3 billion in recreational-use sales, the Cannabis Control Commission announced in May.
Executives say product innovation and partnerships have helped the industry grow. Lawmakers in Massachusetts have the ability to alter the landscape as well. Most municipalities receive a 3 percent cut of companies’ sales, but legal challenges make the future uncertain for those payments, which amount to roughly $5 million a year for Berkshire cities and towns.
And as licensed dispensaries begin to operate in neighboring states, they may impact western Massachusetts sales — although many Berkshire businesses say they expect to do just fine.
Through public records requests to municipalities where cannabis companies operate, The Eagle obtained records of payments those cities and towns receive for a share of cannabis sales. Massachusetts law allows cities and towns to collect a 3 percent excise sales tax on cannabis revenue, as well as a 3 percent “community impact fee” on sales.
Using municipalities’ payment records and the tax or fee rate outlined in each company’s agreement with its municipality, The Eagle estimated the volume of sales at companies for which payment records were available.
Note on estimated cannabis revenues
To arrive at an estimate for the county’s total sales volume, The Eagle calculated a year’s equivalent of sales for companies that did not have a full year’s worth of payments records and summed the estimates for a total of $200,287,588. Using the low end of the range provided by The Pass leaves a yearly sales estimate of $198,950,592.
For example, Great Barrington received $1,627,134 in community impact fees from Theory Wellness for sales made between October 2020 through September 2021. Under its host community agreement with Great Barrington, Theory pays fees equivalent to 3 percent of its sales, leading to an overall sales estimate of $54,237,828 for that year-long period.
Some companies, including Theory Wellness, declined to comment on The Eagle’s calculations of their sales volume. One company said that the revenue number provided was inaccurate. Berkshire Welco, which operates in Sheffield as The Pass, said that the estimate that The Eagle computed was higher than its actual sales volume, but was within a range of $1 million.
Revenue could not be estimated for every cannabis company in the Berkshires. Pittsfield, home to eight marijuana businesses, does not collect community impact fees on sales. And when the state sends excise sales tax revenue to towns, it does not identify how much each company is paying.
Since the available time period of records varied by municipality, the estimates for each company are not directly comparable.
Payment records suggest that yearly recreational-use sales in the county are in the range of $200 million. All payment records used were for sales that fell between July 2020 and March 2022.
Upward trend
Many executives believe that the industry has room left to grow. Brendan McKee, co-founder and CFO of Silver Therapeutics in Williamstown, said he believes “a rising tide lifts all boats” in the industry.
After opening in April 2019, Silver Therapeutics was the only Berkshire dispensary north of Pittsfield until Clear Sky Cannabis came to North Adams in March 2021. Even after Clear Sky arrived and Liberty Market opened in Lanesborough in July, Silver saw its sales continue to climb.
Silver paid $183,017 in community impact fees to Williamstown for sales between July and December 2021, exceeding the $158,009 that it paid over the same six-month period in the previous year. Those records suggest that Silver Therapeutic’s estimated revenue of around $6,100,566 eclipsed sales from the previous year — before Clear Sky and Liberty Market arrived — by 15.8 percent.
Companies have clustered in southern Berkshire County, with four in Sheffield and five in Great Barrington.
Some of those companies see the arrival of more stores and legalization in other states as a boon to the industry rather than a challenge to their market share. With more stores opening, Tolz, of The Pass, believes the stigmatization of marijuana will lessen and that the customer base will grow.
“There are plenty of people who have still not purchased cannabis or consumed cannabis in a legally licensed dispensary,” Tolz said. “And I think that the more dispensaries that open, the more accessible it becomes, the less stigmatized it becomes.”
Changing industry
Companies have looked to edibles, cartridges and, most recently, seltzers to capture “canna-curious” consumers who may not have tried cannabis yet. Sales of those products have grown, although flower remains the top seller at many shops.
“As what often happens, when a new adult-use market kind of comes to fruition, we definitely see the transition from flower-based purchases to edible-infused products,” said Canna Provisions CEO Meg Sanders, who led the expansion of recreational-use chain Mindful in Colorado and Illinois before starting Canna Provisions.
Missed diversity goals in Massachusetts cannabis trade
While “social equity” was a key talking point as Massachusetts launched licensed sales, the racial diversity that the state sought to cultivate through its first-in-the-nation equity program has not materialized.
After nearly a century of marijuana prohibition, which led to disproportionate arrests and criminal sentences among Black, Latino and low-income people, the state sought for communities disproportionately hurt by the criminalization of marijuana to benefit from the licensed market. The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission identifies North Adams and Pittsfield as two of the 29 communities that have been “disproportionately impacted by high rates of arrest and incarceration for offenses under state and federal laws.”
Yet, recreational-use cannabis in Massachusetts and in Berkshire County is a largely white and male industry that is especially difficult for people to enter without access to vast amounts of capital.
The most recent state licensing documents list 66 agents for Berkshire County companies. Among those agents, 48 are white, and 57 are male. Excluding the six who declined to report their race, 80 percent of agents in the county are white. Around 86 percent are male.
Across the state, nearly 71 percent of agents are white, and just under 64 percent are male.
Among the 24 licensed companies with a location in Berkshire County, the Massachusetts Cannabis Commission certifies nine as disadvantaged business enterprises. Seven are minority owned, three are woman owned and one is LGBT owned, according to CCC licensing documents.
Lack of access to capital has proven a barrier to many applicants in the social equity program, leading CCC regulators to call for the creation of a social equity fund to support those applicants through grants and loans. Due to the continued prohibition of marijuana under federal law, most major banks refuse to provide loans to cannabis businesses, leaving wealthier entrepreneurs with a sizable advantage.
The state prioritized recreational-use licensing for medical marijuana companies, including Theory Wellness, Temescal Wellness and Nova Farms in the Berkshires. The state also said it would prioritize licensing applications from minority, woman and veteran owned businesses, although some applicants say that system failed to work as planned at first.
“They said in 90 days, they were going to prioritize your application if you were a woman-owned business,” said Donna Norman, founder and CEO of Calyx in Great Barrington. “My application sat in the portal for one year, and they told me I was a general applicant.”
While Calyx survived the wait, Norman said that other woman-owned businesses did not.
“So many of them didn’t make it,” Norman said. “The way it’s set up, in order to get real estate, you have to get local approvals. And then you have to hold onto property and pay rent when you have no business and no idea when you’re going to open up. And it took me three long years of paying rent on Main Street in Great Barrington. People run out of money.”
“Those are all definitely growing fast,” Sanders said. “And vapes — we had that very strange action by our governor to ban vapes for a bit of time, and we’re really seeing vape customers come back.”
Donna Norman, founder and CEO of Calyx in Great Barrington, said her business has jumped on a wave of healthier edible products that lean on natural ingredients rather than dyes. She plans to hold educational workshops to teach community members how to make their own edible products.
Thomas Winstanley, vice president of marketing for Theory Wellness, said his company’s Hi5 seltzer brand seemed to bring in a somewhat new audience.
“We had people who had tried alcohol who said, ‘I want to try something new but I’ve had some bad experiences with cannabis in the past,’” Winstanley said Theory Wellness plans to release fast-acting beverage products in the near future. “And those are the people we really want to reach.”
Partnerships also offer companies a way to band together with like-minded entrepreneurs. Calyx, for instance, seeks out partnerships with other woman-owned companies. Other partnerships, such as Theory Wellness’ with cultivator Exotic Genetix, serve as evidence of “the merging of West Coast and East Coast cannabis,” Winstanley said.
Future of fees, regulations
Reform proposals have the potential to change the industry. A committee in the Massachusetts Legislature has endorsed legislation that would establish the social equity trust fund that Cannabis Control Commission regulators have endorsed, among other changes.
Legal challenges have made the future of community impact fees uncertain. Critics have charged that the fees create a “pay to play” model that amounts to legal extortion.
Last year, Lee agreed to eliminate a year’s worth of community impact fees, totaling $1.08 million, for Canna Provisions. Town officials said there was no record that the company’s operation led to increased costs for any town department during that year. While Lee said it would evaluate the fees each year, cities Northampton and Cambridge have waived their fees indefinitely.
Excluding Lee and Pittsfield, Berkshire municipalities receive nearly $5 million per year in those fees.
The first few years have given municipalities a chance to decide whether to adopt cannabis-friendly bylaws — or bylaws that restrict the industry.
Alford voters, for example, voted to close their town to recreational-use businesses. Egremont residents elected to ban five license types and restrict the town to one locally owned retail store.
Meanwhile, voters in Great Barrington, have rejected proposals to tighten restrictions. Adams, aiming to welcome its first businesses, chose to allow cannabis cultivation in zones where it previously was not allowed.
Changes outside of Massachusetts also will impact the local industry.
Nearby states like Connecticut, New York and Vermont all are preparing to launch licensed sales, and the federal legalization campaign has made advances, although the Senate will likely serve as a roadblock.
Local cannabis executives say they welcome competition. The Berkshires’ tourist economy, some say, will continue to bring customers, although they acknowledge that more options for customers could shift spending patterns.
“There’s obviously a limit. If someone is coming for a weekend to the Berkshires, maybe they end up going to the Catskills instead next summer, and then do alternating weekends with the Berkshires,” said Tolz, The Pass’ marketing director. “Who knows? That’s definitely something that we are planning for and strategizing for.”
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"Pot on the roads: Sobering study"
The New Hampshire Union Leader, Editorial, December 16, 2022
Pot pushers promoting yet another New Hampshire legalization bill will no doubt ignore a new national highway safety study. They do so at our peril.
More than half of injured drivers in the accident study were found to have drugs or alcohol in their systems. The most prevalent was not alcohol but THC, the active ingredient found in marijuana.
No one should be shocked. “Don’t drink and drive” has been preached for generations yet alcohol remains a huge factor in traffic deaths. Making another powerful intoxicant more socially acceptable and, in more states, legal, is not likely to help matters. In fact, traffic deaths are once again on the way up.
With both Republican and Democratic leaders in the House pushing pot legalization, it will take rank-and-file members to stand in the way.
It was encouraging to see state Sen. Regina Birdsell indicate that such a bill won’t have her vote. In repeating her opposition, she noted highway safety as one reason. She pointed the NH Journal to the 2021 death of State Police Sgt. Jesse Sherrill. He was killed, she said, by a trucker with THC in his blood.
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"Massachusetts to adopt cannabis-impaired driver's education"
The Berkshire Eagle, December 16, 2022
BOSTON (AP) — Beginning next month, Massachusetts will adopt a curriculum designed to educate teens on the risks of driving while under the influence of cannabis.
Under the program, as of Jan. 1, Massachusetts will become the first state that has legalized the recreational use of marijuana to adopt the curriculum designed by AAA Northeast, according to the state Registry of Motor Vehicles.
The current driver education curriculum addressing impaired driving will be updated to include information on cannabis, such as how tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — the active chemical in marijuana — affects cognition, vision, reaction time, and perception of time and distance.
The new curriculum is targeted at the first generation of driver education students to be licensed since recreational cannabis became legal in Massachusetts.
The curriculum is taught in part through a 25-minute video developed by AAA Northeast. It will be taught to approximately 50,000 young drivers each year in more than 460 driving school locations.
The state's voters legalized the use of recreational marijuana by adults 21 and older in 2016.
Massachusetts drivers’ education is managed by the RMV and requires all first-time drivers younger than 18 to complete 30 hours of classroom instruction, 12 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction and six hours of observation while another student is taking behind-the-wheel instruction.
As of November 9, 2022, 21 states and the District of Columbia have enacted measures to regulate cannabis for nonmedical adult use, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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Opinion: The Bergen Record: "Marijuana addiction is a real thing. This is what NJ should know" By Maria T. Krause, January 5, 2023
Legal sales of recreational marijuana began in New Jersey on April 21, 2022. In just a little over the first two months, these sales totaled almost $80 million. With so many people legally buying weed, it’s hard to believe marijuana addiction is real.
According to the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 18% of people over the age of 12 (49.6 million) reported using marijuana in the past year. Another recent study sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that in 2021, past-year marijuana use among young adults had reached the highest levels recorded since 1988.
Despite the growing number of people who buy and use marijuana, it is, in fact, an addictive substance, and it’s important to understand the risks.
Many people you talk to will insist that marijuana (cannabis) isn’t addictive. After all, it’s often used for medicinal purposes and otherwise remains the most widely used illicit drug in the U.S. (marijuana and THC continue to be categorized at the federal level as illegal substances). Potentially bolstering a collective perception of marijuana’s relative safety is the fact that a growing number of states have legalized recreational use.
New Jersey is one of 19 states that have legalized recreational marijuana, and this trend is likely to continue. Loosening cannabis laws could continue to influence public perception of the drug’s risks and benefits and lead to increased use. One national study found that residents in states with legal recreational marijuana were most likely to believe that marijuana use has benefits and have the highest rate of use. With greater societal acceptance of marijuana, there is an increase in usage in many demographics; adults of all ages, both sexes, and even pregnant women are using marijuana at higher rates than in previous years.
Put simply, marijuana use has become mainstream, which may give people the impression that it isn’t harmful. Among a surveyed group of young adults ages 19 to 30 in 2021, 42.6% had used marijuana in the past year — a considerable increase from just a decade before, when that figure was 29.4%.
A 2021 Gallup Poll found that 49% of American adults reported they’ve tried marijuana — the highest rate ever and a 1,125% increase from 50 years ago, when 4% reported they had tried it.
Scientific evidence shows marijuana is addictive
Contrary to popular opinion, marijuana use can lead to what’s known as a cannabis use disorder — the clinical or diagnostic term for marijuana addiction. What starts as merely cannabis use may progress to a cannabis use disorder, at which point a person begins compulsively using the substance despite its leading to significant problems and interfering with important areas of a person’s life.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration estimates that roughly one in 10 individuals who use marijuana will become addicted to it, and when individuals start before the age of 18, that rate increases to one in six.
Not only is marijuana addictive, but it appears the risk may be growing. In a study examining the connections between recreational marijuana legalization and modifications in marijuana use, frequency of use and cannabis use disorder in the U.S. from 2008 to 2016, findings suggest a potentially increased risk for addiction in both adult and adolescent users after the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Beyond legalization, another possible contributor to a rising risk of addiction is the steady rise in marijuana potency. THC levels in seized marijuana samples in 2018 averaged 15%, a startling increase from the average of 4% in the 1990s. Concentrates can contain even higher levels of THC. Marijuana today is simply much stronger. While the full extent of the risks is not yet known, more potent THC can have a greater effect on the brain, and, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, it may raise the risk of dependence and addiction.
As the number of young adults who try marijuana continues to grow, it’s important to note the additional risks of early use. Individuals who start using marijuana before age 18 are four to seven times more likely to develop a marijuana use disorder than those who begin using it as adults. Multiple studies have shown cannabis use is linked to an increased risk of certain psychiatric disorders, and this is especially true for those who start using cannabis at a young age. Using cannabis frequently doubles the risk of schizophrenia, and when a person uses high-potency THC, this risk can be up to five times higher.
While it may be legal to use marijuana in New Jersey, the question is: Should you?
Maria T. Krause is the interim nursing director at Sunrise House Treatment Center, an evidence-based addiction treatment facility in Lafayette Township, New Jersey.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: "NJ's marijuana addiction is real. Here is what you should know"
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April 1, 2023
Re: Luciforo's Berkshire Roots Pot Kingdom is anti-Union
It is no surprise to me that Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior (aka Luciforo)'s Berkshire Roots Pot Kingdom in anti-Union. When Luciforo was a Pittsfield State Senator from 1997 - 2006, the Dirty Bird (Berkshire Eagle) called him a fiscal conservative, despite his status as a Democrat. Luciforo never lived in Pittsfield as a career turned disgraced politician, but he used his late-father's name and political status in Pittsfield to win state government elections in Pittsfield, despite Luciforo always living in Boston.
Luciforo had to resign from his seat as a Pittsfield State Senator in Boston in 2006 because he was allegedly illegally double dipping as the Chair of the State Senate Finance Committee while at the same time working as an Attorney for the law firm named "Berman and Dowell" in Boston whereby Luciforo served as legal counsel for Boston's big banks and insurance companies from 1999 - 2006. I believe that Luciforo should have been indicted for public and financial crimes and sent to prison for his unethical actions, but that never happened. But to this day in early-Spring 2023, Luciforo still has a law office in Boston's Financial District.
In 2006, there were two women - Sharon Henault and Sara Hathaway - running for the elected state government position of Middle Berkshire Registrar of Deeds, but Luciforo strong-armed the two women out of the campaign and anointed himself the next Registrar of Deeds from 2007 - 2012. Once again, Luciforo faced little to no criticism for his sexist and strong-arm actions.
In 2012, Luciforo announced he was running for U.S. Congress against the then sitting Congressman, who is the now late-John W. Olver. But after the redistricting in 2012, Olver retired due to Massachusetts losing one seat due to population loss. Luciforo then faced off against Springfield Congressman Richard E. Neal, and Luciforo proved himself to be a fringe politician by losing to Richie Neal by 40 percentage points.
In 2017, Luciforo used his political connections in both Pittsfield and Boston alike to be one of the first people to receive a permit(s) to open a marijuana dispensary in Massachusetts. Over the past 6 years, Luciforo built his Pittsfield Pot Kingdom on Dalton Avenue, as well as opened a marijuana dispensary in East Boston. The nearby residential neighborhoods have protested Luciforo's Pittsfield Pot Kingdom because his marijuana growing buildings are causing unpleasant odors, but, once again, Luciforo never faces any consequences for his actions.
My personal story with Luciforo started in the Spring of 1996 when my father, Bob Melle, ran for Berkshire County Commissioner, and I met Luciforo for the first time when he was running for Pittsfield State Senator. I was only 20 years old back then. Ever since I first met Luciforo, he conspiratorially targeted me by having people harass, bully, and even threaten to physically assault me without leaving behind his own fingerprints. Luciforo deployed his mean-spirited bullying agents against me for many years of my then young adult life. Luciforo never once apologized to me for his actions, nor did anyone from his terrible and conspiratorial political network that spans from Pittsfield to Boston. But why would he do so? After all, Luciforo never faces any consequences for his actions.
From the Fall of 1997 through the Spring of 1998, Luciforo filed multiple state "Ethics" complaints against my dad, Bob, who was an elected Berkshire County Commissioner as well as an Assistant Chief Probation Officer in the Pittsfield District Courthouse back then. Luciforo tried to force my dad, Bob, to resign his elected position and have the state fire my dad, Bob, from his state government job that he held since late-1970. But that is not all. On May 20th, 1998, Luciforo made secret plans with the Pittsfield Police Department to have me arrested by falsely alleging that I was making "veiled threats" against him. Depsite Luciforo and my dad, Bob, having lines of communication together back then, my dad, Bob, found out about Luciforo's plot to jail me through his work and he told me to stay away from Luciforo. Thankfully, my dad did not have to resign his elected position, get fired from his state goverment job, and I didn't have to go to jail back then.
Please understand that it was Luciforo who was the one who was threatening and hurting me. During the Fall Foliage Parade in North Adams in 1997, Luciforo broke from his parade route and aggressively walked towards me with great hostility. Sara Hathway was at his side, but she did not tell Luciforo to stop. My Uncle, who lives in Saratoga Springs, NY, and my cousin, who lived in North Adams back, then stepped in front of me, which caused Luciforo to walk back to his parade route. Earlier that year, during the Summer of 1997, Luciforo gave me a mean stare that was meant to intimidate and scare me during a gathering at the Pittsfield Courthouse for Judge Francis Spina's judicial promotion. Of course, Luciforo had people in his political network bully me for years.
In the Spring of 1999, I finally finished K - 18 (1980 - 1999) when I graduated from UMass Amherst with a Master of Public Administration degree. When I looked for employment, Luciforo blacklisted me from finding a job in Pittsfield, which is the city I grew up in. But that is not all. Luciforo had his political network conspiratorially spread vicious rumors against me for many years of my then young adult life. After I talked with my best friend about someone recently putting his name on Planet Valenti's blog comment section and falsely signing my name to the posting, my best friend said that Luciforo's newest mudslinging against me is to have people write homophobic comments about me in response to my blog postings. I am not a homosexual, but I believe in Human Rights for All and I am accepting of homosexuality.
But everything that I have written, am writing, and will write about Luciforo doesn't really matter because Luciforo always gets away with doing whatever the Hell he wants to do whether it be in politics, the law, his Pittsfield Pot Kingdom along with his East Boston Pot Shop, hurting people such as myself - Jon Melle - over the past 27 years and onwards, and so on and so forth. Luciforo never faces any consequences for any and all of his actions. Luciforo lives a charmed life.
My mom recently asked me why Luciforo has always hurt me for so many years/decades of my adult life. I answered her by saying that at first I was Luciforo's bait to hurt my dad, Bob, who was active in Pittsfield politics many years ago. But after my dad, Bob, retired, Luciforo has targeted me with his conspiratirial and mean-spirited politics.
When I talk to my mental health professionals about the Hell that Luciforo has put me through, I am told that I am a person and a Veteran who has faced "Unusual Events" in my life. My response to the feedback is that I do not understand how and why Luciforo always gets away with his actions without any consequences. How on Earth is Luciforo able to do all of what he has done over the years without any consequences? It boggles my mind to no end!
Lastly, I was told by good people that every hurtful thing that Luciforo has put me through in my adult life has happened in the context of politics, but it was, is and will not really be about politics because Luciforo's actions were, are and will always be hurtful, conspiratorial and mean-spirited.
Jonathan A. Melle
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"Berkshire Roots employees are negotiating their first contract as a unionized workforce — and the cannabis industry is paying attention"
By Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle, March 30, 2023
Just down the road from the center of Pittsfield's industrial past, a nascent labor effort is underway.
About 25 Berkshire Roots growers and trimmers are in the process of negotiating their first-ever contract with the Pittsfield-based cannabis company.
During the early months of the pandemic in 2020, the workers chose to join the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. Approaching three years later, the company and the union have not yet settled on contract language.
"We have made some progress, but the company is doing their best to drag things out," said Drew Weisse, a local organizer for UFCW 1459. Berkshire Roots "caused a lot of people who support the union to either quit, or make them feel like the company was just going keep strong-arming them."
The chief executive of Berkshire Roots, James Winokur, declined to discuss how negotiations with the union are going, saying the company and the union agreed not to talk about the matter in the press.
The unionized employees are negotiating for "basic labor protections," Weisse said, such as livable wages, benefits and standard procedures for grievances and discipline.
Depending on experience, a cultivation employee's starting wage at Berkshire Roots is about $15 to $17 an hour, which Winokur said is "competitive" for the industry.
Retail employees at Berkshire Roots' two locations in Pittsfield and East Boston are not unionized.
Weisse said that knitted into cannabis culture is a propensity for activism, and that makes it fertile ground for labor campaigns. Younger workers, from the young millennial and Gen Z sets, are expressing the most interest in unionizing their shops.
He said he is involved in other union organizing efforts in the Berkshire County cannabis industry, but declined to talk about specifics.
The Berkshire Roots labor campaign represents some of the early union activity in the county's industry, and it's taking root in a city that has been trying to navigate a post-industrial economy since General Electric shuttered its mammoth manufacturing operations.
When advocates and industry pitched legal cannabis to skeptical local lawmakers, they promised the creation of jobs.
In New Jersey, the UFCW set out to make sure those jobs were good ones, said labor organizer Hugh Giordano, of UFCW Local 360. The union brought to the industry political might it lacked in the early aughts, he said, when cannabis was still far from the mainstream.
When recreational cannabis was legalized in New Jersey in 2021, a union-backed provision was included in the law. As a prerequisite to receiving licenses, marijuana companies agree not to interfere with employees' efforts to unionize, Giordano said.
The result of such agreements, he said, is that employees don't feel pressured to decide whether or not support a union. Thus, he said, the relationship between unionizing workers and management is less hostile.
"It sounds simplistic," Giordano said, "but for a union campaign to have a balanced, neutral approach, it's a big win for workers."
A bill filed on Beacon Hill would establish a Labor Peace Agreement requirement in Massachusetts. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Lydia Edwards, D-Boston, said the provision would prevent companies from "harassing" workers who set out to join a union.
Like the New Jersey measure, her bill would condition cannabis licensure on companies' entering labor peace agreements, Edwards said, formalizing their commitment not to spread misinformation about labor unions or impede union elections, and to bargain in good faith if employees do vote to unionize.
She called it a step toward fulfilling the promise of equity in legalized cannabis and repairing the harms done by the war on drugs. It's early in the legislative process, she said, and hearing on the bill has not yet been scheduled.
As the process moves ahead, she said she thinks she'll hear opponents of the labor provision begin to make themselves known, and anticipates they will say the measure is too costly.
To that Edwards said, "I don't believe that workers that are paid a living wage are a financial burden on a successful business. If you can't do that, then I would say you don't have a successful business model."
Unionizing can be a tough road for workers across industries, and cannabis is no exception. Maddi Woodhams was a union steward at the Milford grow facility for the multi-state cannabis operator, AYR Wellness, which does business as SIRA Naturals. She said there was a labor peace agreement, and the company recognized the union.
However, Woodhams said she felt the company failed to train managers about what they could and could not do under labor laws, and ultimately she said she believes she was targeted for completing the responsibilities she had as a union representative.
She was disciplined twice for insubordination, and she disputes both accusations, which she said involved alleged violations of email protocol and best practices. By that point, she said the combination of shop steward and company employee had become too mentally taxing, so she left the job and the union.
"They were looking for reasons to get rid of me, because I was causing a lot of issues. I was standing up for people. I was doing my job as a steward," she said. "So I know for a fact that I was targeted."
The company has not responded to a request for a comment about Woodhams' accusations.
Woodhams said agencies are finally paying due attention to safety conditions at cannabis facilities. She points to the death of a worker at Trulieve in Holyoke as a turning point.
Lorna McMurray was 27when she died last year after becoming unable to breathe on the job. She packaged pre-rolled joints and suffered an asthma attack after inhaling cannabis dust.
Although the company said it agreed to pay a fine of $14,502 after settling with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, it was not held directly responsible for McMurray's death.
Like other former mill cities, Pittsfield took a free-market approach to cannabis. The City Council paved the way for a maximum of three-dozen companies to make their homes within city limits, pining for vacant properties to be brought back onto the tax rolls. Pittsfield today has five cannabis retailers and six cultivation operations.
That approach has been a boon for city coffers. But at many Berkshire County dispensaries, wages for retail employees are about the same as those offered at traditional retailers, starting at or about a dollar or so above minimum wage.
Cannabis companies are selling a mountain of recreational weed, posting a combined $4.13 billion in gross sales since operations began late 2018. Meg Sanders, the chief executive of one such cannabis company off the turnpike in Lee, Canna Provisions, which does not have an employee union, declined a request to discuss the issue of union labor.
A few communities away in Pittsfield on Larch Street, Matthew Hamilton one day this winter was working at Bloom Brothers, scanning licenses of shoppers headed into the dispensary.
Hamilton said the company, owned by Nathan and Nicolas Girard, has excellent working conditions, with wages above others in the industry and a positive work environment that prevents employee turnover. While employees at some companies look to unionizing, Hamilton said that at Bloom Brothers labor conditions are good.
"I would vote very strongly against [a union]," he said. "It's completely unnecessary."
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"New research shows link between cannabis and psychosis"
By Nancy Loo, News Nation Now, May 25, 2023
* Young men are more susceptible to psychosis than young women
* One factor may be the increasing THC content in marijuana
* Recreational weed is now legal in 22 states and Washington D.C.
(NewsNation) — As the legalization of recreational marijuana spreads, a growing body of research suggests there could be a possible risk between the drug and serious mental health issues.
There is a concern about a possible link between cannabis, psychosis and schizophrenia, and the research suggests those at the highest risk are young men.
Laura and John Stack are still coming to terms with the suicide of their son in 2019. The Stacks live in Colorado, the first state to legalize marijuana in 2012. They say their son, Johnny, became a regular user in his teens.
“He would say, ‘What do you want mom and dad, I have a 4.0.’ And it was kind of hard to argue with that. And he didn’t seem to have any problems until he did,” Laura said.
Compounding his problems, Johnny was also using pot products made with extracts that produce no tell-tale smell.
“He had started vaping. And it was completely odorless. And from about the age of 14 through 1, we had no idea at all,” John said.
By 18, Johnny was a heavy user and exhibiting symptoms of psychosis.
“He started to think that people were listening to him through his iPhone, he would buy burner phones and put sticky notes over the webcam,” Laura said. “He was saying that people were watching him, he began to think that the mob was after him.”
The Stacks are now left to cherish photos and videos, including one of Johnny reciting a poem three days before he took his own life.
Since the spread of legalization over the past decade, a number of studies have looked into the health impacts of marijuana.
The latest is a Danish study co-authored by a director at the National Institute of Health.
“If it does produce psychosis and acute psychotic episodes, that can leads (to symptoms) that can be very, very terrifying. Someone could basically kill themselves in a very impulsive act,” Dr. Nora Volkow said.
In the study, published this month in “Psychological Medicine,” researchers said there’s enough data to confirm an “association between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia is stronger in young males than females.
“That period of transition between the pre-teens and the 20s, is exactly when you start to see the emergence of schizophrenia but the risks are significantly higher for males than females,” Volkow said.
Marijuana legalization has ushered in a new generation of potent pot, which contains much more THC, the part of the plant that induces a high.
Back in the 1970s, the average plant had a THC level under 3%. Genetic engineering over the decades has pushed that average up to nearly 25%.
Dr. Christine Miller is a neurobiologist and psychosis expert.
“They’ve done studies in Europe where they’ve administered purified THC to subjects in a clinical study and they found that 40% of those with no family history of psychosis developed psychotic symptoms,” she said.
Recreational sales are now legal in 22 states, along with Washington, D.C. Only Vermont and Connecticut have caps on potency.
Three days before Johnny died, the Stacks said he told them he was sorry and he loved them, but marijuana ruined his mind and his life.
The Stacks are now traveling the country to warn others about the dangers of potent pot. Earlier this month, Oklahoma joined a number of other states in rejecting legalization for recreational use.
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"Massachusetts pot shops closing in Worcester, Framingham, Northampton; a worker had died after packaging cannabis into pre-rolls"
By Rick Sobey - rick.sobey@bostonherald.com - The Boston Herald, June 4, 2023
After the recreational marijuana market exploded in recent years across the Bay State, more pot shops will soon be shutting down around the region.
Trulieve Cannabis Corp. recently announced that the marijuana giant will be winding down its operations in Massachusetts. The company’s dispensaries in Worcester, Framingham, and Northampton will close at the end of June [2023], and Trulieve expects that it will cease all operations in the state by the end of the year.
The cannabis behemoth made headlines last year when a worker who was packaging ground cannabis into pre-rolls at Trulieve’s cannabis processing facility in Holyoke suffered an asthma attack and later died in the hospital. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigated, and the company later settled with OSHA.
Trulieve isn’t the first cannabis company to shut down pot shops in the state. Late last year, the Source became the first dispensary to close in Massachusetts. The store was located close to other pot shops in Northampton.
Now Trulieve will be taking another marijuana dispensary off the market in Northampton, along with stores in Worcester and Framingham. The company said it’s looking to “preserve cash and improve financial performance.”
“These difficult but necessary measures are part of ongoing efforts to bolster business resilience and our commitment to cash preservation as we continue to focus on our business strategy of going deep in our core markets and jettisoning non-contributive assets,” CEO Kim Rivers said in a statement. “We remain fully confident in our strategic position and the long term prospects for the industry.”
In December, Trulieve had announced a settlement with OSHA that would lead to more health and safety protections for workers at its cannabis manufacturing facilities following the death of an employee.
As part of the agreement, the original $35,219 fine against Trulieve was reduced to $14,502. Under the agreement, Trulieve would study whether ground cannabis dust is required to be classified as a “hazardous chemical” in the occupational setting, according to OSHA regulations.
“Increased-scale manufacturing in our industry is a relatively new endeavor and we are determined to continually ask questions and seek answers to make our workplace the safest and healthiest it can possibly be,” Rivers said. “We already have many protections in place, and we intend to continue our work with state and federal regulators to make sure workers are treated well.”
Rick Sobey is a multimedia, general assignment reporter -- covering breaking news, politics and more across the region. He was most recently a reporter at The Lowell Sun. Rick is a Massachusetts native and graduated from Boston University. While not reporting, he enjoys long-distance running.
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June 17, 2023
I do not understand what the following news article's legal language means, but Nuciforo's Berkshire Roots is in labor litigation:
https://masslawyersweekly.com/2023/06/15/labor-blocking-charge-doctrine-decertification-petition/
Labor – Blocking charge doctrine – Decertification petition
Department of Labor Relations
Mass. Lawyers Weekly Staff - June 15, 2023
Where (1) a union filed two prohibited practice charges and (2) a decertification representation petition was filed thereafter, the prohibited practice charges should block further processing of the decertification petition.
“The United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1459 (UFCW or Union) filed two motions to have the prohibited practice charges in Case Nos. UP-22-9339 and UP-22-9404 block further processing of the decertification representation petition that Logan Eichelser (Petitioner or Eichelser) filed in Case No. CR-22-9430 (Motions). The UFCW is exclusive bargaining representative for all agricultural employees employed by Berkshire Roots, Inc. in its Pittsfield, Massachusetts cannabis facility (Berkshire Roots or Employer). The Commonwealth Employment Relations Board (CERB) grants the UFCW’s Motions for the reasons set forth below. …
“As a threshold issue, we address the Petitioner’s argument that the DLR lacks the authority to block representation elections because Chapter 150A is silent as to blocking charges and that generally, blocking charges impede employees’ right to free choice afforded by G.L.c. 150A, Section 3. We disagree. …
“Several factors persuade us that the prohibited practice charges in Case No. UP-22-9339 and UP-22-9404 should block further processing of this decertification petition. …
“For the above-stated reasons, we allow the UFCW’s Motions and block further processing of Case No. CR-22-9430. CR-22-9430 will be held in inactive status. As a result, there is no pending question concerning representation.”
In the Matter of Berkshire Roots, Inc., and Logan Eichelser and United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1459 (Lawyers Weekly No. 21-015-23) (15 pages) (Commonwealth Employment Relations Board) Patrice Dixon for the employer; Bruce N. Cameron and W. James Young for Logan Eichelser; G. Alexander Robertson for UFCW, Local 1459 (Docket No. CR-22-9430) (May 3, 2023).
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June 17, 2023
When Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior was a "Pittsfield" State Senator (who really lived in Boston) from 1997 - 2006, he was described as a "Democrat" who is a fiscal conservative. Nuciforo is a disgraced former politician turned Pittsfield Pot King due to his allegedly illegal double dipping as the mid-2000s Chair of the State Senate Finance Committee who also served as an Attorney for Boston Financial District's big banks and insurance companies. In 2012, when Nuciforo ran for U.S. Congress in Pittsfield (Massachusetts), he was called "a fringe politician". I, Jon Melle, do not understand the labor litigation that Nuciforo's Berkshire Roots is in, but given Nuciforo's fiscal conservative past, I understand why his Pittsfield Pot Kingdom is in labor litigation.
Jonathan A. Melle
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October 3, 2023
Re: Disgraced former Pittsfield State Senator Nuciforo Jr.'s Berkshire Roots Pot Kingdom is suing Pittsfield
I often wonder why Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior never faces any consequences for his actions ever since I had the unfortunate experience of first meeting of him during the Spring 1996 when I was 20 years old when he campaigned for the Berkshire-based State Senator elected position, while my dad, Bob, campaigned for Berkshire County Commissioner back then. Nuciforo did not live in the Berkshires back then, but rather, he worked and always lived in Boston as an unethical Attorney and corrupt career politician. His late father of the same name was a Pittsfield State Senator decades earlier back then. Nuciforo campaigned for State Senator from Pittsfield based on his late father's name. Nuciforo served in the Massachusetts State Senate from 1997 - 2006.
For many years, I have written, sent political emails, and blogged about Nuciforo's persecution of me, Jon Melle, because my father is Bob Melle, who he had a vendetta against. Aside from my negative experiences at the hands of Nuciforo over the past 27.5 years now, Nuciforo ended up having to step down from being a State Senator in 2006 because he allegedly illegally double dipped as the Chair of the State Senate Finance Committee while he also served as an Attorney for Boston's big banks and insurance companies with the Boston law firm Berman and Dowell from 1999 - 2006. In early-2007, the Boston Globe reported that Nuciforo lobbied the then new Governor, Deval Patrick, to be appointed as the state's Commissioner of Insurance after he anointed himself as the Pittsfield Registrar of Deeds by strong-arming two women candidates named Sharon Henault, who worked at the Pittsfield Registry of Deeds, and Sara Hathaway, who is a former Mayor of Pittsfield, out of the state government election.
Nuciforo served one six-year term as a Pittsfield Registrar of Deeds (2007 - 2012), which he used as a no show sinecure, while he plotted to oust the now late Congressman John W. Olver by opposing him the 2012 primary election, but Olver retired due to redistricting, and Nuciforo opposed Congressman Richie Neal, but Nuciforo lost to Neal by 40 percentage points in the 2012 primary election. Nuciforo's corrupt political career was finally over, but two years ago in the early-Fall 2021, Nuciforo announced that he would run for his old State Senator elected position, but then he reversed course and did not run against Paul Mark, who is the sitting State Senator from the Berkshires.
In March 2017, Nuciforo used his corrupt political connections in Pittsfield and then later in Boston to be one of the first marijuana businesses in Massachusetts to receive his permits to establish Berkshire Roots, which is the single largest grower of marijuana in Berkshire County. The Boston Globe published news stories and editorials about Nuciforo and other former Massachusetts corrupt politicians who cashed in on the multi-billion-dollar new marijuana industry. For the past couple of years, the homeowners near his Dalton Avenue Pittsfield Pot Kingdom have complained about Nuciforo's unpleasant pot growing odors stinking up their residential neighborhoods. On September 9th, 2023, the Berkshire Eagle reported that Nuciforo purchased a mansion in the same elitist Gated Community Pittsfield neighborhood that Mayor Linda Tyer also lives in. Nuciforo paid $950,000 for his mansion, which is not near his aforementioned Pittsfield Pot Kingdom, Berkshire Roots, on Dalton Avenue in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
Nuciforo's lawsuit against the city, Pittsfield, that he once represented on Beacon Hill in Boston demands that the city pay Berkshire Roots back $440,000 or justify the costs the impact fees paid for. If the city, Pittsfield, is found by the Berkshire Superior Court to not have incurred any costs by Nuciforo's pot company Berkshire Roots, Nuciforo's Berkshire Roots' lawsuit demands that the city, Pittsfield, must repay the impact fees with interest, unspecified damages, and attorney fees. Mayor Linda Tyer said that the city, Pittsfield, will "vigorously" defend itself in court. The city denies breaching the agreement, and says it has complied with state cannabis laws and regulations.
Nuciforo is a disgraced, corrupt, fringe and mean-spirited former politician who, I believe, should be a Convicted Felon and disbarred from being an Attorney over his alleged illegal double dipping in the mid-2000s as the Chair of the State Senate Finance Committee while at the same time working as an Attorney for Boston's big banks and insurance companies. Nuciforo once represented Pittsfield on Beacon Hill, but all of these many years later the marijuana company he owns, Berkshire Roots, is suing Pittsfield for many hundreds of thousands of dollars if not over one million dollars.
Mayor Linda Tyer, who only has 3 months left in elected office, should legally fight Nuciforo's Berkshire Roots in court. She should tell her city hired Attorneys that Nuciforo purchased a $950,000 mansion this past Summer 2023, which shows that Nuciforo's' Berkshire Roots is a profitable marijuana business in Pittsfield, as well as in Boston. Mayor Linda Tyer should tell her city hired Attorneys that Nuciforo is a disgraced former Pittsfield State Senator that was in bed with Boston's big banks and insurance companies in the mid-2000s, which led to the end of his corrupt political career in Pittsfield and Boston.
In closing, for once in my adult life, I hope that Nuciforo's Berkshire Roots lawsuit backfires against him, and that Nuciforo will finally face consequences for his actions. I believe that Nuciforo should have been disbarred from being an Attorney and he should have been a Convicted Felon long ago due to his aforementioned political corruption in Massachusetts.
Jonathan A. Melle
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"Berkshire Roots has paid Pittsfield $440,000 in impact fees under its host community agreement. It's suing to get that money back"
By Amanda Burke, The Berkshire Eagle, October 2, 2023
PITTSFIELD — Pittsfield cannabis company Berkshire Roots has filed a lawsuit demanding the city justify the impact fees it assessed or repay its $440,000.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 18 in Berkshire Superior Court, asks the court to declare that the city did not incur any costs by the company operating locally, and must therefore repay the impact fees with interest. It also demands unspecified damages and attorneys fees.
Berkshire Roots, which operates a cultivation and manufacturing facility as well as a retail store on Dalton Avenue, has paid $440,000 in impact fees to Pittsfield over the years, according to court documents.
Mayor Linda Tyer said the company knowingly and willingly agreed to pay the fees, and said the city will "vigorously" defend itself against the pending suits.
The company, is one of the largest pot operators in the county, joins several other industry players in and out of the Berkshires that are filing lawsuits challenging the legality of impact fees and seeking to recoup their money. Pittsfield cannabis company Bloom Brothers has filed a similar lawsuit, which remains pending.
Under the state's cannabis regulations, companies seeking to open dispensaries agree to impact fees under "host community agreements," which set terms for cannabis companies to operate in a city or town.
Berkshire Roots says the city hasn't identified any actual costly impacts the business has had on the community, such as wear and tear to roads, use of police and fire services, and permitting and inspection costs.
The city is therefore in breach of contract, the lawsuit alleges, because it offered no evidence the impact fees were “reasonably related” to costs incurred by the city due to the company's operations.
In a statement released Monday, the company pointed to an example set by the city of Boston, which notified dispensaries in November that it would stop assessing impact fees, and "returned via check all the host community fees collected to date."
Berkshire Roots also has a dispensary in Boston.
"[Boston] has been transparent and supportive of the small business owner," the statement said.
"We are simply asking the City of Pittsfield to identify any impacts that are 'reasonably related' to our business operation in Pittsfield, or to return the money, as the City of Boston did," the statement said.
Pittsfield stopped assessing the fees in July 2022, but didn't reimburse the fees.
Tyer said when representatives from the companies signed those host community agreements, they consented to paying the fees.
"Those agreements were all signed in good faith by all parties," she said.
The city denies breaching the agreement, and says it has complied with state cannabis laws and regulations. The impact fees were separate from the local cannabis sales tax.
In its suit filed last year, Bloom Brothers made similar claims and is seeking to recoup the $110,000 in fees it paid to the city over the years.
In court documents, Pittsfield's lawyers said Bloom Brothers, like other cannabis companies, willingly consented to the fees when it decided to do business in Pittsfield. That matter appears headed to a jury-waived trial before a judge.
Tyer said the impact fees collected from cannabis companies to date have been spent to run the city.
"The money we have already assessed and collected has already been expended on municipal operating expenses," she said.
Berkshire Roots framed the issue as a pressing one financially, saying the "fees have a significant impact on Berkshire Roots’ operation, and on its employees and vendors."
"We operate in an environment of increasing competition, high federal, state and city taxes, and have limited access to traditional sources of capital such as banks and other lending institutions," the statement said. "We look forward to resolving the matter with our counterparties in City Hall very soon."
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https://www.cannabisandthelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/10/Berkshire-Roots-Complaint.pdf
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October 14, 2023
Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior's Berkshire Roots versus Mayor Linda Tyer's City of Pittsfield lawsuit:
https://www.cannabisandthelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/10/Berkshire-Roots-Complaint.pdf
Nuciforo is asking for Pittsfield to pay Berkshire Roots $440,000 plus fees and unspecified damages. Basically, Nuciforo is accusing Mayor Linda Tyer of NOT acting in good faith in the city's HCA contract with Berkshire Roots.
https://www.cannabisandthelaw.com/2023/10/10/massachusetts-cannabis-business-sues-city-over-community-impact-fees/?utm_source=mondaq&utm_medium=syndication&utm_term=Cannabis-Hemp&utm_content=articleoriginal&utm_campaign=article
I find Nuciforo's lawsuit against Mayor Linda Tyer interesting because if anybody in Pittsfield politics has a history of NOT acting in good faith, it is Nuciforo. I have followed Nuciforo's corrupt career over the past 27.5 years of my adult life now, and please believe me when I write to you that Nuciforo should be a Convicted Felon for allegedly illegally double dipping as a disgraced former Pittsfield State Senator who chaired the Finance Committee in Boston, while he also worked as a private Attorney for Boston's big banks and insurance companies for the Boston Law Firm "Berman and Dowell" from 1999 - 2006.
I am on Mayor Linda Tyer's side. Nuciforo is a disgrace to the law!
Jon Melle
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October 21, 2023
Hello blogger Dan Valenti,
Someone posted on your blog: "Mere allegations!? The only people who dismiss the obvious evidence and believe that John Krol is merely incompetent when it’s evident John Krol embezzled is you, Dan Valenti, and John Krol’s mom."
My - Jon Melle's - response: I never wrote that I dismissed the evidence in the mere allegations against John Krol that he allegedly embezzled $6,100 from a not-for-profit charitable animal shelter years ago. I never wrote that John Krol is merely incompetent over this matter. Why do you allow someone to put words into my writings on your blog?
The Berkshire Eagle's editorial today omitted that the allegations during John Krol's political campaign for Mayor of Pittsfield are not legitimate because John Krol was never given due process of law whereby all statements are made under oath and both sides are heard and that all are vulnerable to legal jeopardy when they are heard in a court of law. As it stands, John Krol is innocent just like the rest of us until he is proven guilty of the alleged embezzlement from many years ago in a court of law.
The Berkshire Eagle should be questioning the disgraced former politician and lawyer turned Pittsfield Pot King named Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, whose lawsuit against the City of Pittsfield basically argues that Mayor Linda Tyer did NOT act in GOOD FAITH in the city's signing of the HCAs with Berkshire Roots.
Here is Nuciforo's lawsuit:
https://www.cannabisandthelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/10/Berkshire-Roots-Complaint.pdf
Please go to page 8 to see the name under the signature of Berkshire Roots' lawsuit against the City of Pittsfield: Andrea F. Nuciforo, Jr.
There are 43 pages of Nuciforo's lawsuit that essentially argues that the "BAD FAITH" actor named Mayor Linda Tyer defrauded him of $440,000 in HCAs fees from Berkshire Roots to the City of Pittsfield.
For Nuciforo to argue in a lawsuit against the city he once represented as a disgraced Massachusetts State Senator from Pittsfield - who never really lived in Pittsfield - that the "BAD FAITH" actor named Mayor Linda Tyer defrauded him of $440,000 in HCAs fees to the city is the height of hypocrisy by Nuciforo.
The Boston Globe has published multiple news stories and editorials about Nuciforo over the years. The Boston Globe reported that from 1999 - 2006, Nuciforo allegedly double dipped as a State Senator, who chaired the Senate Finance Committee in the mid-2000s, while at the same time, he served as an Attorney for the Boston Law Firm Berman and Dowell whereby Nuciforo served as legal counsel for Boston's big banks and insurance companies. In 2006, Nuciforo had to step down from being a State Senator in disgrace over this matter.
Nuciforo's public record was NOT in GOOD FAITH! Nuciforo's double dipping was allegedly illegal. Nuciforo should have been charged over this, but he stepped down in 2006 to cover his behind. Nuciforo should be a Convicted Felon over this matter. Nuciforo should have been disbarred over this matter. Nuciforo's ongoing lawsuit should not even be reality if we lived in a perfect world whereby Nuciforo was held accountable over this matter.
Nuciforo's Pittsfield Pot Kingdom on Dalton Avenue, as well as his dispensary in East Boston, is CONTROVERSIAL! Nuciforo used his disgraced political connections in Pittsfield and Boston alike to cash in on the multi-billion-dollar predatory pot industry in Massachusetts. There are questions about how Nuciforo's marijuana business always had such deep pockets of money. Where did Nuciforo receive his pot company's investments from? How was he one of the first people to receive permits over other worthy candidates to start marijuana businesses?
Why does the Eagle always give Nuciforo a FREE PASS on all of his corruption in politics, the law, and the marijuana business? For crying out loud, Nuciforo is suing the City of Pittsfield and he is arguing that Mayor Linda Tyer acted in BAD FAITH to defraud him of $440,000 over Berkshire Roots HCAs with the city. For crying out loud, Nuciforo has a long history of acting in BAD FAITH on many levels in Pittsfield and in Boston alike.
When one compares the Eagle's coverage of John Krol's alleged embezzlement of $6,100 to Nuciforo's lawsuit against the city that argues Mayor Linda Tyer acted in BAD FAITH to defraud Berkshire Roots of $440,000 in HCAs fees to the city, one sees the Eagle's double standard of questioning John Krol with mere allegations, while giving Nuciforo a FREE PASS.
Best wishes,
Jon Melle
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October 22, 2023
Hello blogger Dan Valenti, and the Honorable Mayor Linda Tyer,
Someone wrote on your blog, Planet Valenti: "Jesus, Jon, do yourself a big favor and let Nuciforo go. The only one you are hurting is yourself."
I wish to thank this person for looking out for me. However, I have something to say here.
I had breakfast with my 79-year-old dad, Bob, this Sunday morning. I asked my dad, Bob, if he is surprised that Pittsfield's former disgraced State Senator named Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior is suing the City of Pittsfield and essentially arguing that Mayor Linda Tyer acted in BAD FAITH and that she thereby allegedly defrauded Nuciforo out of $440,000 in the HCAs fees that Nuciforo's Berkshire Roots marijuana company paid the city years ago. My dad, Bob, said that Nuciforo wants the money.
I also asked my dad, Bob, who is a former Berkshire County Commissioner (1997 - mid-2000) if Nuciforo's lawsuit could backfire on him given all of the corruption and allegedly illegal double dipping Nuciforo was accused of in the mid-2000s when he was the Chair of the Massachusetts State Senate Finance Committee while he also worked for the Boston Law Firm named Berman and Dowell whereby Nuciforo served as legal counsel for Boston's big banks and insurance companies from 1999 - 2006. Nuciforo was a State Senator from 1997 - 2006, but due to his corruption in state government with Boston's Financial District, Nuciforo had to step down from being a State Senator in disgrace in 2006. My dad, Bob, said that the city's lawyers can present Nuciforo disgraced political legacy in Massachusetts State Government to the Berkshire Superior Court as part of Nuciforo's character, especially given that Nuciforo's lawsuit against the city is basically arguing that Mayor Linda Tyer's character is one of her NOT acting in GOOD FAITH with Nuciforo's marijuana company named "Berkshire Roots".
To read Nuciforo's lawsuit against the City of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, please go this link:
https://www.cannabisandthelaw.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2023/10/Berkshire-Roots-Complaint.pdf
Given all that I know about how Nuciforo operates in politics, the law, and the lucrative marijuana industry, how could I stay silent and allow Mayor Linda Tyer to be persecuted by Nuciforo? The other thing is that there are no other lawsuits or formal complaints that I know of that argues that Mayor Linda Tyer acts in BAD FAITH and allegedly DEFRAUDS people or businesses. I understand that there is another Pittsfield marijuana company suing the city to receive a lesser amount of their HCAs back, but Nuciforo's legal argument targets Mayor Linda Tyer's character.
The hypocrisy by Nuciforo of attacking Mayor Linda Tyer's character is that Nuciforo is the disgraced politician, not Mayor Linda Tyer!
Best wishes,
Jon Melle
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December 4, 2023
Let's see. Nuciforo is suing the City of Pittsfield over his Pittsfield Pot Kingdom named "Berkshire Roots"'s payments to the city of $440,000 in HCAs fees from years ago. Why do you write that I should stop writing about Nuciforo's never ending political persecution of me over the past over 27.5 years now, but it is somehow O.K. for Nuciforo to sue the city over his predatory marijuana company's past HCAs payments plus unspecified damages?
What about the fact that the residential neighborhoods near Nuciforo's largest in the Berkshires marijuana growing three story building on Dalton Avenue in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, have complained for years that Berkshire Roots' pot growing operation fill their properties with unpleasant pot growing odors? As for Nuciforo, this past Summer of 2023, he purchased a $950,000 mansion in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community that is 0.3 miles from Mayor Linda Tyer and CPA Barry Clairmont's mansion close to the Hancock border. Nuciforo himself does NOT live near his Dalton Avenue Pittsfield Pot Kingdom!
The irony of Nuciforo's lawsuit is that he himself is a disgraced politician. In 2006, Nuciforo had to step down in disgrace from his elected position as a Pittsfield, Massachusetts State Senator in Boston because he was allegedly illegally double dipping as the Chair of the State Senate Finance Committee while at the same time he served as legal counsel for Boston's big banks and insurance companies for the Boston Law Firm Berman and Dowell from 1999 - 2006. These facts were all published in the Boston Globe in early-2007.
Yet, Nuciforo's lawsuit basically argues that Mayor Linda Tyer acted in BAD FAITH with his marijuana company's HCAs payments to the city that took place years ago. Going back in history, it is clear that the bad faith politician was Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior, who is a disgraced former politician, while Mayor Linda Tyer is NOT a disgraced politician. In fact, Mayor Linda Tyer has received praises from state and local officials throughout Massachusetts because she is a good public manager.
Beacon Hill's Statehouse in Boston is a den of corruption, secrecy, financial inequity with the financial, corporate and ruling elites all enriching themselves at the public trough, while the common people and distressed areas throughout Massachusetts are mocked with DISSERVICES such as the multi-billion-dollar state lottery SCAM, which is nothing more than (voluntary) regressive taxation that exploits the underclass financial illiteracy.
For Nuciforo to have had to step down as a Massachusetts State Senator in 2006, he must have done something(s) really wrong back then. I wonder what Mayor Linda Tyer's thoughts are about Nuciforo's lawsuit against the City of Pittsfield. She must be thinking that Nuciforo is the pot calling the kettle black.
Jon Melle
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"How do we solve a problem like high-potency marijuana?"
The Boston Globe, Letters, February 2, 2024
Harms of high THC content can be avoided through education
The Jan. 25 editorial “High-potency marijuana carries health risks” misses several important realities about cannabis users. I agree with most of the harms stated in the article, many of which can be avoided by educating consumers to “start low, go slow,” and by scrupulously avoiding cannabis use in vulnerable populations, such as teens, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and people with a history of psychosis.
As a cannabis clinician and participant in the legalization movement for the last quarter century, I have found that, in my experience, most cannabis users regulate their consumption, or self-titrate, to their own level of comfort. Your editorial makes it sound as if cannabis users typically use more and more of the product, but cases of marijuana use disorder are rare. It is uncomfortable to consume too much. This is where the anxiety and paranoia come in, and cannabis users tend to try to avoid this.
I agree that we fetishize high THC levels and that both the cannabis experience and the health of cannabis users might be better with lower THC consumption. We should incorporate the other components of cannabis more, such as CBD and other minor cannabinoids, not just THC. Yet if we limit the potency, people are likely to consume larger amounts to reach the same desired effect. All this accomplishes is to make the cannabis experience less healthy (people will smoke more) and more expensive for medical patients on fixed incomes, such as veterans and seniors.
I believe that the main harm of products that are high in THC is accidental overconsumption. For example, baby boomers who take the same three bong hits they did in college, when cannabis was more like 3 percent THC, now take the same three hits of 20 percent THC and have an awful, anxious experience. Though, of note, no one dies from cannabis overconsumption, which is untrue of other drugs. I agree with the risk you cite that imposing potency limits would drive consumers to the illicit market, which is more dangerous on all levels, since the cannabis is unmonitored, unregulated, and unlabeled.
Dr. Peter Grinspoon
Newton
The writer, an instructor at Harvard Medical School, is the author of “Seeing Through the Smoke: A Cannabis Specialist Untangles the Truth About Marijuana.”
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Setting caps on potency would be poor policy
Imposing arbitrary potency caps on THC content is not in the interest of either public health or safety.
Higher THC products, like hashish, are hardly a new phenomenon. Typically, when consumers encounter higher-potency products, they consume lesser quantities of them. This self-regulatory process is known as self-titration.
Unlike alcohol, THC is incapable of causing a lethal overdose in humans. This fact is acknowledged by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, which has concluded, “No deaths from overdose of marijuana have been reported.”
Prohibiting adults from accessing these products from state-licensed retailers will not eliminate consumers’ demand for them. Rather, it will encourage consumers to seek out higher-THC products in the unregulated market. It will also move the production of these products exclusively underground. This undermines the primary goal of legalization, which is to provide patients with safe, above-ground access to lab-tested products of known purity, potency, and quality.
Rather than banning these products, regulators should provide the public with better safety information about the effects of more potent products, and they should continue to ensure that legal products do not get diverted to the youth market.
Paul Armentano
Deputy director, National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
Washington, D.C.
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Youth and young adults are especially vulnerable to drug’s ill effects
Your editorial about the dangers of cannabis is important to read. I’m concerned, for example, about the dispensary that has been planned for the Cleveland Circle neighborhood, across the street from a public park.
Research is clear about the detrimental effects of cannabis on youth as well as on people at least into their mid-30s. City officials may point to state law that prohibits sales of cannabis to individuals under 21. Yet, as the editorial notes, Boston Children’s Hospital reports a significant increase in children admitted with dangerous symptoms associated with marijuana use.
Many cannabis users respond that cannabis is less dangerous than cocaine or alcohol. Dr. Yasmin Hurd, a cannabis researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York and a panelist in an event last year at Harvard Law School, responds, “Do you prefer jumping off from the 10th floor or the fifth floor?”
Cheryl Weinstein
Boston
The writer is board certified in clinical neuropsychology.
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March 28, 2024
Pittsfield's Pot King Luciforo filed yet another marijuana business lawsuit this time in Boston to revive the union decertification bid, while Nuciforo's pending pot lawsuit versus the City of Pittsfield in Berkshire Superior Court that he filed last Summer 2023 is looking to have the Pittsfield City Government pay his Berkshire Roots marijuana business back the $440,000 in HCAs fees that Berkshire Roots paid Pittsfield many years ago now to stink up nearby residential neighborhoods all around his Dalton Avenue marijuana growing buildings, while Nuciforo himself lives in his $950,000 mansion in Pittsfield's elitist Gated Community west of Berkshire Community College.
The (SARCASTIC) Bottom Line: Only Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior is supposed to make money being a drug dealer in the marijuana industry. In Luciforo's warped mind, Pittsfield is to pay Nuciforo, while his workers are to be underpaid by Nuciforo.
https://www.law360.com/corporate/articles/1817925/cannabis-retailer-sues-to-revive-union-decertification-bid
Why isn't Nuciforo in prison?
In the mid-2000's-decade, he was allegedly illegally double dipping at the Massachusetts State Senate Chairman of the Finance Committee while at the same time from 1999 - 2006, he served as a private Attorney for Boston's big banks and insurance companies at the Boston Law Firm Berman & Dowell, according to the Boston Globe news story in early-2007. While Nuciforo stepped down from being a State Senator in 2006, he never faced any charges for his unethical double dipping. Moreover, as of this point in the early-Spring 2024, Nuciforo still has a law office in Boston's Financial District.
Nuciforo started his 7-year-old marijuana business "Berkshire Roots" sometime around March 2017. I read news articles that questioned how he - along with other former politicians - used his old political connections in both Pittsfield and Boston to obtain one of the first permits to start Berkshire Roots. The journalists and editors questioned how Nuciforo's pot empire had such deep pockets of investments, while other permit seekers did not. Was it due to Nuciforo's allegedly illegal ties to the finance industry? Were Nuciforo's investors on the up and up, or were there unethical handshakes, such as honor among thieves (corrupt politicians)?
In conclusion, Nuciforo always gets to do whatever the Hell he wants to do, and he has always gotten away with everything under the Sun. I hope that there are journalists and bloggers out there who will expose Nuciforo's corrupt past and connect it to his current pot lawsuits in both Pittsfield and Boston state court systems.
Jon Melle
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Letter: "Cannabis dispensaries should drop suit against Great Barrington"
The Berkshire Eagle, April 3, 2024
To the editor: Four cannabis dispensaries are suing Great Barrington: Theory Wellness, Rebelle, Farnsworth and Calyx.
Massachusetts law allows municipalities to collect a 3 percent excise sales tax on cannabis revenue and a 3 percent “community impact fee” on sales. Since Theory Wellness opened the town's first recreational dispensary in January 2019, the town has received $12.5 million — more than $6 million each in community impact fees and in taxes. The taxes were used to decrease real estate taxes for the residents of Great Barrington.
According to a June 2022 Eagle report, Berkshire cannabis dispensaries received about $200 million in yearly sales. Theory Wellness accounted for more than a quarter of that with more than $54 million, according to Eagle estimates derived through public record request.
Negative impacts associated with cannabis use have been established, especially in adolescents, whose brains aren't fully developed until age 25. With dispensaries located in highly visible locations in town and the increased possibility that cannabis use is occurring in their homes, youth need reliable education regarding cannabis more than ever. For adults who struggle with substance use, the impact of readily available cannabis must be addressed.
The visual impact of school buses filled with grade and high school students stopped at the light in front of Theory Wellness and watching long lines of adults waiting to purchase cannabis while police managed crowd control, normalizes cannabis use. That visual image those Great Barrington students were taught cannot be erased. However, the 3 percent mitigation fee (for five years) can be used to offset and provide counter-balance. Offering programs, education and guidance is exactly what the 3 percent toward community impact funding is intended to do.
The eyes of children on those school buses five years later are now watching the adults of Great Barrington. Can we as a community stand against a cannabis industry that, as of 2022, generated more than $200 million annually in our county? How do we feel about this industry suing us for $6 million, most of which has not been touched and the remainder has been used to offset the negative impacts of cannabis on our youth and residents?
We are asking the four cannabis dispensaries to drop their lawsuit, recognize that there are negative impacts, and step up to be the “good faith“ business partners they profess to be and pay what they willingly agreed.
Martha Klay, Great Barrington
The writer is a member of Great Barrington's Community Impact Funding Committee.
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/growing-demand-stronger-marijuana-highlights-200221155.html
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June 14, 2024
Neither does "Luciforo" care a bit about the working-class people in Pittsfield with his $341,000 cash pot settlement from the fictional Mary Jane and Joe Kapanski, along with Nuciforo's 2nd pot lawsuit in Suffolk (Boston) Superior Court that is trying to bust unions in Massachusetts who represent and advocate for marijuana workers.
I wonder if the 90 day grace period, openly gay Mayor Peter Marchetti, Voltron Pete White the Porkchop, and others in City Hall didn't collude with Andrea Francesco Nuciforo Junior's "Berkshire Roots" marijuana business to pay him a "FREE CASH" city settlement of $341,000?
Nuciforo made many millions of dollars from his Pittsfield Pot Kingdom with his second marijuana dispensary in East Boston, but the 2 Petes who run Pittsfield politics voted to give "Luciforo" $341,000, while they cut $200,000 from the (Level 5) Pittsfield Public School District's fiscal year 2025 budget.
That is Pittsfield politics in a NUTS-HELL!
Jon Melle
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Letter: "Legalizing weed would be a mistake"
Dr. Joan Connell responds to a recent column from Jim Shaw encouraging voters to vote 'yes' on Measure 5.
In-Forum - Opinion: Letter to the editor - Dr. Joan Connell - October 15, 2024
While I often agree with what Jim Shaw has to say, I could not disagree more with his recent column, " It’s time to legalize recreational marijuana in North Dakota ," encouraging North Dakotans to legalize recreational marijuana. Shaw's column contained the usual lies promoted by the marijuana industry.
New York’s governor has called marijuana legalization in her state a “disaster” and so it will go with legalized recreational marijuana in North Dakota. I am not sure how much more damaging information is needed for people to understand that this social experiment has failed.
Here are the facts:
Marijuana is harmful. Today’s marijuana is 10x more potent than the 1970s strains. With this potency comes increased mental health illnesses, including psychosis, anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. Thirty percent of regular adult users require treatment for substance use disorder, and smoking pot increases the risk for head and neck cancers.
Supporters of Measure 5 tout that marijuana would be illegal to use before age 21. Unfortunately, legalization leads to normalization which leads to more users, who use more often and in higher doses. That fact, regardless of the age limit, is especially true for underage users.
Look around North Dakota’s college campuses. How many teetotaling freshman do you know? We reign as the leading binge drinking state. Given the inability to differentiate what is in a vape, as well as edibles that look like candy, it will be impossible to prevent minors from using marijuana.
We know that the brain develops rapidly until age 25. Research has proven that marijuana use by those under age 25 leads to lower grades, decreased high school graduation, decreased university enrollment and graduation. Experimentation with any mind-altering substance prior to age 25 also increases the risk for abuse and addiction, to not only marijuana, but all potentially addictive substances.
It is well accepted that cannabis decreases the ability of one’s brain to function as well as decreases motivation. This is not like alcohol, and it is not like nicotine. Is that what we want for the future of North Dakota?
But the impact of legalization on our youth doesn’t end there. Legalized states have also seen a 1,000% increase in emergency department visits of children ingesting edibles that look like candy, the sale of which should be considered child abuse.
Finally, a word about tax revenue. The projected tax revenue from legalization is predicted to barely pay for the costs of the state administering the program. There is no extra money to pay for the treatment of accidentally overdosed kids, nor for the consequential mental health and substance use disorder treatment associated with recreational marijuana.
Legalization of recreational marijuana will lead to more mental illness, more suicides, more traffic accidents and deaths, and increased healthcare and insurance costs for all of us. If legalized recreational marijuana becomes law in North Dakota, the leaders of the marijuana industry will be laughing at us all the way to the bank. Please vote "no" on Measure 5.
Dr. Joan Connell is a pediatrician live in Bismarck.
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