'It's been gangbusters': Busy opening days for Quincy Cannabis Co., city's first pot shop
QUINCY − Ron Affsa, co-owner of Quincy Cannabis Co., wielded a pair of oversized scissors as he cut a blue ribbon Monday, marking the opening of the city's first recreational marijuana shop. People took pictures with their cellphones. Someone called for a speech. Affsa complied with two words: "Smoke weed!"
After he cut the ribbon, a crowd greeted Affsa with hugs and congratulations.
"I feel like I just got married or something," Affsa said.
After almost seven years spent navigating the industry's complex licensing process, Affsa and co-owner Jon Napoli launched Quincy's first recreational marijuana store with a soft opening over the weekend. Monday was the store's first full day of operations.
Massachusetts voters legalized recreational marijuana in November 2016.
"A week after that, I was in the mayor's office," Affsa said. "It was a dream (before legalization); then it was a mission."
In September 2021, the partners bought the small one-story building at 715 Washington St., off the rotary near the Fore River Bridge. They promptly put up a sign reading "Coming this Summer" on the slope of the high-gabled roof.
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In retrospect, that timeline was aggressive, Affsa said. But after a long wait, the store is open, offering a wide array of products, including marijuana flower, prerolled joints and edibles such as gummies, chocolates, hot sauce and infused ice creams.
"We opened at 5 p.m. on Saturday, and it's been gangbusters the whole time," Napoli said.
Affsa and Napoli said they expect to benefit from their location. Not only is the shop the first of its kind in Quincy, but several towns along Route 3A voted to ban recreational marijuana after statewide legalization in 2016. Affsa said the company is well-positioned to serve commuters going to and from these towns, including Weymouth, Hingham, Cohasset, Scituate and Duxbury.
Quincy will also benefit. On top of an excise and sales tax of 17% paid to the state, 3% of gross sales will go to the city. Quincy has imposed an additional 3% "impact fee," money that might help offset any costs incurred by the city from the operations of the store.
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Critics of impact fees have argued that towns and municipalities often fail to account for negative impacts or report how fees collected from cannabis stores are spent. Northampton stopped charging community fees last year. Boston has done the same and said it will refund millions of dollars in fees collected over the last several years.
Affsa said he has "every intention of paying the 3% (impact fee) over the first year. In the second year, let's see what the costs are ... before writing a blank check."
"We have a positive impact," Napoli said. He said the business will bring jobs, economic activity and added security to the area.
"There's no need to treat us like a pariah," he said. "Those days are over."
Napoli cited the company's contributions to Quincy's Recovered Souls Foundation, a local organization that treats substance abuse addiction.
Ward 2 City Councilor Anthony Andronico said he's "really excited for Ron and the team. It's been a long process and they did everything by the book." Andronico lauded the company for contributing "a chunk of money for initiatives in education and substance abuse prevention."
Quincy Cannabis Co. may not be the city's only recreational pot shop for long. A change of ownership at Ermont Inc., the medical marijuana store off Ricciuti Drive, is underway.
Norwood-based MariMed plans to reopen under the name Panacea Wellness and expand operations to include recreational sales. The licensing process could take as long as a year, MariMed CEO Jon Levine said.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: City's first recreational marijuana dispensary opens
