In the weeds: Everything you always wanted to know about pot shops on the South Shore

Massachusetts voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults in 2016. Since then, marijuana retail stores have  opened across the state, including a handful of shops on the South Shore.

The first local retail  shop to open was Rockland’s CannaVana in August 2020. The state Cannabis Control Commission says there are eight recreational marijuana retailers between Quincy and Plymouth. That number will increase this fall when the Quincy Cannabis Co. opens at the rotary at the Fore River Bridge. It will become the city’s first recreational pot shop.

South Shore shops

Flower & Soul, 849 Plymouth St., Halifax

ZenLeaf, 11 Richards Road, Plymouth and 2 Merchant St., Sharon

Triple M, 9 Collins Ave., Plymouth

South Shore Buds, 985 Plain St., Marshfield

CannaVana, 256 Weymouth St., Rockland

Health Circle, 21 Commerce Road, Rockland

Bud’s Goods & Provisions, 1540 Bedford St., Abington

Just the facts, please

Massachusetts cities and towns can get up to 3% of a shop's total profits as negotiated through a community host agreement.

Massachusetts hit $3 billion in recreational cannabis sales this year.

Like alcohol, you must be 21 or older to buy pot at a retail shop.

You can only carry up to 1 ounce at a time.

You can’t smoke, vape or eat marijuana in public.

New cannabis law

New cannabis regulations are coming after Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law last month a series of reforms that will shake up the multibillion-dollar marijuana industry. The changes include more oversight on the host community agreements that businesses are required to enter into with municipalities, and lay the groundwork for cities and towns to approve cannabis cafes.

The bill also sets up a Social Equity Trust Fund to promote greater diversity in the legal marijuana industry. The fund would offer grants and loans to boost participation in the cannabis field among disenfranchised populations.

Weed on wheels

Home delivery of recreational marijuana began in July 2021 when the Cannabis Control Commission approved licenses for Lantern and Your Green Package. Until July 2024 delivery licenses are exclusively available to businesses enrolled in the state's program to support entrepreneurs of color.

On the South Shore, marijuana courier Roy LaFlamme delivers goods from Health Circle in Rockland to customers in Quincy, Rockland and Abington. South Shore Buds in Marshfield offers a delivery service and plans to open a fulfillment warehouse in Quincy later this year.

South Shore towns permitted for delivery are Carver, Halifax, Kingston, Marshfield, Plymouth, Quincy, Rockland and Sharon.

Bud bans

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission’s website provides a town-by-town breakdown of whether a town has zoning or a ban in place for recreational marijuana retailers, referred to as adult-use status.

These South Shore towns have enacted a ban on recreational marijuana shops: Braintree, Canton, Cohasset, Duxbury, Hanover, Hingham, Hull, Milton, Norwell, Pembroke, Randolph, Scituate, Stoughton, Weymouth and Whitman.

Braintree, a ‘no community’

Mayor Charles Kokoros has proposed a zoning ordinance that will prohibit recreational marijuana sales. The proposal comes after the town council earlier this month approved a change that will allow nonretail recreational marijuana operations in the town's highway business zones, opening the door for growers and other such businesses. Kokoros said he approves of the change.

"We will stay a no community in regards to the recreational sale of marijuana," Kokoros said.

Flower Xpress is seeking to build a marijuana cultivation and processing facility in a long-vacant warehouse on Ivory Street next to the Braintree MBTA station. There will be no retail sales at the location. The plan still needs approval of the town's planning board as well as the state's Cannabis Control Commission.

Shop coming soon in Quincy

Ron Affsa, who owns Hair Place One on Hancock Street, plans to open Quincy Cannabis Co. at 715 Washington St. near the Fore River Bridge in October.  The state Cannabis Control Commission has granted Quincy Cannabis Co. a provisional license, and the company signed a community host agreement with the city last year. Quincy will get 3% of the shop's profits.

No weed in Weymouth

In 2018, the town council unanimously voted to prohibit production and retail operations of recreational marijuana. Diane Hachey, assistant to the town council of Weymouth, said the town has not voted on the issue since 2018 and no  proposals for changes to the ban have come to the town council.

More marijuana in Marshfield

South Shore Buds – the first and only retail shop in the town – opened on Dec. 17, 2021. The store  has a delivery service, called the Bud Bus, that  provides products to towns that allow delivery.

Marshfield voters did not ban recreational cannabis stores.

Town administrator Michael Maresco said a Health Circle store, which has  a location in Rockland, will open by the end of December 2022. The Marshfield Zoning Board of Appeals granted Health Circle a permit in November 2020 for a store on Enterprise Drive.

Still a no in Scituate

In 2018, Scituate town meeting voters decided to ban adult use marijuana operations. Voters upheld this ban in April 2022, when warrant articles were proposed to allow shops to open under specific conditions. The town will hold a special town meeting on Sept. 19 when the issue could be brought up again, town clerk Kathleen Gardner said.

Reefer madness in Rockland

Rockland is home to two recreational marijuana businesses: CannaVanna and Health Circle. CannaVanna opened its doors in July 2021 as the first recreational marijuana dispensary on the South Shore. The town's second retail location, Health Circle, opened less than a year later at 21 Commerce Road.

Rockland has no limit to the number of stores that can open. The town signed a host community agreement with Robert Lally, who plans to open a store at 1015 Hingham St.  A fourth location might also be on the horizon in Rockland. Town administrator Doug Lapp said the town signed a host community agreement with the company Two Buds.

Randolph not ready

Randolph residents voted to prohibit recreational marijuana businesses in 2017. The issue came to a vote again in the fall of 2021 and residents voted to keep the ban, town attorney Christine Griffin said.

No in Norwell

Although the town does not allow retail sales, a cultivation facility called Elevated Access has been approved by local officials. Town administrator Peter Morin said the company is still waiting for state approval. In 2020, the town lifted a ban on medicinal and recreational marijuana cultivation, amending the general laws so that an operation can open in the town's overlay district near Accord Park.

Curbed in Cohasset

The town banned retail stores at a town meeting on May 1, 2017, and there is currently no discussion about updating regulations, town manager Chris Senior said.

A don’t for Duxbury

The town voted on March 10, 2018, to prohibit marijuana establishments. There are currently no  efforts to change the law, Duxbury finance director John Adams.

Not in Nantasket

According to town manager Phil Lemnios, the town of Hull voted in 2017 not to permit retail sales in the town. But the town's first medical marijuana shop, Alternative Compassion Services, opened earlier this year.

Material from State House News Service was used in this report.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: A roundup of recreational marijuana retail on the South Shore