MA Cannabis Commission Gives Final Green Light To Brookline NETA

BROOKLINE, MA — NETA will start selling recreational marijuana in Brookline beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 23 to anyone 21 years old and older.

The state Cannabis Control Commission gave New England Treatment Access the final authorization to open the Route 9 location to recreational marijuana, meaning they could open anytime after March 19.

"We want to thank the Brookline Select Board and the Cannabis Control Commission for the confidence they have shown in our organization. We also want to thank the community of Brookline, the Police Chief, and the public safety and town departments for the support they have provided over these past months of preparation," said NETA's Director of Operational Compliance Amanda Rositano in a statement.

The Brookline location, which would be in the same place it sells medical marijuana, will be by far the closest recreational marijuana store to Boston.

"Brookline has been working with NETA on a plan for the opening for quite a while. Things will go much smoother if folks use the T," Select Board Chairperson Neil Wishinsky.

At a meeting with the town's Select Board earlier, representatives said they planned to open on a Saturday to avoid clogging the already notoriously congested intersection at the corner of Rt. 9 and Washington Street.

NETA spokespeople said they planned to ask those coming to the opening to order online ahead of time, and to take public transportation. The Brookline Village stop off the D Line is just a couple of blocks away.

NETA's Northampton location opened in November to throngs of people eager to make the first legal recreational purchases in the state.

Part of the plan NETA outlined for Brookline officials called for a line that would zig zag through the parking lot and wrap around the building up to White Place. NETA officials said if the line got longer than that, they'd turn people away, or ask them to make an order online and come back and pick it up through a separate express line.

Parking will be extremely limited, but there will be spots at the hotel down the street. There will be a heavy police pressence, too.

Watch for road signs to start popping up around Brookline Village warning of potential traffic on that day.

"We consider our medical programs in Brookline and Northampton to be models for operators across the country," said Rositano.

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