Smooth Rollout: Boston Area's First Pot Shop Opens Without Hiccup

BROOKLINE, MA — In the cold, hours before the first recreational marijuana shop in Greater Boston opened in Brookline Saturday, a line started to form in the parking lot of the New England Treatment Access store on Route 9. But unlike the first retail pot shops in Massachusetts to open last November which pulled in thousands of people, authorities said this one seemed tame.

"I'm feeling good about this," said Brookline Police Chief Andrew Lipson as he stood on the bridge looking out over a line of about 150 people in the NETA parking lot just before 9 a.m.

"There's been a lot of planning that went into this. We'll see how it pans out," he said.

Officials originally said they expected hundreds to show up, similar to the numbers they saw in Northampton when the NETA's first recreational marijuana shop opened.

Two lines formed in NETA's closed parking lot early Saturday with the option of wrapping around the building, which sits at the corner of Route 9 and Washington Street up a block to White Place.

NETA officials said if the line got longer than that, they would turn people away, or ask them to make an order online and come back and pick it up through a separate express line.

But it looked like that wasn't necessary Saturday morning — the line didn't make it out of the parking lot Saturday morning. Early on, police traffic detail easily outnumbered visitors.

By 7 a.m. four people had claimed their position in line, with government-issued identification close at hand, waiting for the 9 a.m. opening. The group included a Vietnam veteran, a man who suffers from anxiety and another who has had amputations because of complications to his diabetes. Two drove, one took a Lyft and one took public transportation.

James Jenner, 38, an Uber driver, drove down from Salem and parked across the road at about 5 a.m. He camped out in his car until about 7 a.m. when he took position.

"I'm here because I have diabetes and I've had some amputations in my life," Jenner told Patch. He said he uses cannabis to manage pain, but never got a medical marijuana card because he didn't like the idea of being put in a database.

"For people like myself, this is very important. It's a very historic day — to be able to go in and to be able to take care of your pain ... without worrying that you're being tracked is big. So for all those naysayers: it actually has important relevance in today's society."

Tom Sullivan, 72, a Vietnam veteran from West Roxbury showed up at 7 a.m. He, too, drives for rideshare companies and said he was curious when he heard NETA was opening.

"It's legal, so I'm going to try it," Sullivan said. "I drive for Uber and Lyft and after you get home from that you really need to relax, so I'm hoping this will serve the purpose."

The opening coincided with planned track and signal work on the Green Line D branch, which means shuttle buses were called in to service riders between Kenmore and Reservoir Stations. Some worried that might impact the number of people who took public transportation, but roughly one-third of people Patch spoke to Saturday between 7 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. said they took public transportation, another third drove and then the last portion walked or biked.

Train and bus riders said their commutes were easy, despite some not being aware of the track work. And unlike Friday, when NETA held a press conference about what to expect, parking was easy to find for most who drove.

The majority of folks who came out to stand in the opening day line appeared to be from Boston, including a number from Allston-Brighton followed by Brookline and then Cambridge and Somerville. At least one person drove from Sudbury, another from Weymouth and someone came in from Lynn. Out-of-town visitors decided to stop by, too. At least one Australian stood in line, as did two from Tennessee, one from Texas and a visitor from Michigan.

Brookline Select Board Chairperson Neil Wishinsky and Select Board Member Heather Hamilton arrived early to practice making the first marijuana purchase. Wishinsky, who used to work as a federal investigator, said he never imagined he'd be announcing the opening of recreational marijuana sales in town — let alone be the first person to officially buy it here.

He said at first he declined to be the initial purchaser, but then, he changed his mind.

"The mayor of Northampton did it, so why not?" he said, adding he was looking forward to posting the photos of the occasion to Facebook to see how his "fed buddies" reacted.

NETA's Northampton marijuana shop was one of the first to sell recreational pot in the state last fall. NETA Brookline opened in 2016 to sell medical marijuana.

RELATED:

• MA Cannabis Commission Gives Final Green Light To Brookline
• Shuttle Buses Replace D Line From Reservoir To Kenmore
• First Pot Shop In Greater Boston To Open In Brookline: What To Know