The Vineyard Gazette – Martha’s Vineyard News
2 min readConsumers over 21 can now legally buy and use marijuana grown on Martha’s Vineyard after adult sales began Monday morning at the Fine Fettle Dispensary in West Tisbury.
Fine Fettle, which began selling prescription marijuana at its State Road location last month, opened to non-medical customers with four varieties of dried flowers and three varieties in pre-rolled joints.
A similar menu will also be available to adult cannabis buyers in Vineyard Haven starting August 16, when the Island Time Pharmacy on Mechanic’s Street opens to the public.
“We’re going to have exactly the same product,” said Geoff Rose, owner of Island Time, whose Patient Centric founded West Tisbury, a growth and distribution company now owned by Fine Fettle.
“We expect to have edible products at some point in the near future,” Mr. Rose told the Gazette. Vaporizer cartridges will come too, he said.
Products made with marijuana, be it for eating or vaping, are more complex to prepare, said Jay Deyette, general manager of Fine Fettle, who reported a busy sale at the pharmacy’s first day of retail and customers thankful for buds and pre-rolls .
Before visiting the pharmacies, island buyers must register online for a 15-minute appointment. Pre-order for collection is possible, and customers can also add or change their orders after personal consultation with the counter staff at Fine Fettle, who, with their knowledge of the offers on the list, are reminiscent of restaurant sommeliers.
The dried marijuana buds grown in West Tisbury are packed in small but heavy zippered plastic bags weighing 3.5 ounces each, and costing $ 60 each.
Pre-rolls are made from ground buds, each packed in a slightly funnel-shaped tube made of hemp paper with a rolled cardboard mouthpiece on the thin end and then sealed in a glass tube.
Both bags and tubes are labeled with the type of plant and information such as the THC content (tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive substance in marijuana) and warnings about smoking.
Before leaving the counter, the customer’s purchases are sealed in a black, child-resistant zippered bag.
The Fine Fettle Dispensary is open Monday to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. by appointment
Island Time, when it opens next week, will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., also by appointment only, said Mr Rose.
As with Fine Fettle, a parking attendant will confirm customers’ appointments before they are admitted to the pharmacy, he said.
The advent of legal adult marijuana sales in the vineyard was a long time coming, said Mr Rose, who founded Patient Centric, not long after Massachusetts voters approved medical marijuana in 2012.
“It is the culmination of nearly nine years of effort to bring safe and responsible cannabis use to residents and visitors alike,” he said.