Weed Business Continues to Grow in Massachusetts

Massachusetts has taken advantage of the lucrative cannabis industry.  According to an article at masslive.com, the state has surpassed gross sales of over 2-billion dollars in less than 3-years.

The masslive.com article quotes the 2-billion figure from the state’s mandatory seed-to sale-tracking system monitored by the Cannabis Control Commission.  The state passed the $1-billion mark less than a year ago and has doubled that number since according to masslive.com.

The Berkshires has a number of dispensaries selling nature’s finest and the number continue to grow.  In Pittsfield Jack’s, Bloom Brothers, Berkshire Roots, and Temescal Wellness are doing big business with at least two new storefronts opening soon.  North Adams has a couple of shops with Silver Therapeutics and Clear Sky Cannabis.  Lots of variety in south county with Theory Wellness, Farnsworth Fine Cannabis and Rebelle in Great Barrington, and The Pass in Sheffield.  Canna Provisions in Lee is a favorite among New Yorkers because of the access to the store right off the Mass Pike.

Western Mass is certainly leading the way in the state with a dispensary popping up all over Springfield, Chicopee, Northampton, Easthampton, Holyoke, and Westfield.  At this rate, pot shops will be outnumbering Dunkin’ locations in no time.

You will certainly pay more for your weed than you did from your high school connection but the quality and variety aren’t even close.  The price is certainly driven up by the additional 20% tax charged on all recreational transactions.  That revenue of that sales tax goes right into the community and state coffers.  A price not too many connoisseurs complain about knowing it is the price to pay for the freedom of shopping and consuming Mother Nature’s finest.

LOOK: Here are the 50 best beach towns in America

Every beach town has its share of pluses and minuses, which got us thinking about what makes a beach town the best one to live in. To find out, Stacker consulted data from WalletHub, released June 17, 2020, that compares U.S. beach towns. Ratings are based on six categories: affordability, weather, safety, economy, education and health, and quality of life. The cities ranged in population from 10,000 to 150,000, but they had to have at least one local beach listed on TripAdvisor. Read the full methodology here. From those rankings, we selected the top 50. Readers who live in California and Florida will be unsurprised to learn that many of towns featured here are in one of those two states.

Keep reading to see if your favorite beach town made the cut.

Gallery Credit: Keri Wiginton

LOOK: Milestones in women's history from the year you were born

Women have left marks on everything from entertainment and music to space exploration, athletics, and technology. Each passing year and new milestone makes it clear both how recent this history-making is in relation to the rest of the country, as well as how far we still need to go. The resulting timeline shows that women are constantly making history worthy of best-selling biographies and classroom textbooks; someone just needs to write about them.

Scroll through to find out when women in the U.S. and around the world won rights, the names of women who shattered the glass ceiling, and which country's women banded together to end a civil war.

Gallery Credit: Isabel Sepulveda

 

More From WNAW AM