City’s first recreational pot shop opens
Two African American owners highlight ‘empowerment’ effort
Boston’s first recreational marijuana shop will open this morning in Dorchester, bringing access to adult-use sales into the city more than three years after voters approved recreational weed sales.
Pure Oasis will open its doors at 11 a.m. Monday at 430 Blue Hill Ave. in Dorchester’s Grove Hall neighborhood.
The shop is owned by Kobie Evans and Kevin Hart, both African American, representing the first “economic empowerment” candidates in Massachusetts — marijuana companies where minorities make up more than half of the staff or meet other criteria.
Mayor Martin Walsh said Friday in a press conference the city has a “plan in place” to monitor crowds and traffic, which has proven to be an issue for communities including Brookline. New England Treatment Access in Brookline last year saw its sale hours reduced by the Brookline Select Board.
A Brookline Select Board member said concerns from the community included customers littering and consuming marijuana products outside of the shop.
Amanda Rositano, president of NETA, welcomed Pure Oasis, but did not address whether the company would impact customer traffic in Brookline.
“We congratulate Kobie and Kevin and the team at Pure Oasis,” Rositano said in a statement Sunday said. “We are thrilled that the first social equity applicant is opening its doors.”
Walsh said the city has installed a pickup and dropoff zone in front of the building with four new spaces and new signs highlighting crosswalks on Blue Hill Avenue. Temporary parking restrictions will also be implemented on Stanwood Street and officials will monitor the restrictions.
A Boston Police spokeswoman said Sunday she was unaware of any traffic advisories in the area of the shop.
Pure Oasis is opening over a year after the state’s first recreational marijuana shop opened in Leicester and 3½ years after voters legalized weed in 2016. Walsh disagreed when asked why it took so long for the first adult-use shop to open in Boston.
“I don’t think it took a long time,” Walsh said.
The city already has one medical marijuana shop — Patriot Care on Milk Street, downtown.