Pot store proposed for Lloyd Street

Retail marijuana dispensary would be located just across city line

BLACKSTONE – A corporation calling itself DDM Sales, Inc., is proposing to put an adult-use retail cannabis dispensary in at 1 Lloyd St., the former Bell Liquors building located between the Millerville Men’s Club and Stop & Shop plaza.

Blackstone attorney Christopher Ryan appeared before the selectmen this week representing DDM Sales, Inc., a Massachusetts domestic profit corporation filed on Sept. 21. The company has two principals on record – Rekhaben V. and Vishnubhai B. Patel, both from Wrentham. The principals own six different businesses, including a Fairfield Inn by Marriott.

Ryan told the board that the corporation is preparing to start the application process with the state’s Cannabis Control Commission and will eventually come before the town to secure a host community agreement.

Prospective marijuana businesses are required to secure host community agreements before they can apply for a license from the state. Under the law, local officials can also set the tax rate on marijuana sold within their city or town’s limits, up to 3 percent. Unlike medical marijuana, recreational cannabis will be taxed. The state plans to levy a 6.25 percent sales tax and 10.75 percent excise tax, and leave to the discretion of municipal officials an

option to levy the local tax up to 3 percent.

According to Ryan, DDM Sales is proposing to establish a strictly cannabis sales facility, which would purchase marijuana from nearby grow houses. Products will include THC-infused edible products. Up to 13.1 percent

of all marijuana-related transactions involve edible products, making them the second most popular type of cannabis product sold in the U.S.

The proposed Blackstone business will be located in the front portion of the building, which currently houses Diamond Overhead Door in the back.

“This particular type of business is heavily regulated by the state,” Ryan told the board. “It’s not like a smoke shop or variety store. It’s very secure location.”

If eventually approved, the dispensary would have stateof-the art electronic security and fire alarm systems; un-

interruptible power supplies; 24/7 monitoring; a fenced-in perimeter; outside lighting; and private security details.

Unlike a liquor store where patrons can walk in and grab a product off the shelf, cannabis dispensaries are highly controlled, Ryan said. When entering the building, customers are are required to wait in a secure room pending security checks. Only then will a customer be buzzed into the actual dispensary.

“There’s no ability to touch any of the products,” Ryan said.

If approved by the town, the dispensary would hire Blackstone residents, espe-

cially Blackstone veterans, he said.

DDM’s dispensary proposal comes a month after the Family Grocer convenience store on Main Street unveiled its proposal to open the town’s first licensed retail marijuana store. Owner and manager Gurpreet Kalra is in the process of applying for a provisional license from the state’s Cannabis Control Commission and is also looking to sign a host community agreement with the town.

Blackstone has zoning regulations for various marijuana businesses, which are restricted to commercial and industrial zones.

Recreational marijuana

sales have been legal since July 1, but by law nothing can be sold until it’s tested by a licensed lab for safety. Now that two testing labs have licenses and a handful of marijuana businesses have provisional licenses, the Cannabis Control Commission says recreational pot shops are just around the corner and that once inspections are completed, full licenses can be granted within the next month.

The fledgling Massachusetts marijuana industry is making significant inroads in the Blackstone Valley where towns like Blackstone, Millville and Uxbridge have been courted in recent months by marijuana businesses.