The first marijuana grow facility in Berkshire County is on track to open in February.
Berkshire Roots is building a 26,000-square-foot cultivation facility and medical marijuana dispensary on Dalton Avenue in Pittsfield.
“We’re the first licensed cultivators in the county, and we’ll be the first dispensary in Pittsfield,” said John Mullen, CEO of Berkshire Roots.
The medical marijuana dispensary will have a range of products including flower, edibles, tinctures, concentrates and more.
The first dispensary in the Berkshires was Theory Wellness in Great Barrington, but its grow facility is in Bridgewater.
Berkshire Roots received its final approval from the state and has started growing marijuana as it finishes construction on the retail space.
Mullen said Berkshire Roots will be doing educational outreach leading up to and after the opening. Mullen, who is a registered nurse, recently participated in a panel discussion at the Berkshire Athenaeum on marijuana as medicine that attracted more than 200 attendees.
Mullen said he anticipates Berkshire Roots will apply for a license to sell recreational marijuana once the state sets up the licensing process for that. He sees an opening in the Berkshires for “canna tourism” once recreational marijuana becomes fully legal for adults.
The dispensary will be located at a former Salvation Army site. Mullen said his company was working with the Salvation Army to find another site in Pittsfield, but the Salvation Army ultimately decided not to reopen elsewhere in the city.
As of Sept. 30, there were 15 medical marijuana dispensaries open in the state.
Heka Health and Temescal Wellness (formerly Manna Wellness) are also in the process of getting certified to open dispensaries in Pittsfield.
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