Randall Beach: A road trip to Massachusetts gives Nutmeggers legal weed

The line-up outside an outlet selling recreational marijuana in Northampton, Mass., last Sunday. The line-up outside an outlet selling recreational marijuana in Northampton, Mass., last Sunday. Photo: Contributed Photo / Jennifer Kaylin Photo: Contributed Photo / Jennifer Kaylin Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Randall Beach: A road trip to Massachusetts gives Nutmeggers legal weed 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

We were driving down Route 5 in Northampton, Mass., last Sunday afternoon when we came upon a long, long line, stretching way down the sidewalk outside a one-story building.

“This is it!” I told my wife. “We have arrived.”

Yes, we knew this had to be the site of New England Treatment Access, one of just two places in Massachusetts that since Thanksgiving week had been selling legal marijuana. A third one opened in Salem, Mass., last weekend.

We were seeing a highly successful, instantly profitable system in operation — the kind of revenue-generator that we could have in Connecticut if our legislators finally see the light.

But until they do, thousands of Connecticut residents (yes, I am one of them) will continue to drive across the state line to spend plenty of money, big bucks, that will be taxed in our enlightened neighboring state of Massachusetts.

I had done sufficient advance work to know the lines outside NETA are humongous on weekends. And so I had arranged for an overnight stay Sunday because I had also learned through the NETA website (netacare.org) that if I rolled up to the place on a Monday morning, I would have a very short wait. (Here’s another consumer tip: if you order what you want in advance online, you can pick it up much more quickly because you will be sent to the shorter, pre-order line.)

As we drove slowly past that long line last Sunday at 3:30 p.m., observing all those folks standing in a chilly light rain, we noticed this: everybody looked happy! They were chatting with one another, anticipating.

We had to park a few blocks away. As we walked back to check out the scene, two young men approached me on the sidewalk, each of them carrying white NETA shopping bags.

“Say! Are you guys from Connecticut by any chance?” I asked.

“Yep! New Britain,” they sang out.

After I identified myself as a Connecticut journalist, they agreed to be interviewed, as long as I didn’t use their last names. I couldn’t blame them for that; what they were doing is still illegal back in their home state.

“We waited for about 21/2 hours,” Kyle told me cheerfully.

It was their third road trip up to Northampton (conveniently off Interstate 91, north of Springfield).

“My first time was on a Tuesday afternoon about two weeks ago,” Kyle said. “There was no wait. My second visit was on a Thursday, I think. Definitely a weekday. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are the best times to come.”

Kyle and his buddy Brian said they hadn’t minded the longer wait Sunday because of all the cool people they met. Kyle said, “We talked to people about recreational cannabis: the life of it, the history. I learned stuff I never knew. I’m only 22.” (You must be 21 to be admitted to the NETA building and to buy anything there.)

“It’s a really cool day trip,” Kyle added.

Brian and Kyle said they had spent about $130 each on Sunday. Kyle noted, “If you’re going to wait that long, you don’t want to spend just $40.”

Kyle said he bought a vape pen and some pre-rolled joints.

Kyle doesn’t use marijuana just for fun. “I have anxiety and arthritis. I use marijuana for that.” (He said he had found it too cumbersome to go through the steps required to obtain medical marijuana in Connecticut.)

I asked Kyle to pretend I was a Connecticut legislator; what would he tell me? “It should be legalized. It’d really help our economy, for sure.”

Brian noted something I had read: those two pioneering outlets in Northampton and Leicester had raked in $2.2 million in sales during their first five days of business and sales have remained at that level ever since. Seventeen percent of that goes to the state of Massachusetts; cities and towns can get up to three percent of it in local sales taxes.

Kyle offered another benefit to legal marijuana sales: “You’d have less crime. There wouldn’t be people buying it all over the place. It’d be regulated. The biggest thing is, you know what you’re buying. You’re not buying it off the street.” (This means you won’t become seriously ill from a “bad dose,” as happened to dozens of people on the New Haven Green last summer.)

After I said goodbye to Kyle and Brian, I walked up to that long line of customers and came across a guy with a cardboard contraption hanging off his shoulders and the sign “Buy my spot.” His asking price at that point was $5, which he soon switched to $10.

He identified himself as Michael Murphy of Greenfield, Mass. “I’m using space as a product,” he said. “I’m just selling convenience, like any small businessman.”

Murphy said he had waited on that line a few times in the past, without the sign. Once he waited for two hours. “I looked at the line and I got an idea.”

Murphy said he hadn’t had any takers for his offer at that point Sunday. But he noted he might charge as much as $20 for his service if his “idea” started to bear fruit.

He was standing near five port-a-potties that were getting regular use. Those NETA folks had thought of everything.

My research had revealed NETA has generous hours: 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. And so my bride and I had made arrangements to stay overnight in the area and we returned the next morning (Monday) at 8:40 a.m. Bingo! There were only about 15 people standing on the sidewalk. We even got a parking space in the NETA lot; one of the three Northampton police officers on duty there waved us in.

“You came at a good time,” said a NETA security guy who checked our IDs as soon as we got on line. Our driver’s licenses would be looked at again once we got inside. People who think legal marijuana will open the floodgates for teens who at that age don’t have fully developed brains should know Connecticut’s kids wouldn’t just be waltzing into such sales outlets.

Within 10 minutes of our arrival, we were waved inside. Immediately, we saw this was an efficient, well-organized business. NETA has had lots of practice; it had already been operating as a medical marijuana dispensary.

The browsing area off to the left side displayed an assortment of items, including edibles (chocolate-chip brownies!) but that section was for medical clients. Brownies are for those folks only. On the right was a small line of non-medical customers facing about eight windows, behind which sat salespeople. The set-up resembled tellers at a bank.

When we entered the building we had been handed a six-page sheet detailing the items for sale to non-medical people. The line moved quickly and soon we were standing at a window across from a friendly young woman with a nametag identifying her as Iris. I told her this was our first time and she patiently explained the products and procedure.

Through my advance research, I knew NETA accepts only cash and debit cards; I had come prepared with a couple hundred dollars from an ATM.

Iris informed us that she was sold out of pre-rolled joints, so my wife and I each bought a container of “Moonshine Haze.” We had to abide by the limit of one-eighth of an ounce: $50 each, plus a tax of $10. I also purchased a “Banana Kush” vape pen and battery as well as a Belgian dark chocolate bar. My total outlay was $136; my wife’s was $60.

When we walked outside with our little white bags, my wife said, “Christmas has come early!” Ho ho ho!

Some people might say, “Oh that Beach, what a pothead!” Actually, I smoke marijuana maybe once a month, if that. After all, I’m a runner. And so what I bought in Northampton might even last me until those knuckleheads in Hartford get around to legalizing sales here.

Ten states already have legal marijuana sales and New York state as well as New Jersey are now moving toward legalization. What the heck are we waiting for? Our state needs the money and the majority of our residents favor legalization. Why should a New Haven resident such as yours truly have to drive 81 miles up to Northampton? Why should those New Britain guys have to make that drive? The time has come for regulated sales. Massachusetts has shown us the way.

Contact Randall Beach at 203-680-9345 or randall.beach@hearstmediact.com.