It’s got the Del’s logo and is made by a Rhode Island cannabis lab called Hapi. “I’m still getting used to the change,” said Sean.Īs he escorted me in, he recalled that I like to write about iconic Rhode Island things, so he pointed out a cannabis product I at first couldn’t believe.Ī small bottle of weed-infused Del’s lemonade.Ī bottle of weed-infused Del's, which has 10 milligrams of THC. These days, Mother Earth’s customers include professionals, the elderly, lawyers, you name it. I asked if Sean had ever busted anyone for grass. After 23 years on the job, Sean was considering retirement from the force, and, at age 51, he’s begun a second career here. At the end of it, Pakuris, the CEO, mentioned he was looking for a security manager - did Sean know anyone? The owners invited him, a police major at the time, to inspect the operation. I was then met by head of security Sean Driscoll, the former cop Tamami told me about. Unlike the 1970s, where local weed operations came down to one pothead behind a dorm, Mother Earth has 85 employees and is looking for 20 more.Īs I entered, I had to show my driver's license and get a visitor pass on a lanyard. RI marijuana sales: RI to open 6th marijuana dispensary: Here's how much pot was sold in December They have hundreds of products, from gummies to “pre-rolls” - my friends referred to those as “joints.” A dozen customers were browsing, including an older couple I told myself to try to talk to later. I got the full tour, and it’s incredible what the two have done here - futuristic growing rooms, a huge baking kitchen and an extraction lab that would impress Walter White of “Breaking Bad.”Īs for the store, it’s one of the nicest retail spaces I’ve seen, with marble display counters, waterfalls over glass, huge flat screens and cool lighting on high brick walls. What do a couple of countertop guys know about running an artisanal agricultural operation and wellness store? Not much at first, but man, did they do their homework. Because they had a suitable building with the right zoning, they “won” the lottery and only months ago opened for business - both medicinal and recreational. They were among a half dozen applicants for the area’s single dispensary license. It’s next to the Kitchen & Countertop Center of New England, whose longtime owners - Joe Pakuris and Ed Keegan - also now run the cannabis operation. I got in my car and soon, in an industrial part of Pawtucket not far from the East Side - there it was, the Mother Earth Wellness sign on a converted mill. ![]() No, things have progressed well beyond that. “Do you still have Acapulco Gold and Panama Red?” ![]() “We work closely with the Pawtucket Police Department,” Tamami said, adding that the store’s head of security is a former Pawtucket officer.įinally, I asked about the two strains I remembered from back in the day. Pot in RI: Everything you need to know to buy retail marijuana in Rhode Island What, I asked, if the cops see the deal go down? Tamami laughed again and said they do sell by the gram, which is the rough equivalent in price. “So it’s not like people say, ‘I’ll take a dime bag?’” Meaning 10 bucks' worth - or at least that’s what my friends told me. ![]() “You actually come through the door,” said Tamami, “and you walk into this grand retail floor with marble tables and live flowers on display you can smell before you purchase.” “So do you meet people in the alley and for the right price, you slip them a few joints?” I asked. She’s Mother Earth’s assistant general manager. Mother Earth Wellness "budtender" Tori Chipman helps a customer on an iPad.Īfter a short wait, Tamami Kataoka came on the line.
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