High

Retail cannabis goes on sale in Ocean State

PAWTUCKET – Karen Ballou knows what she likes to relax or de-stress, and that’s a toke off a good joint.

That’s why she and her husband left their Coventry home at 4:25 a.m., Thursday, and set out for Mother Earth Wellness on Esten Avenue. They wanted to be two of the first customers in line to purchase recreational cannabis on this, the first day allowed by the state for retail compassion centers to do so.

Turns out, Ballou actually became the first buyer in Rhode Island; she had her heart set on a pre-roll of Grateful Breath, which actually happens to come from her own business, CultivatingRI, in West Warwick, and that’s just what she bought at 5:18 a.m.

“This is a dream come true; it feels so good,” Ballou said later in the day. “This has been a long time coming. We’ve been cultivating for six years now, and we’ve been waiting for this day to come. It’s finally here.”

When asked why she didn’t just buy what she and her husband grew at CultivatingRI, Ballou explained that’s not allowable by law.

“We can’t take anything out of our facility for personal use,” she said. “It’s got to be sold to a dispensary, and then we have to go and purchase what we want from a place like this. I wanted the preroll for stress reduction and relaxation purposes. It’s only one joint, but it will last me a long, long time. It’s just that every now and then you feel like you need to calm down, reset, and one toke will do it.”

While Ballou was thrilled with her purchase, she seemed just as taken with Mother Earth’s atmosphere. It’s stationed in an old mill building, but co-owners Joe Pakuris and Eddy Keegan put a number of beautiful, creative added touches to the site, including “waterfalls” over glass signs indicating what’s being sold and where.

“These people have set this up to be a destination; we’re going to have people from all over New England come to Mother Earth for the experience,” she said. “You don’t just go to purchase something, but to browse and have an experience unlike any other you’ve had before at a dispensary.

“Mother Earth has set the bar.”

There were four other dispensaries that were granted state approval to begin adult-use sales statewide on Thursday, including Aura of Rhode Island in Central Falls, Thomas C. Slater Center in Providence, Greenleaf Compassion Care Center of Portsmouth and RISE Warwick, but hundreds of people chose to come to Mother Earth, they said, because of its reputation.

“I come from Worcester, but I came here because I wanted to celebrate adultuse sales for the first time here in Rhode Island; I’m also a medical marijuana patient here,” said Lauren Pray. “I knew there would be certain items here that you can’t get in Massachusetts, and that it’s a different quality because it comes from a small growth facility.

“Those cultivators are from the legacy market, and they deserve a spot on the shelves,” she added. “We need to protect these companies and locally-owned businesses after what happened in Massachusetts. There, a lot of multi-state operators squeezed out the mom-and-pop micro and Tier 1 growers, which is a shame.

“I’m saying keep it local and be intentional about your purchases.”

Pray mentioned she brought some friends with her, and one was Francesca Cserr, who lives maybe a mile from Mother Earth.

“I heard great things about this place, and wow! They were right,” she gushed. “I haven’t bought anything yet, but I’m really excited about buying CBG gummies. I haven’t checked to see what flavors they have, oh, but I will. I’m just so psyched to see CBG products here they’re a cannabinoid, or a mood booster.

“I use it for medicinal reasons,” she continued. “I usually get my CBG in Mass., but this is only five minutes from my house, so it’s so convenient. And the place is gorgeous with thee waterfall features. It really makes you want to take your time and browse. The variety is amazing. I love the fact they have everything.

“The beverages they sell here are better than the ones they have in Massachusetts. I mean they have infused Del’s Lemonade here. How ‘Rhode Island’ can you get?”

Then there was Mike Hsu, like Pray a Worcester resident. He said he made the trip to Pawtucket for a pair of reasons.

“First, I wanted to be a part of history – the first day of recreational marijuana sales in stores in Rhode Island; now I can say I supported that by making a purchase,” he said. “Second, I had heard a lot of things about this place, so I wanted to come down and take a look. Man, it’s beautiful! It’s unlike any other dispensary I’ve ever been in.

“Most of them have had like a sterile feel to them; I think that’s because some of the rules set down by the state of Massachusetts. This place has personality; it’s rather glamorous. It makes you feel like you’re in a casino. It’s fun and vibrant; everybody’s walking around and browsing and chatting about all the interesting items. That’s what it should be all about.”

He didn’t say what he bought, but he did say he would use it both recreationally and for medicinal reasons.

“For me, I’m 54, so this will be for the usual ‘old guy’ stuff, like aches and pains,” he said. “I also have a torn muscle, and this helps. Some people like to have a drink, and some people like to use cannabis. To me, it’s the same thing. It helps you relax, and you can have fun with both.”

Pakuris and Keegan both spent time speaking with their new recreational customers and also familiar medicinal patients and overseeing how salespeople were faring at certain stations set up around the mammoth facility – from edibles to extracts to cannabis flowers to topicals to beverages to pipes and other accessories.

“We’re very happy with the turnout we’ve had; it’s actually a little more than I anticipated, so it feels good,” said Pakuris, who noted that the Rodriguez family, which operates the Spain Restaurant in Cranston, are also co-owners of Mother Earth. “I feel blessed. I feel like we’ve built the nicest compassion center in the state and southeastern Massachusetts.

“We feel we have the nicest facility, the best work flow, the best venue, and that’s what we’re trying to be,” he added. “We’re trying to set the standard for the true cannabis connoisseur who wants a good product for a good price with a good experience. That’s what we’re all about.”

When asked about specifics in sales, Pakuris said his new center had made over 650 sales, and that was at 1:50 p.m. He expected to do over 1,000 during the course of the afternoon.

“The jovial mood is just what we wanted; we wanted people to come in here and experience cannabis and enjoy purchasing cannabis,” he said. “Cannabis is a social experience. You can buy different cannabis, you can trade different cannabis with your friends. It’s like a fine wine – someone might try one and like it and tell a friend, then they use it together and enjoy it together.

“It really is a social experience; it’s like going to a brewery together. We feel like we’re the craft brewery of cannabis. That’s what we do here.”