Today is April 20, or, in cannabis lingo, 4/20. So because Dracut currently has four cannabis facilities, with a fifth set to open this spring, we here at Dracut Economic Development figured we’d spotlight these businesses on this high holy day.
** RISE Dispensaries Massachusetts, at 19 School Street, off Pleasant Street in the Navy Yard District, was the first dispensary in town, opening October 5, 2020, when it opened as Green Star Herbals. About a year later, owner Thomas Morey sold the business to Chicago-based Green Thumb Industries, which then rebranded it to Rise. Visit www.risecannabis.com or call 978-319-9269.
** Lazy River Products, at 149 Broadway Road, opened in March 2021, and was the second dispensary and first cultivation site to open. They offer their own products as well as other products by Massachusetts manufacturers. President/CEO William Cassotis keeps things community-oriented, with outdoor Riverfest events held in the Lazy River parking lot from April through October, featuring food, a cash bar, live music and raffles. Visit www.lazyriverproducts.com or call 978-243-9333.
** Tree House Craft Cannabis, 61 Silva Lane, off Broadway Road, is a dispensary that opened in November 2021, about a year and a half after owners Wes Ritchie and Ture Turnbull, received a permit to rent space in the Equipment East building. Ritchie and Turnbull own New England Craft Cultivators, which operates Tree House. Tree House has a performance space where local musicians often play. Visit www.visittreehousema.com or call 978-971-0420.
** MassBiolytics, 20 Commercial Drive, Suite 2001, off Broadway Road, is an independent testing laboratory specializing in the analysis of cannabis products for potency, therapeutic value and safety. It was founded by Craig Sockol, who remains its president and director. Visit www.massbiolytics.com or call 978-655-1005.
** Bailey’s Buds, 1935 Lakeview Avenue, is in the more-than-a-century-old Butterworth mill building. It’s a family-run cultivating business that opened earlier in the spring of 2022. Tree House Cannabis in Dracut is already selling some of Bailey’s Buds products. Dracut Economic Development will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Bailey’s Buds on Saturday, April 23.
** Nova Farms, 1274 Merrimack Avenue (Route 110), will soon open as a dispensary. It started life as BKPN, owned by Dracut residents William Kaltsas and Peter Niarhos, who earlier this year partnered with Nova Farms, a Framingham-based cultivator with a farm in Sheffield in western Massachusetts, as well as three other dispensaries in Attleboro, Framingham and Greenville Junction, Maine. No date has been set, but Nova Farms hopes to open the Dracut location in spring 2022. A ribbon-cutting will follow. Visit www.novafarms.comn or call 508-424-5858.