Could cannabis be the new fruitcake of the holiday season? That’s what Ture Turnbull of Tree House Cannabis would like to see as the calendar approaches the most wonderful time of the year.
“I want these [cannabis] bundles to be the new fruitcake that people give to everybody during the holidays,” Turnbull said.
With Christmas just around the corner, cannabis dispensaries across Massachusetts are a way to shop local and don’t leave you waiting for a package to arrive at your front door.
Turnbull and Wes Ritchie, who recently opened Tree House in Dracut, see cannabis as a gift that can please everyone from the “canna-curious” to the experienced user, particularly given how stressed out most everyone is feeling lately.
Gifting cannabis for the holidays can be more than just wrapping up flower for the weed enthusiast in your family. For people who are worried about stigma, or who haven’t participated in cannabis since the ‘70s, going to a dispensary can be daunting.
That’s why Leah Samura of Yamba Boutique often visits the dispensary for people who don’t feel comfortable, like some of the women at her church. For Samura, giving the gift of cannabis is also about empowering women.
Samura plans to open Yamba Boutique next year, which will be the first 100% black-owned cannabis business in Harvard Square. The location was originally built as a police station in 1864, Samura said.
“Being able to sell cannabis in a location like that, it says a lot,” she said. “It’s a boutique so it’ll be small. It’ll be a location that is geared more toward women and more like the baby boomers, the seniors, those of us who don’t really have an opportunity to have products catered to us. It’s really like a male-dominated industry and I’m really trying to remove that a little bit. “
Jodi Hylton, the product innovation manager at Garden Remedies, said cannabis is a great gift because it allows you to think about a person and what they need.
