Massachusetts Dispensaries: Teaming up to support all
Maybe it’s the tumultuous political climate that we’ve all endured recently, but I find myself more thankful than ever for neighborhood cannabis dispensaries – whether the Shubrick family’s 6 Brick’s in Springfield or the Patton family’s Green Meadows in Southbridge and Fitchburg – where political discord is left at the door and, instead, diversity and fellowship flourish thanks to shared appreciation for the pleasures and healthful benefits of cannabis.
Cannabis Dispensaries: A Modern Melting Pot
Dispensary showrooms have become community melting pots as people of all backgrounds come not to lobby for their interests and identities but simply to explore what cannabis can do for their aches and pains, their anxieties, their sleepless nights, or that perennial quest for a fun Saturday night. Dreads, tattoos, and steel-toed work boots gather side by side with business suits and yoga pants. Gender, sexuality, Right, Left, or Independent are immaterial in a cannabis shop.
I’ve never visited a licensed dispensary that wasn’t congenial and welcoming to any and all (21+ of course). Bring an open mind and a friendly nature and be received the same way. There’s no superficial judgment. That fact alone, rare these days in America, has given me and countless other cannabis professionals the confidence to proclaim before any forum that cannabis, properly managed and tested, is good.
Overcoming Industry Challenges in Cannabis
Today’s cannabis industry in Massachusetts and nationally is beset with challenges. Difficulties with financing, regulation, and the dizzying turbulence of market conditions can age entrepreneurs beyond their years. I and my family have more than a few times felt battered and bruised by industry turmoil since founding Green Meadows six years ago. It’s a common story among cannabis startups, and there’s no room for complaint – it’s the business we chose, after all. But on days when the next mountain to climb seems too much, serving satisfied adult use guests and medical patients renews our spirit and returns us to our founding dream of bringing this amazing plant into the light of legality and lifestyle wellness.
The Shubrick-Patton Partnership: A Bond Beyond Business
This faith was never more affirmed for me than when I first met the Shubricks last January. What began as a business relationship, placing Green Meadows wholesale products on 6 Brick’s shelves, quickly broadened to personal fondness as we shared tales of our company origins and family experiences. Payton Shubrick, CEO of 6 Brick’s, described her early concern that her father, Fred, would reject her wish to forego law school for cannabis enterprise. He’s come around fully since then, working alongside Payton and her sister Taylor to turn 6 Brick’s into the only locally owned dispensary in the Springfield business community. The initial opinion of my late mother, Joanne Patton, about our family’s cannabis ambitions was similarly skeptical: “Over my dead body.” But like Fred Shubrick, she soon became one of Green Meadows’ greatest supporters, most especially because of our commitment to support America’s veterans through employment, cannabis education, and philanthropy. That’s where the current partnership between the Shubricks and Pattons has found its deepest expression.
The Green Meadows – Patton Alliance for Veterans
The Green Meadows – Patton Alliance for Veterans is our company’s charitable component. It backs veteran organizations in Southbridge and Fitchburg, as well as national non-profits, Stop Soldier Suicide and Black Veterans Project. The Shubricks support the Alliance with financial contributions from their dispensary and from its generous clientele. Current statistics highlight the terrible toll of veteran suicide, opioid addiction, and fatal opioid overdose plaguing our nation today. Cannabis is not a magic remedy for these scourges. Rather, it’s a tool in the medical toolbox that 6 Brick’s and Green Meadows are dedicated to bringing to the attention of America’s medical establishment, and to providing its veteran customers and patients through store discounts and special promotions.
Moving Forward: Diverse Backgrounds, Common Goals
Now our families and our companies go forward together in supporting America’s veterans. It’s a partnership as seemingly unlikely as the genial blend of cultures and outlooks and ethnicities embodied in our dispensary patrons. 6 Brick’s is Black-owned and women-owned. Green Meadows was founded by a suburban white family descended from some of America’s greatest military figures, including General George Patton of World War Two fame. And today, our stories have aligned. That’s the way of families, I guess. The Shubrick family. The Patton family. The American family.
