Island Time, one of two dispensaries on the Island, reopened after a successful back-and-forth with state regulators Saturday, June 29, and saw a surge of customers. Doors were closed for 6½ weeks, starting in May.
After Fine Fettle — the only permitted marijuana-growing operation on the Vineyard, on which Island Time relied — announced that it would close in September, and that it had stopped growing product in April, Island Time temporarily shut its doors. The transportation of cannabis over federal and state water or by plane is restricted by law.
With no other way to get or grow product, Geoff Rose, owner of Island Time, filed a lawsuit in Suffolk County Superior Court, with the Green Lady Dispensary on Nantucket, against the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission — the agency that regulates the state’s marijuana program — to permit the immediate transport of products from the mainland to the Island.
In order to fix the broken supply chain, the commission unanimously approved an administrative order that allowed the transportation of marijuana products over state waters between licensed cannabis establishments and treatment centers on June 13.
The order went into effect the next day, June 14, at midnight.
Now Island Time has reopened, and has new products of greater value and quality, including a choice of vaporizer cartridges sold nowhere else on-Island, and THC- and CBD-infused drinks, Rose said. Some of the new products have more than 30 percent THC content, he added.
The product is getting to the Island by boat, but Rose declined to offer details, citing a security risk.
The Island community came out for opening day. By 3 pm, 103 people had already stopped in, and by closing, Island Time had served more than 150 customers. Rose said their sales were 20 percent over what they made on this day last year. They normally see 70 to 80 people per day this time of year, Rose said.
Island Time’s employees were busy. Rose kept them on the payroll even when they were closed. “I couldn’t do it without them,” he said.
One customer, who wanted to remain anonymous, was very happy to find the Island Time’s doors open. He’s spent a week every year on the Island for the past 37 years, and didn’t even know Island Time closed, but was thankful that they were back open for his vacation. “I’m thrilled that this place is open,” he said.
A regular customer of the dispensary was relieved, as he’d run out of the chocolate bars that help him sleep on the previous Wednesday. “Last night was a terrible night’s sleep,” he said on Saturday. “I bought two extra chocolate bars for a reserve supply.”
He wasn’t sure how he’d manage without his sleep aid had Island Time not reopened. “I hadn’t crossed that bridge yet, but I’d probably have driven somewhere off-Island, and spent a lot of money on a ferry ticket,” he said.
Rose is also happy to be back.
“It’s great to see regular customers, and they’re thrilled to be back,” he said. “Our best customer was the first one here.
