Return to NETA

Now that much of the hoopla has died down, I decided to pay a return visit to NETA, the Northampton marijuana shop. When I was there on Opening Day, there was a three hour wait in line to get in. I refuse to stand in such a line, so I've been holding off returning until the wait time went down.

Recently the media has been reporting that the lines have been shortened considerably, but could still be a half hour or more. I figured I should get something to eat before going to NETA so I wouldn't get hungry standing in line. Therefore, I stopped at the King Street McDonald's, which was shining in the morning sun as brightly as the American dream.

After leaving McDonald's, I headed downtown towards NETA. On the way, I passed the bar Hugo's, which was going out of business on that very day after having been open since 1970.

Oh well, I guess people will have to go to the Ol' Watering Hole, which is right nearby and only five years younger. Personally, I don't like the way things from the 1970's are now starting to be considered old.

When I got in arrived at NETA it was 11:24am and the line wasn't too long. The companionship among the others who were waiting with me was really quite amiable. The person in front of me told me they worked at the local post office, while the person behind me had driven over the border from upstate New York. I finally entered at 12:03pm, a wait of exactly 39 minutes.

Our prize for entering was a free apple.

The buyers are treated respectfully by a friendly staff, and no one is rushed in choosing their purchase.

I knew exactly what I wanted: A chocolate bar just like the one that David Narkiewicz, the Mayor of Northampton, purchased as the first customer to buy legal marijuana in Northampton. Afterwards, the Mayor announced his intention to donate the mood-altering candy bar to the Northampton Historical Society or whatever to preserve it as a historic artifact to be admired by generations yet unborn.

Here's a closeup of Hizzoner's purchase.

Inside, we were handed a menu of available products, and sure enough, the candy bar I wanted was listed.

However, when I got to the counter, I was told those candy bars had just sold out. But I couldn't help but notice that on the other side, across from the recreational marijuana area, in the section where they keep the cannabis available for those with medical marijuana cards, there were plenty of boxes of the very candy I wished to purchase. Yet when I pointed that out, I was told that nothing can be transferred between the two sections. So I couldn't have the candy bar I wanted, even though I could plainly see a good supply of them just across the room.

Why did they even preserve the category of medical marijuana? What purpose does it serve now? All it does is give you a pass to skip the line, since the wait for recreational pot remains quite lengthy, while the line for the medical marijuana is short or non-existant. Oh well, like so many things about the implementation of legalized pot in Massachusetts, it hasn't been thought through very well. I ended up buying a different kind of candy than the Mayor bought, which was handed to me in a white bag with the NETA insignia on it.

Since I first tried marijuana at the age of 15, this was the first time I ever bought it legally. Here's the box that my purchase came in.

When you open the box, it compliments you.

The candy comes in these push-out containers.

Now, with the ruby red candy fully exposed, what do you think I did next?

Here's a hint: I did not donate it to the Northampton Historical Society. As I experiment with these newfangled marijuana products in the coming weeks, I will tell you what I think of them.

In the meantime, I went to Emily Dickinson's birthday party this week at The Robert Frost Library at Amherst College.

Here's her cake. The old gal ain't doing too bad - still relevant at 188 years old.