A Canna-Curious Guide to Boston Dispensaries

• To celebrate her 21st birthday, our team member Gavi Azoff visited Boston dispensaries. 
• She found cannabis products to help with pain relief, anxiety, and a new strain. 
• Boston dispensaries Ascend and The Cannabist are worth checking out. 

7-minute read

One of our team, Gavi Azoff, just turned 21! As a birthday present to herself, Gavi decided to explore her local Boston dispensaries. Here’s a look inside a recreational cannabis dispensary through the eyes of a first timer.

Exploring Boston Dispensaries 

For most of my teenage years, I was excited about my 21st birthday because it meant I could drink legally. But lately, because of the health benefits, I’ve been drawn more to cannabis than drinking. Boston dispensaries have been around since medical cannabis was legalized in Massachusetts—one of the first to do it on the East Coast. Then, in 2016, MA legalized recreational cannabis. So, on my 21st birthday, I went downtown with my girlfriend to visit 2 of them.

My relationship with cannabis

My interest in cannabis piqued in college when I started learning more about its health benefits. Like a lot of teenagers, I experimented a little with cannabis in high school. But then I just consumed it to try to be cool and get high. I really knew nothing about the plant. For starters, I didn’t know there were different strains. I was also clueless about what indica and sativa meant. Then, a couple years ago, my therapist asked me if I’d ever considered using cannabis to treat my anxiety. Of course, I never had. Since then, I kept it as a thought in the back of my mind. But I never discussed it with anyone else. Even with medical and recreational cannabis use being legal in Massachusetts, I was still put off by the cannabis stigma.

Synthetic THC

Fast forward to the summer of 2020. My gastroenterologist prescribed a medication for me called Marinol, or Dronabinol. It’s a Big Pharma medication that’s synthetic THC. I have a condition called gastroparesis that causes chronic nausea. So my doctor was hoping it would give me some relief. Nothing else I’d tried had even touched my debilitating nausea. Initially, Marinol worked for me like a miracle. For the first time in months, I could eat, drink, and keep it down. But over time, it became less effective for me. So I started doing more research on the benefits of cannabis and wellness. I still use Marinol daily. ​​But I’m excited to see how incorporating more cannabis into my life could help me. I decided I was going to enter the cannabis scene as soon as I was legal. And I figured there was no better way than to check out my local Boston dispensaries.

What are Boston dispensaries like?

From the 2 I visited on my birthday, I learned that Boston dispensaries each have their own unique vibe. But, at both of them, kind, helpful people welcomed me. One of the first things that struck me was that the only payment options are cash or debit card. Since I didn’t know that in advance, I ended up using my debit card. But don’t worry, as I discovered, it only showed up as an ATM withdrawal on my bank records.

The Cannabist

The first of the Boston dispensaries we visited was The Cannabist. It was mid-December, and we didn’t have to have an appointment. The entrance is at street level, and a friendly security guide greeted us. After carefully checking our IDs, they directed us downstairs to the shop. Then they brought us to one of the counters. Below street level, The Cannabist is dark and feels like a speakeasy. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect, and I get easily overwhelmed. So I really appreciated the calm atmosphere of this dispensary. Around the shop, wall-mounted TVs display some of the many cannabis products they carry. Everything they sell is also listed in printed packets that are organized by category. A helpful budtender answered our questions and told us about the products we were interested in. At this dispensary, we weren’t allowed to walk around the store browsing. Instead, the budtender brought products out for us to look at.

Ascend

The next stop on our tour of Boston dispensaries was Ascend’s downtown location. Their vibe is equally welcoming—just brighter and more crowded. We were able to go in without an appointment here, too. Again, at the entrance, we went through the obligatory ID check. Then, they directed us to kiosks where we could look through their products and order electronically. Budtenders were on hand to recommend products and answer any questions we had. Once we placed our orders, the staff sent us to another room, where we waited to check out. After a few minutes they called us to the registers to pay for our new cannabis products.

My faves from Boston dispensaries

I went on this little tour of Boston dispensaries in search of the best products I could find for anxiety, pain, and nausea. It was a really cool experience for me to know exactly what I was buying and to have a real choice in the cannabis I bought. I also looked at both dispensaries’ websites ahead of time. That way, I had a better sense of which products I could get and where. 

Attune’s Medicated Lotion 1:1

I’ve had chronic pain for as long as I can remember. But I’ve never found anything to soothe it. One of the budtenders suggested Attune’s medicated lotion, and I’m very happy with it. I rub it on my sore muscles and joints every day after I shower. I have sensitive skin and a lot of allergies. So it was important to me to find a topical that didn’t irritate my skin. This one rubs in nicely and doesn’t leave a gross, sticky feeling. I start feeling pain relief in the first 10-15 minutes. For me, that’s faster than taking a couple Advil or Tylenol. And, unlike them, the lotion doesn’t irritate my digestive system. Once the full effect sets in, the lotion eases my pain for 6-8 hours. The best way to describe the pain relief I get from it is that it’s soothing. Sometimes, the pain is still there. But it’s a dull soreness—which is much easier to tolerate than the searing, sharp pain I experience without it.

Edie Parker’s Early Bird Berry Lemonade Pre-Roll

Although my primary use of cannabis is to improve my health, I also like to have fun with it. That’s why I decided to try Early Bird Berry Lemonade Pre-Rolls. This strain is supposed to have energy-enhancing, uplifting effects. I’m an artist. As many artists do, I experience creative blocks when I lack motivation. So I was curious to see how a sativa-dominant strain could boost my creative juices and energy levels. I find sativas help me focus and concentrate on tasks, and this strain didn’t disappoint. A couple puffs keep me focused on a painting for a few hours at a stretch.

The Heirloom Collective Calm Cubes

I knew I wanted an indica or indica-dominant hybrid edible for anxiety. So, I went with The Heirloom Collective’s Calm Cubes. They’re citrusy gummies that complement the limonene terpenes in the cannabis. Each one is 5mg, and I tend to take them at night. The calming effects ease my nighttime anxiety and also help me fall asleep more easily. Even though Calm Cubes can apparently boost your energy, for me, they act as sedatives.

My Overall First Impression of Boston Dispensaries

One of the highlights of my first visit to Boston dispensaries was the birthday wishes. For legal reasons, dispensaries have to check your ID more than once during every visit. First, they check it before they let you in. Then they check it again before you’re allowed to buy. Every time someone saw the date on my license, they wished me a happy 21st. They were genuinely excited that I’d chosen to make cannabis part of my first day as a fully legal adult. It made the experience really welcoming for me. Many dispensaries offer pickup and delivery options that don’t require a trip into Boston. But actually being there was so much fun. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to checking out more Boston dispensaries in the future.