Cannabis 101 in Rhode Island

We check in on the recreational cannabis scene almost a year after adult-use sales began.

Edited by Dana Laverty

With contributions from Edelinda Baptista,
Lauren Clem, Jamie Coelho and Kaitlyn Murray

N23ec83can — Photography by Angel Tucker

Weed. Pot. Mary Jane. Ganga. Reefer. Grass. Dope. Hash.

Whatever you call it, cannabis — and its budding retail and cottage cultivation industry — is thriving in Rhode Island. Since adult-use sales began last December, the state has reaped more than $48 million in revenue, with the numbers slowly climbing each month. That number soars to $77 million when coupled with medical sales.

Seven dispensaries are scattered throughout the state — from Central Falls to Exeter — with more on the way, as the Cannabis Control Commission and the Office of Cannabis Regulation begin vetting licensees and setting parameters for the growing sector. Add to that sixty cultivators, testing facilities, manufacturers and various strains, tinctures, edibles and other offshoots and one thing becomes clear: This isn’t the stuff you remember from high school and college. Today’s products are high-tech, sophisticated and cater to almost every ailment and desire.

Seeking clarity? There’s a gummy for that. Relaxation? There are strains and tinctures for that, too.

Some say we’re still playing catch-up to Massachusetts, which rolled out recreational sales in November 2018, and whose dispensaries advertised their wares on Rhode Island billboards while in-state retail outlets could not, thanks to a licensing loophole (the advertising ban was lifted in June).

This, naturally, got us to thinking: What is the state of cannabis in Rhode Island? What’s a dispensary like? How much cannabis can you buy — and grow? What’s in a gummy? Will consumers used to buying products in Massachusetts switch over to their home state? Are joints still a thing? Are munchies?

So join us as we explore the local cannabis industry, nearly a year after recreational sales began. We hope you enjoy our primer on pot, our compendium of cannabis, our manual of marijuana, if you will. After all, it’s 4:20 somewhere, and nowhere is that truer right now than in Little Rhody.