The New England Treatment Access website indicates the firm’s medical customers currently pay $15 for a gram, $50 for an eighth of an ounce, and $300 for an ounce. It’s unclear what the retail prices will be on Tuesday, but retail prices will also include a 20 percent tax.

“This signal to open retail marijuana establishments marks a major milestone for voters who approved legal, adult-use cannabis in our state,” commission chairman Steven J. Hoffman said. “As patrons look forward to visiting Massachusetts stores, we hope they will do their part by first familiarizing themselves with the law and understanding what is required of responsible consumers.”

Jim Borghesani, chief operating officer for the cannabis consulting firm Tudestr and the campaign spokesman for the 2016 referendum legalizing recreational marijuana, was thankful retail sales are beginning. “We can rightfully squawk about state delays and problematic local opposition, but the fact remains that we’re the first state east of the Mississippi to offer legal, tested cannabis to adult consumers in safe retail settings,” he said in a statement. “This is a historic distinction for Massachusetts. Now we’re going to be at the forefront of the drive toward replacing lingering reefer-madness fears with a rational approach that benefits consumers and communities. ”
The two stores, both of which had been operating medical marijuana dispensaries, had been granted provisional licenses in the summer but had to go through extensive background checks and on-site inspections. Because testing labs were only recently certified to open and no cultivation or manufacturing operation has yet begun, the stores will be selling part of their medical inventory under a waiver from the Department of Public Health.

Those seeking medical marijuana specifically are still required to have a certification card from DPH and while the retail stores will be co-located with the medical marijuana dispensaries, those without patient cards cannot enter the medical side.