Simplicity Dispensary will offer creative spin on marijuana products

Colonel Boothe is standing in the skeleton of his future cannabis operation, jackhammers pounding from the sidewalk outside, painting a picture of the future Simplicity Dispensary.

There will be a room where a machine can roll 200,000 cannabis cigars a month, using a synthetic tobacco leaf that looks, feels, and smells like the real thing. A kitchen will be crafting edibles, including dough that customers take home to bake themselves. Don’t forget the cannabis-infused tea beverages, dubbed “SimpliciTEAs.”

“My motto is ‘cannabis made simple,’” says Boothe, who hopes to have Simplicity Cannabis open by May at 135 Westboro Road. “And to do that, we make it familiar.”

Boothe’s company, Haze Cannabis, took over the building from Resinate, a cannabis company that ultimately withdrew from Grafton. He plans to both sell and manufacture cannabis products on site and hopes to employee 15 people, who will learn every aspect of the business. Delivery to Grafton and surrounding towns will also be offered.

“Some of the dispensaries design it like all their customers are 25-year-old stoners,” he says. “We’re going to have a lot of low-THC and low-dose products. I want people to experience all the unique flavors we’re crafting and not get too high.”

If construction and permitting stay on track, Simplicity will be the second cannabis retailer to open in Grafton, coming on the heels of nearby MJ’s Market, which opened in October at 13 Centennial Drive. Discern’d Cannabis Purveyors, 130 and 134 Worcester Street, has seen a lag in construction but may open in the summer.

Construction has also been an issue for Boothe, who found the building in poor condition.

“This building has had a lot of deferred maintenance,” Boothe says. “We had to start from the bottom up and take everything down to the bones.

“There were no gutters on the building, water was pouring in, supports were sagging,” he adds. “A tear-down might have been easier, but there are tenants in the building who have already invested a lot here themselves.”

Boothe looks forward to working with tenant Pecorino, which is already a destination for cheese, wine, and other delicacies. He also hopes to work with the other cannabis businesses in town.

Boothe is re-doing the front of the building and plans to put in an area for musicians.

“If you put people in a good mood even before they even get in the store, everyone is going to buy more,” he jokes.

A Community Outreach meeting for Haze Cannabis is scheduled for March 30 via Zoom at 6 p.m. The link is http://tinyurl.com/HazeOfGrafton. There will be an opportunity for the public to ask questions.

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