For these Massachusetts marijuana retailers, opening during the pandemic brought new hurdles; ‘we’ve risen to every challenge’

Caroline Pineau had imagined that when she received a final license to open Stem, a recreational cannabis shop in Haverhill, she’d be sitting in the Cannabis Control Commission’s meeting room at Worcester’s Union Station.

But instead, the celebration of receiving that license happened in her living room with her husband, watching the meeting virtually.

Years into the quest to open her business, Pineau never imagined that the coronavirus pandemic would completely alter those last steps of getting her license and finally being able to welcome customers into her downtown store.

“It’s certainly not what we expected for our opening. You know, opening Stem in the middle of a pandemic, nine months pregnant was certainly not what I envisioned when I started building this business,” said Pineau, who is in the CCC’s economic empowerment program, which was created to assist people and communities disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs. “But we’ve adapted, we’ve risen to every challenge and I know our future is brighter because of it all.” [Read more at MassLive]