The state’s first recreational pot shops opened a year ago. Here’s what the owners have learned.

“It’s been a year, but it feels like three.”

The lines started to form in the dark, predawn hours.

Shuttles ferried customers from satellite parking lots and snacks were passed around as hundreds huddled under umbrellas in anticipation of the openings of the state’s first two recreational marijuana dispensaries.

People waited for hours in the queues, braving the sleet and cold, for their chance to be part of the historic day in Massachusetts and make their cannabis purchases. Now, more than two dozen recreational dispensaries are open across the state — with others still aiming to set up shop.

Cultivate in Leicester and New England Treatment Access (NETA) in Northampton opened their doors on Nov. 20, 2018, as the first shops authorized to sell pot for recreational use, and, a year later, the leaders of both dispensaries told Boston.com they are proud of the first year of business and excited for what happens next.

Below, Amanda Rositano, president of NETA, and Sam Barber, president of Cultivate, reflect on the anniversary of recreational cannabis in Massachusetts and what they’re focused on for year two.

What are the biggest lessons that you learned in the first year of business?

Amanda Rositano, NETA: I think the thing that has been most eye-opening for us and something that we anticipated, but maybe not to the extent that we’re seeing every day, is really the expansion of access that the adult-use market has provided for people who can really benefit from cannabis. [Read More @ Boston.com]