Wellness Connection to open adult-use cannabis shop Monday in South Portland

The store marks the beginning of Maine’s largest marijuana company’s conversion from medical to recreational sales.

The state’s biggest medical marijuana company, Wellness Connection of Maine, will open its first recreational store Monday.

Changing its South Portland clientele from card-carrying medical patients to anyone over the age of 21 marks the beginning of Wellness’s transition from Maine’s decades-old medical marijuana market to its weeks-old recreational one. Wellness Connection plans to slowly convert its three other medical dispensaries in Portland, Gardiner and Brewer to adult-use stores, too.

And it also plans to shed its name. It will begin rebranding as HighNorth, trading in a name that conjures up the image of a sick patient for one that calls to mind the classic, earthy and beautiful nature of Maine’s signature brand. The new website features a constellation of connected stars that create the outline of a moose over an image of Acadia National Park’s Jordan Pond.

“From the first rays of sunlight to its pristine waters, the state of Maine is known for its fresh, quality cannabis,” HighNorth says.

When the South Portland store converts to adult use Monday, it will become the city’s third recreational cannabis seller. The other two are Theory Wellness at 198 Maine Mall Road, Suite 100, and SeaWeed Co. at 185 Running Hill Road. A fourth, Maine Cannabis Exchange, has been fully licensed in the Knightville neighborhood but has yet to open its doors. [Read More @ Portland Press Herald]