Massachusetts Mayor First In Line As Recreational Cannabis Sales Begin

Congratulations to my homestate!

Massachusetts became the first state on the East Coast Tuesday to allow recreational marijuana sales, meaning tens of millions of adult consumers, including those in New York City, are now within a three-hour drive from a pot shop.

CBS News correspondent Tony Dokoupil reports from Northampton, Massachusetts, where one of two stores opening in the state is located and where David Narkewicz will welcome legal recreational marijuana as both the ceremonial first customer and the town’s mayor.

“I think there’s a lot going on here in trying to bring marijuana out of the shadows,” Narkewicz said.

But when asked whether the purchase is simply ceremonial or it will be consumed, Narkewicz said, “I am actually going to probably preserve it and display it…because it is historically significant.”

Massachusetts is the seventh state to open retail marijuana shops, but the first to open them east of the Mississippi.