Marylanders celebrate first legal 4/20

SALISBURY, MD. – For the first time ever, Marylanders celebrated 4/20, legally.

On the Eastern Shore, the Apothecarium saw lines out the door of customers waiting to get their hands on the green.

“They were here probably before 6am, waiting patiently,” said sales manager, David Cropper. “Some of them had their chairs, and some of them had beach chairs, just sitting there, and for once, everything was peaceful. They were laughing and having a good time.”

4/20 is the biggest sales day in the cannabis industry, that’s why the Apothecarium stocked up on a ton of bud from various Maryland growth facilities, two weeks in advance.

Cropper said now that it’s legal, people can consume without fear of negative effects.

“They’re here to get clean, legal, medicinal cannabis, and to be able to enjoy it without the headaches that they had when they were getting it in the street,” Cropper said. “In the streets, there’s a lot of synthetic things that are added to it, and that’s the stuff that people are not looking to do.”

Some were there to pick up some flower, to enjoy the unofficial holiday, but others see the great value in investing in recreational marijuana.

“We pay taxes on it, too, which I don’t mind,” said buyer, Kat Carney. “I can at least come here and get it, and the taxes go back into our town for our schools and roads.”

And that’s a fact. According to the Comptroller’s office, in Q3 alone, when marijuana was legalized, the Eastern Shore collected over $1.2 million in taxes from cannabis sales, and a good portion of that revenue went right back into the counties.

“It’s literally an economic drive for our area, at this particular time,” Cropper said.

And at 65 years old, Debi Harpool was happy she got to celebrate her first legal 4/20 with other marijuana users, even if that meant waiting in line for a couple of hours.

“If you’re going to stand in line for 1 or 2 or 3 hours, you might as well get to know everyone around you,” Harpool said.