SWAMPSCOTT – A virtual meeting Thursday will give residents a chance to hear from a company hoping to open a retail store in town that sells marijuana-based products.
Ed Schmults, CEO of Calyx Peak Companies, will present information and answer questions about the proposed business at 16 New Ocean St., which sits near the Lynn line.
“We like the location at the entrance to the town,” Schmults said. “We want to put a new building in there, which we think the town will appreciate and the abutters will appreciate.”
Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald hopes that residents won’t just listen, but will engage in a dialogue during the Zoom meeting.
“This is part of a formal process,” Fitzgerald said, “a due process that gives the community a chance to hear about the scope of the work the business is doing.”
Since the 2016 ballot measure legalizing the recreational use of marijuana – which 53 percent of Swampscott voters approved – the state’s Cannabis Control Commission has approved 588 licenses, with 241 of those for retailers, according to the CCC website.
Schmults believes that with an expanding number of outlets and a “rigorous security system to ensure there is no diversion of product,” the Calyx Peak store will be just another business.
“When the first few places opened up in Massachusetts there were huge sales and crowds of people,” he said, “but with 100 or 150 stores, it’s like a Shake Shack.”
Fitzgerald said that not being among the first communities in the state to host a cannabis retailer gives the town the advantage of seeing what’s happened at other sites and using “best practices.”
“We want to be careful. We have neighborhoods to protect, traffic to mitigate,” he said. “We’re looking … for the mitigation of any type of impact.”
Calling Swampscott “a good, solid community,” Schmults said his company is not in town to make a quick buck.
“We’re playing the long game here, building an operation to survive, with a good price, good customer service and fast transaction speed.”
The property at 16 New Ocean St., which is owned by the town, used to be the home of C & L Package Store. If all the details with Calyx Peak are eventually worked out, Fitzgerald said it’s likely the company would rent the site, but “the town is open to a discussion on selling,” which would have to be approved at Town Meeting.
“Residents should talk (at Thursday’s meeting) about concerns they might have. We need to talk about any of the impacts – noise, traffic, hours of business, aesthetics,” Fitzgerald said. “We want to make sure it does not detract but adds to the community.”
Schmults, 57, is the father of three, and he is clear about the effects of marijuana on young people.
“Cannabis is not good for the developing brain. We recommend no one under 25 uses it,” he said. “The average human brain is fully developed by age 25. Once you’re over that age you make your own choices.”
It’s actually older people, according to Schmults, that are one of the fastest growing groups using cannabis products. For some, he said, it can take the place of over-the-counter medications or even prescriptions.
“The average senior has five conditions that cannabis can be a partial remedy for, including anxiety, sleep and pain. Cannabis may have a place, depending on lifestyle and condition.”
His description of the eventual core customer for his products will raise some eyebrows: the so-called “soccer mom.”
“She’s put the kids to bed, sits down to watch TV, and instead of a glass of chardonnay, she has a gummy,” said Schmults, using the term for a cannabis-infused chewy candy. “She sleeps well and hits the exercise class at 6 a.m. with no ill effects.”
Calyx Peak is scouting around for two other retail sites in Massachusetts, according to Schmults, and the company has a permit for an indoor 50,000 sq. ft. cultivation and extraction facility in Worcester. It also has operations in other states.
“The early strategy of some was to be in as many states as possible. That’s hard,” Schmults said. “Our approach is to focus on California, Missouri and Massachusetts and do better in fewer states.”
The community outreach meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 20, at 6 p.m. To access the Zoom meeting go to https://calyxpeak.zoom.us/j/6661858708?from=msft or call 929-205-6099. The meeting ID is 666 185 8708. Questions can be submitted in advance to Allison Stockman at [email protected].