Martha's Vineyard's pot problem: Luxe island is expected to run out of marijuana in WEEKS as users fume

Martha's Vineyard's legal supply of marijuana is set to go up in smoke in a matter of weeks - leaving well-heeled tokers at a loss as to where they'll get their fix.

As it stands, there are only two dispensaries on the isle - one of which will be closed come September. The other is already shuttered, albeit temporarily, due to a lack of product and regulations that bar pot from being shipped across federal waters.

The island, meanwhile, is considered part of Massachusetts, and is separated by a bay that for the most part is US property.

Worsening matters is that Fine Fettle, the Vineyard's only legally-permitted cannabis producer, has stopped growing - bringing the posh Bay State getaway frequented by figures like the Obamas to its knees. 

At the heart of the issue are those who actually live there - some of whom spoke out this week at the prospect of taking a 45-minute ferry ride to the mainland to secure what some, such as 81-year-old Sally Rizzo, need medically.

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Martha's Vineyard's legal supply of marijuana is set to go up in smoke in mere weeks, angry dispensary owners and smokers have revealed. Pictured, cannabis at the posh summer hotspot's sole growing facility, which, along with its associated dispensary, will shut its doors

As it stands, there are only two dispensaries on the island - one of which will be closed come September. Pictured,  The Fine Fettle cannabis dispensary on June 4, a month after owners announced it will soon close due to regulatory and financial factors unique to the island

'The nice thing about getting it at a dispensary is that you can tell them specifically what you're looking for, and know the milligrams, and know the potency, and what's in it,' the senior told AP of her unwillingness to score illegally.

She went on to recall how last week, after making her usual drive from her home on the 10 miles wide, 20 miles long island to the Island Time dispensary, she was told by owner Geoff Rose of the seriousness of the shortage.

He showed her how his entire store stock was bare and how he'd been forced to temporarily close shop three weeks earlier, after Fine Fettle put and end to its grow-op, while also announcing it will close its similarly named dispensary later this year.

'Very sadly, we have had to make the decision to slow down and then ultimately shut down operations on the Vineyard,' company president Benjamin Zachs told The Vineyard Gazette last month by telephone. 

'We do have quite a bit of inventory, and it's fresh and good,' he added - before disclaiming the dispensary is sure to run of its stock by September the latest.

Reasons given were that the trailblazing operation - no pun intended - failed to overcome regulatory and financial factors unique to the island, like the fact that cannabis producers there are required to test their own soils.

On the mainland, such an undertaking would be left up to a third-party laboratory, but because the waters around Martha's Vineyard are under federal jurisdiction, Fettle had to set up its own protocols to avoid violating the federal marijuana ban.

'For us, while Martha's Vineyard is in Massachusetts,' he explained, 'it's like a whole other state with a whole other regulatory structure.'

The island is considered part of Massachusetts, and is separated by a bay that for the most part is US property. Current laws prohibit pot from being shipped across federal waters - meaning, in the absence of a grower, dispensaries will have no means to replenish their store stock

The other, Island Time in Vineyard Haven, is already shuttered, albeit temporarily, due to a lack of product. Pictured, a closed sign is attached to the door of the Island Time cannabis dispensary on June 3

At the heart of the issue are those who actually live there - some of whom spoke out this week at the prospect of taking a 45-minute ferry ride to the mainland to secure what some, such as 81-year-old Sally Rizzo, need medically 

She went on to recall how last week, after making her usual drive from her home on the 10 miles wide, 20 miles long island to the Island Time dispensary, she was told by owner Geoff Rose (seen here in the temporarily shuttered store) of the seriousness of the shortage

Technically it's possible to get to Martha's Vineyard through only state waters, but the CCC never wrote regulations for transporting weed by boat

That's kept island-set dispensaries from shipping weed from the mainland, and is what spurred Rose to file suit

Further hampering his facility's yield was the summer getaway's seasonal ebbs and flows, which left growers in the lurch when it came to fine-tailoring the famously finicky facets of cannabis production when it comes to weather and climate.

'The plants don't care what time of year it is,' he said of the outdoor operation, which until now had supplied not only Rose's store, but the 230 registered medical users  littered about the island.

Thousands more who use the drug recreationally are also part of the Vineyard's weed market, which is not experiencing competition from dispensaries in places like Cape Cod, located right across the bay on a peninsula that juts off the mainland.

There, customers can pick up their goods on the way to the Vineyard instead of waiting until they arrive - a dynamic that means little to tourists, but a great deal to those who live there, not to mention the dispensaries selling to them.

At the time, Zachs expressed hope that Fine Fettle - which opened its doors as Martha Vineyard's first legal weed proprietor in 2019 - would will find a buyer to take over the operation, along with the task of securing state licenses for cultivating, processing, testing and dispensing cannabis throughout the island, which is a total 10 miles wide and 20 miles long.

He went on to express sadness on how the store and grow facility's experienced staffers - all Islanders - will now be out of a job.

'I think someone's going to make this happen and make this work eventually,' he said. 'I'm really hopeful of that, ultimately.'

Now engaged in a fire sale that will soon see the Fettle exhaust its entire store stock, the grower and dispensary's closure left only one other marijuana magnate on the Island, in Rose. 

Benjamin Zachs, president of the only other dispensary on the isle, made the decision to close shop last month, due to difficulties growing on the island

Now engaged in a fire sale that will soon see the Fettle exhaust its entire store stock, the grower and dispensary's closure left only one other marijuana magnate on the Island, in Rose.

His Island Time in Vineyard Haven, however, is now without a supplier - making what could have been a monopoly, a money pit. Pictured, his almost exhausted supply

His Island Time in Vineyard Haven, however, is now without a supplier - making what could have been a monopoly, a money pit.

As mentioned, he was forced to temporarily close shop as a result, as his inventory waned to dangerously low levels.

The 77-year-old storeowner told NBC10 Boston last week how he is now suing the state's Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) - the same body that took the position that transporting pot across the ocean - whether it be by boat or plane - risks flouting federal laws.

Technically it's possible to get to Martha's Vineyard through only state waters, but the CCC never wrote regulations for transporting weed by boat. 

That's kept island-set dispensaries from shipping weed from the mainland, and is what spurred Rose to file suit, he told the AP.   

'I'm on the verge of going out of business,' he said. 'While I acknowledge the efforts of the commission to address the issue, I really felt that the only way to get some immediate relief was to file a lawsuit. I was not going to sit on the sidelines. I had to do something.'

He's joined in the lawsuit by the Green Lady dispensary in nearby Nantucket, which for now continues to have its own homegrown supply but also faces the same high costs of onsite testing.

In the suit, Rose outlines how he told the commission in November how his business could face an existential crisis if Fine Fettle gave up growing pot. 

In the suit, Rose outlines how he told the commission in November how his business could face an existential crisis if Fine Fettle gave up growing pot. The soon-to-be-closed business's grow facility is seen here

Meanwhile, hundreds of residents like Rizzo, seen walking her dog Ginger on the island last week without a means to secure pot despite being prescribed

In March, he took a chance by buying some marijuana on the mainland before shipping it across on the ferry - after which the commission ordered Rose to stop selling the product he'd shipped over, putting it into an administrative hold. 

The commission eventually released the marijuana a few weeks later, but told Rose he couldn't ship over any more. 

In his suit, Rose complains about the commission's 'arbitrary, unreasonable, and inconsistent policy against transport over state territorial waters.'

Island Time is represented by Vicente, a firm that specializes in cannabis cases. It agreed to delay an emergency injunction against the commission until June 12 after the commission said it would enter into settlement discussions.

'We're cautiously optimistic that we'll be able to reach resolution, but if we can't, we'll be prepared to make the arguments in court,' said Vicente lawyer Adam Fine.

Until last week, the commission maintained that it wouldn't comment on pending litigation, other than to say there was no special accommodation to allow pot to be transported from the mainland to the islands. 

But when commissioners traveled to Martha's Vineyard, they assured residents they were all on the same page.

'Obviously, this is a super priority for us, because we don't want to see the collapse of an industry on the islands,' said commissioner Kimberly Roy.

The dispensary's closure will after more than 230 other registered medical users, as well as thousands more recreational ones

She said nobody could have foreseen that there was going to be such a supply chain issue and they wanted to get it resolved.

'It's a funny juxtaposition,' she said. 'The entire industry is federally illegal. But that's evolving, too. We are just trying to stay responsive and nimble.'

Rose, meanwhile, has also expressed interest in opening a location elsewhere on the island, in Oak Bluffs, but had a zoning petition he put forward at town meeting earlier this year rejected.

While preparing to pull out of the Vineyard market, Zachs last month publicly pondered how a cannabis company could succeed  on the island, telling the Gazette: 'There should be one operation on the Island with a grow and probably three dispensaries, one up-Island, one in Vineyard Haven and one in Edgartown or Oak Bluffs, [keeping] one open in the winter,' he said.

'Somebody's going to crack this nut.'