Another cannabis company — this time a delivery-focused operation — might soon set up shop in Wareham.
Owners Ericca and Justin Kennedy, Joseph Rubin and Jessica Powell are working to open their business, Doobie, which would deliver its marijuana products directly to consumers without an affiliated retail element.
The delivery license was newly created by the Cannabis Control Commission and, for the next three years, made exclusively available to economic empowerment applicants and social equity program participants, such as Doobie’s owners. The social equity program was designed to benefit disproportionately harmed people, whom the state described as “those most impacted by the War on Drugs, marijuana prohibition, disproportionate arrests and incarceration.”
Doobie would also be licensed for cultivation, which they plan to do outside, and manufacturing. The manufacturing license would be used, at least at first, to hand roll marijuana into joints. Doobie will not have a retail location.
At a community outreach meeting on June 17, Joseph Rubin said the business could open in weeks or months, depending on licensing and other approvals. Currently, Doobie’s owners are negotiating a marijuana host community agreement with the town. Once that agreement is finalized, Rubin said the group would likely be waiting on the Cannabis Control Commission.
Ericca Kennedy said Doobie plans to bring job opportunities to Wareham, while also paying a three percent community impact fee and three percent sales tax to the town.
“Jessie and I have worked really hard to create the Doobie Fund,” Kennedy said. “So one percent of all of our profits will be donated to a reparative justice fund where we will give out microgrants to those with nonviolent cannabis convictions to aid with things such as food, housing and transportation insecurities.”
Doobie also hopes to commission a Wareham artist to paint a mural “that depicts the positive changes that cannabis is now making in our society,” in the next two years, Kennedy said.
Delivery
Kennedy explained that delivery vehicles will be unmarked and will never transport more than $10,000 of product at any one time. Drivers, who will work in pairs, will have active body cameras while making deliveries.
Doobie will accept debit card and cash payments, but not credit card payments.
Kennedy acknowledged people’s concerns about delivering cannabis but said it was “highly regulated” and safe. She explained that her children, for example, wouldn’t be able to place an order with a credit card because the individual who placed the order must show their ID to the delivery driver.
“There could technically be deliveries happening in your neighborhood right now and you might not realize it, because the medical industry is currently able to deliver,” Kennedy said.
Only those age 21 and older will be able to use Doobie’s services.
In terms of jobs, Kennedy said Doobie will be looking to hire 10-15 delivery drivers and expediters, with each employee starting at a minimum pay of $18 per hour after tips are considered. Performance, seasonal and wellness bonuses will be offered along with six weeks of paid time off each year (for maternity/paternity leave, bereavement leave, vacation time, etc.).
Tow Road site
The business would operate out of the building at 3 Tow Rd. and the surrounding property, which Doobie’s owners plan to lease. The facility would never be open to the public.
Kennedy said the first priority is cleaning up the site, which is currently home to cars, trucks, trailers, tires and other litter.
“That is one of our immediate focuses — getting in and making sure that we clean up the site of 3 Tow Rd., getting our privacy and security fencing in,” Kennedy said. “There’s a lot to be cleaned up there.”
Kennedy said Doobie would use the existing building at 3 Tow Rd. for its manufacturing and delivery operations. The cultivation greenhouses would be constructed to the left of the building.
An 8-foot privacy fence with mesh screening will be installed and “defensive landscaping” will be used to keep the building 85 to 90 percent non-visible to the general public, she said.
Kennedy also noted that a hard-wired security system would be installed, which will include panic buttons and continuous audio and video surveillance both inside and outside the building. Air filtration systems will also be installed.
Abutters from Factory Five Racing — a company that manufactures kit cars — expressed concerns that the ground on the site might be considered “brown land,” or heavily contaminated.
Rubin said the Doobie team was committed to working with the property owner to remediate any issues at the site.
To see more of the information presented at the meeting, visit trydoobie.weebly.com.
