MIDDLEBORO — In addition to Amazon packages, groceries and last-minute dinners, Middleboro and Lakeville residents can now have marijuana delivered to their doorstep. 

Gas Bus, a cannabis delivery service based out of Middleboro, opened the doors of its dispensary on Monday, Sept. 2. 

Gas Bus will deliver cannabis products including flower, edibles, vapes, marijuana extracts and accessories via phone or online orders. 

Business co-owners Edson Charles and Rich DeCotis saw the delivery model as the simplest way to break into the legal cannabis market and the new direction of the industry. 

This was “the simplest springboard to jump off of,” said Charles. 

DeCotis stated he believes the delivery model is “something that’s going to make a major impact in the industry.”

Charles has had his sights set on opening a cannabis business since 2019 and scouted as far as northern Maine to find a place to open his business. 

After searching for areas zoned for cannabis close to where he lives, he found a place in Middleboro with affordable rent, he said. 

Charles’ ultimate goal however is to “own the whole supply chain,” and “control the process from seed to sale,” he said. The dispensary currently gets its products from Northeast Alternatives, which has a cultivation facility in Lakeville. 

The brand name ‘Gas Bus’ has a multifaceted meaning. It couples “gas,” a colloquial term for cannabis, with a mode of public transport to symbolize the idea that everyone “is on the same journey," but “going to different destinations,” Charles explained.

The significance behind the name connects closely to Gas Bus’ slogan of “our destination is your location,” he noted. 

Customers can place orders at gasbus.net or by calling 978-338-3669. Orders will be filled starting on Sept. 2. The dispensary is open from 9 a.m to 9 p.m. Sunday through Saturday and currently accepts cash and credit cards for payment.

While the Gas Bus business owners understand their business may face its fair share of critics, DeCotis urges people to “try to be a little bit more open-minded.” 

Putting judgements aside, “you might receive an education that might sway your opinion on it,” he said. 

According to DeCotis, some studies have shown that CBD, THC and other compounds in the marijuana plant, called “cannabinoids,” can cause cancer cells to “basically self-destruct.”

Though Charles noted that getting to this point in the business venture has been an investment financially and emotionally, that has not deterred him: “Everything that you do in life that’s worth doing, comes at a cost. I’ve learned that time and time again.” 

He made a point however to offer fair warning to any toying with the idea of entrepreneurship: “Be prepared to sacrifice half a decade and a lot of nights of sleep,” he said, chuckling.

Both Charles and DeCotis think it’s time for the social stigma around cannabis consumption to change, and said “ stories like this” play an important part in influencing that perspective shift, Charles stated.

“If you want to learn, we’re here happy to educate,” said DeCotis.