Inside "Toke & Trail," Massachusetts' medical cannabis meetups
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
I joined the medical cannabis patients at a "Toke & Trail" meetup recently at Halibut Point State Park in Rockport.
- No, I did not partake.
The intrigue: Some 20 people gathered around a secluded picnic table off the main trail, eating sandwiches, swapping stories and smoking.
Catch up quick: The Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance started hosting Toke & Trail meetups at state parks in 2024, seeing a carveout in DCR regulations for medical cannabis.
- The DCR, however, says the regulations do not allow for medical cannabis consumption.
How it went: I saw some new faces while I sat on the grass, doodling in my notebook.
I met Gary Gill, a longtime medical cannabis patient who was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in 1991.
- Smoking helped him maintain an appetite during the worst of his illness.
The AIDS epidemic wiped out a generation of gay elders.
- Gill, at 65, is one of the older men who survived the virus and the cannabis crackdown prior to legalization in Massachusetts.
What they're saying: "We won the war already in regards to it being legal to smoke," he says.
- "I think today's turnout was really nice. Nobody said anything, but we've got our documents. … I don't think anybody's going to push the issue."
Reality check: DCR tells me it is, in fact, an issue because it's illegal.
Yes, but: Some patients, including Gill, say they believe they're in the right and, if they're not, the state should allow a common space for medical patients to consume in peace.
- To them, it might just be the latest in a lifelong series of battles.