Search
Close this search box.

10 Places To Meet People Who Love Cannabis In Massachusetts

Photo of Smash Hits party at NECANN Boston by Derek Kouyoumjian

From Boston Cannabis Week to infused dinners and product popups


As cannabis and lifestyle reporters, we often receive messages and emails from people flying into Mass from out of state wanting to know where they can meet and hang with fellow stoners. Kind and wired-in ambassadors that we are, we usually find something fun to spin them toward. 

But even if you do live in the Bay State among friends who get high, it’s not hard to see how tourists may have trouble finding 420-friendly fandangos. In a way, we’re all looking for them too. Because absent a program for licensing social consumption establishments, which as of right now hasn’t left the starting gate, the interpersonal aspect of cannabis culture is still underground. There’s a dispensary on every other block in several cities and towns, but nowhere you can legally light up a joint.

All of which only makes it harder to meet people who share your affection for cannabis, let alone get super high with them. To that end, this list is meant to help facilitate green meetups and friendships—whether romantic, platonic, or hydroponic. As for those who already have networks where people share blunts and brownies, hopefully our bullet points will move you to break out of your bubble.

The Freedom Rally

Of all the festivals and open-air events on this compendium, the Boston Freedom Rally, traditionally held by the legacy advocacy organization MassCann on Boston Common in September, features the most people who are actually concurrently consuming cannabis, as well as the most vendors who are happy to let you hang on their inflatable couch for the afternoon. A fantastic place to run into old chums with green thumbs plus make some new ones, this old standby has yielded countless friendships and counting.

Volunteer Orgs

While MassCann’s annual blowout on Boston Common (see above) is ground zero for people who bring ornate handblown art pieces in protective cases with them any time they venture more than 20 minutes from the home front, if you’re looking to meet heads who are also devoted to ending prohibition and the many worthy orgs and causes stemming from that goal, you can join the actual organization. And why stop there? From groups that help veterans to the Big Hope Project and others working on behalf of social equity applicants, there are plenty of causes that can use your skills as well as your company.

Boston Cannabis Week

If you have any interest in cannabis and its related fascinations whatsoever, then Boston Cannabis Week has something for you. We’ll have more detailed previews in the month leading up to their September 18 – 24 schedule, but the overview alone showcases their variety of programming with: an annual BCW Classic golf outing at Merrimack Valley Golf Club, networking and education events, a fashion and glass art show, and their annual Xperience Boston blowout.

Dinner At Mary’s

Let’s say you already have a bunch of friends who want to get together for an infused dinner but none of you know the first thing about dosing. In that case, you’ll want to order up some meal kits from Dinner At Mary’s, or maybe even hire them to cater your party. We also recommend signing up for their email list to learn about upcoming infused dinners and brunches, plus their popular Canna Yoga series with Toni Watson in Cambridge.

The Summit Lounge

Growers. Smokers. Dabbers. Industry sales and marketing people. Reporters. Chefs. Artists. Newcomers. All are welcome and frequently present at the Summit Lounge in Worcester, a private club that will go down in history as the consumption hangout that paved the way for all the rest in this state. With an outstanding calendar of regular events and one-offs spanning food nights to trivia and comedy shows, the Summit caters to multiple communities that share an affection for connecting via cannabis.

The CCC

This one isn’t necessarily for those of you who want to be doing dabs and burning blunts all day, but if you are one of those bureaucratically capable people who is fascinated enough by the cannabis industry that you’d want to hang around policy wonks, inspectors, and regulators all day—plus perhaps visit dispensaries and cultivations across the state, depending on your job—then the Cannabis Control Commission may have a career for you! They’re currently looking for: constituent services associates, desktop support analysts, developer/power platform administrators, a director of IT and security operations, investigations and enforcement assistants, investigators, licensing analysts, project managers, and attorneys of all kinds (general, enforcement counsel). They also need a receptionist, if you’re up for fielding calls from antsy, angry, angsty applicants all day.

NECANN

It’s funny how even people who smoke weed on the regular are surprised by the annual scene out in front of the Hynes Convention Center when they see it for the first time. They say things like, “If I’d always known that hundreds of heads really gathered out front to pass joints, I would have started coming to these events years ago.” It’s never too late to make your New England Cannabis Convention debut, whether at the big annual gathering in Boston, or at one of the regional NECANNs in Vermont, Maine, or Connecticut. Walk the floor, grab some swag, pass some pot around the lot. Give it a few hours, and you’ll have a pocket full of contacts and flyers to follow up on. Find an after-party, and potentially meet a pot pal for life.

Product Drops

We completely understand that you don’t want to sign up for every mailing list for every shop and company whose sales rep you met at a dispensary popup. After all, you already get the Talking Joints Memo newsletter, so what more could you need? We totally hear that, but it’s worth starting a dedicated burner email account for cannabis stuff, because there have never been more parties and events to indulge—from the educational to the recreational.

Terptown Throwdown

There’s no doubt that just about any good music festival presents prospects for meeting new friends who share similar interests. But the Terptown Throwdown, not unlike the Grass Is Greener Gathering which just passed and some other grassroots congregations, hosts a genuinely flower-focused faction, with a focus on “giving home growers a platform to display their crafts as they negotiate the process set forth by the state and CCC.” Their mission: to “become a stepping stone for the home growers to advance their craft and work alongside, moreover open brick and mortar stores alongside some larger operators.” This year’s festivities go down on Aug. 18 and 19 at the Spencer Fairgrounds, which will be set up like a low-key indie-minded stoner Disneyland. After that, we recommend the HighLifeStyle Show in Boxboro from Sept. 22 to 24; in addition to live music, comedy, and brands on site, this year they are adding on a tandem tattoo festival.

High Performance

This killer stoner comedy emporium is kind of like the Catholic Church on it—lots of people there are stoned and horny and hoping to meet people, but it’s awkward to approach it like a meat market. Comedy shows are hardly ideal settings for flirting or even platonic mingling, but as is the case for a lot of the spots on this list, there’s always some before and after action on the sidewalk outside. And you’ll find every kind of person at one of these shows; as comedian Alex Giampapa recently said about his High Performance audiences, “I’m seeing everybody I would see at a club. I’m seeing bachelorette parties, I’m seeing people in sweatpants. I’m seeing business professionals coming from work.”