Grubbing the unique treats of Alternative Compassion Services, the Bay State’s beachside marijuana bakery
We introduced the concept of destination dispensaries earlier this year to describe stores that people should prioritize for hopping in their autos and driving a distance to. The criteria are loose, but basically these spots will make it worth your while, whether in selection, discounts, on-site cultivation and/or other extraordinary features.
ACS in Hull is in a unique class of its own. An early licensee and true seaside survivor, it opened as a medical and adult use-dispensary in Bridgewater with its own cultivation way back in 2018. The team subsequently cut the red ribbon in Hull in 2022, but only finally got licensed to sling recreational provisions there a few months ago. ACS has been a South Shore hidden gem for patients and beloved by local stoners for some time, but now that it is open to all, it’s worth considering a group trip to one of the few pot shops in Mass that are within flip-flop distance to the beach (we see you, P-Town stores right on Commercial Street).
With med and legal walk-in marijuana shops still a relatively young phenomenon in the Bay State, ACS is something of a monument to local canna history thus far. Upon entering you’ll notice that the winding halls and other flourishes have traces of the clinical aesthetic that was once required to appease suburban prohibitionists. That’s all the better though, making for a speakeasy-like surprise when you get to the room with the goodies.
And the goodies are aplenty. One quality we like in any worthy destination joint is a menu that’s filled with products that we haven’t seen before, or even that we can’t readily access elsewhere. ACS has many such treats in both its med and adult-use offerings, starting with the sweets selection that is the store’s leading non-location trademark. We’re talking RSO-spun oatmeal cookie sandwiches, locally-sourced coffee milk truffles, their mighty peanut butter brownie, or carrot cake and cranorange scones on the (somewhat) lighter side.
For those who want to bake at home, ACS carries chocolate chip mug muffin mix in a ready-to-make bag. All that plus a tight spread of other gummies and chocolates, as well as their own spins on standards like vape carts and preroll packs (their Rainbow Daze varieties are multicolored). They’re also the magicians behind Shine BirthJays, a cone that you can light atop a cake then smoke which has long been among our favorite worthwhile gimmicks on the Mass market.
Bottom line: for sweettooth fans of weed and waves, it’s hard to conjure a more perfect pit stop en route to the beach. Count ACS as a prime destination for the summer or for any time of year the sun rises and sets.
