News

City officials shut down shop distributing marijuana 'gifts'

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Officials in Springfield are ordering a shop to shut down after they say it was illegally selling marijuana.

Mayor Domenic Sarno's administration on Wednesday issued a cease and desist order to Mary Jane Makes Your Heart Sing.

Officials say owner Charles Christian was charging a $20 to $50 entry fee that could be put toward the purchase of store items like electronic cigarettes, pipes, rolling papers and other smoking paraphernalia.

Customers would then depart with a free "gift" of one to three grams of marijuana, or a marijuana-infused chocolate bar. Christian didn't immediately return calls or emails seeking comment.

The state's new recreational marijuana law permits residents to possess, grow and exchange limited quantities of the drug as of December 2016. But marijuana can't be sold or purchased until mid-2018.