Let’s start with this week’s headline:

The 6 Bricks cannabis dispensary in Springfield expands its support of the Green Meadows-Patton Alliance for Veterans with its third donation in three years, exceeding beyond previous contributions with $6,550 for charitable initiatives on behalf of America’s military veterans.

The news underscores the partnership of two independent, family-owned Massachusetts cannabis companies in supporting our fellow citizens who have volunteered to defend our country and way of life. Most importantly, it assures continuing support for worthy organizations such as past recipients StopSoldierSuicide.org and BlackVeteransProject.org, among others.

Above all, 6 Bricks’ donation testifies to the dispensary’s engaged and loyal customer base that has consistently supplemented product purchases with voluntary contributions toward the Patton Alliance for Veterans. Such selflessness is always commendable, but it’s especially so in 2025’s uncertain economic environment. All praise to Springfield and its surrounding communities for helping to make this significant gift.

And then there are the families involved:

In a superficial way, we couldn’t be more different. 6 Bricks is Black-owned and, under Payton Shubrick and her sister, Taylor, woman-run. My company, Green Meadows, was founded by descendants of World War Two’s famed general, George S. Patton. While I and my sons highlight diversity and social consciousness across our operation, we hardly fit the common image of marijuana entrepreneurs. But that’s the point. What began as a business relationship between 6 Bricks and Green Meadows, with our wholesale products placed on their store shelves, soon evolved to a family collaboration based on shared values and personal rapport. As my late father, an army major-general with four combat tours in Korea and Vietnam, might have said, “Who’da thunk it?” But here we are – and it’s a wonderful thing.

For those who may not know, there’s currently an ongoing effort driven by well-funded, out-of-state, anti-cannabis entities to reverse the 2016 Massachusetts legalization referendum and outlaw adult-use cannabis. Aiming for the November 2026 election, they hope to validate the reversal in an off-year election and disrupt the national trend toward sensible cannabis legalization. Activists on both sides of the issue support their positions with select and often mutually contradictory statistics, and certainly I’ve got my own experience and gathered public data to make an argument in favor of legalization. But for now, let’s keep it simple:

Visit our dispensaries – 6 Bricks in Springfield, Green Meadows in Southbridge, Fitchburg and Marlborough – and you’ll find an atmosphere that’s congenial to patrons (21+) of every background and that fully respects the responsibilities that go with purveying a once controversial product viewed as medicine by many and as a way to improve lives by many others. And if visiting 6 Bricks especially, know that the welfare of America’s veterans is always a priority there. Through their continued support of the Green Meadows – Patton Patton Alliance for Veterans, they’ve proved it once again.

With gratitude,

Bob Patton,

Chairman and Co-Founder, Green Meadows