New Fells Point cannabis business to sell marijuana plants, equipment in Baltimore
BALTIMORE -- A new cannabis business is opening up in Fells Point, only it's not a dispensary.
Baltimore Hydroponics aims to help people grow their own plants. Growing plants at home became legal once the state's recreational cannabis law was passed.
The intersection of Aliceanna Street and S. Broadway has been getting a lot of attention lately. Many people walking by can't help putting out their phones to snap a pic of cannabis plants on display.
Come next Friday, Baltimore Hydroponics will be selling those plants and everything a person needs to grow them.
Julius Franks, Baltimore Hydroponics' chief operating officer, has been growing cannabis for nearly 20 years. He just wants to pass along what he's learned to others.
"The number one thing is mainly to share our knowledge because once you can learn how to grow yourself you can continuously do it," Franks said. "You don't have to worry about going out on a corner or going to the dispensary."
This business didn't need any cannabis license since it's not selling products with CBD or THC.
Aside from sales, Baltimore Hydroponics will also be offering consultations and weekly classes.
"Our whole point is to create a community of our own in Baltimore and be self-sufficient," Devin Melton, Baltimore Hydroponics' chief executive officer, said. "Have everybody be able to save their money and dictate what they want to do with their marijuana."
While it is a cannabis business, Baltimore Hydroponics plans to teach people how to use these techniques to grow other things.
"Even if you are living in a food desert here in the city, you can still grow fruits and vegetables," Donte Johnson, vice president of the business, said. "You got all the supplies and equipment for people to come down and get it,"
Not long ago, doing any of this would've been illegal. To be so close to opening, especially as a black-owned business, it's surreal for everyone involved.
"To have a thought, to put it down on paper, to watch it grow and nurture it—for it to actually become something for real—it's a dream," Franks said.
Down the road, Baltimore Hydroponics wants to open up a smoke lounge in the same building so people have a place to enjoy the fruits of their labor.