Company’s entertainment licenses revoked over alleged illegal drug sales in Greenfield

GREENFIELD — The Board of License Commissioners voted Tuesday to revoke two entertainment licenses issued to Destiny Klein, owner of a local cannabis-based event hosting company, following allegations that vendors sold psychedelic mushrooms, ketamine and illegal cannabis edibles at a Fourth of July event at the Franklin County Fairgrounds.

Klein’s company, Greenmind Fair & Share LLC, has hosted marijuana-centered celebrations and events at the fairgrounds for the last three years. Following a discussion and public hearing hosted by the board, the company’s entertainment license for its planned Sept. 1 event was revoked, along with its license for the “Halloweed” event scheduled for Oct. 11 and 12.

State law bars vendors from selling cannabis outside of a Cannabis Control Commission-regulated setting. Acting Police Chief Todd Dodge opened Tuesday’s meeting by outlining the allegations.

“We have become aware of the fact that there may be illegal drug sales at this event. I think it was originally advertised as being something of a trade show where individuals get together and display their wares to sell or manufacture marijuana. … We had additional information, received information from some very reliable sources, that indicate there’s more than just marijuana at the event. Ketamine was presented and other forms of drugs were presented by various vendors at this particular event,” Dodge said. “The concern the Police Department has, and the mayor and I have talked about this, is we cannot be complicit in an open-air drug market.”

Health Director Michael Theroux explained to commissioners that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of cannabis-infused foods and beverages outside of CCC-regulated setting in June — news that prompted the Health Department to send a memorandum to Klein that month, notifying her of the change in laws.

Theroux said that although the Health Department followed up with an additional reminder to Klein on June 24 about the laws regulating edible sales, about 90% of the vendors at the event allegedly displayed illegal products for sale. Klein denied this number, arguing that among hundreds of vendors, less than 20 specific infractions had been acknowledged.

Mayor Ginny Desorgher recalled her trip to Greenmind’s Fourth of July event. Holding up pictures of what she alleges were cannabis-infused edibles being openly sold at stands, Desorgher said she came across a vendor who offered to sell her mushroom-laced gummies.

“The next booth that I went to, they had these little candies over here,” Desorgher said, holding up a photo. “I asked, ‘Are these marijuana edibles?’ and they said, ‘No, those were mushrooms,’ and that I would have a very good trip. … I said, ‘No.’ I had pneumonia, and I just kept saying that because everybody kept offering those to me.”

Klein, who was at times in tears at the hearing, apologized for the alleged violations, noting that this year’s Fourth of July event had significant attendance, making it difficult to enforce vendor policies. She said that last year’s Fourth of July event and the year prior both saw fewer than 800 attendees, while the more recent one brought in roughly 4,000 people.

Klein offered to implement a comprehensive safety plan, which would include an enhanced security detail, on-site patrol officers, monitored live cameras at events, bag and personal searches for those entering and exiting events, and random vendor checks, if the board allowed her to retain her entertainment licenses.

“I’m very embarrassed for what we heard, and what Madam Mayor presented to us was not something that we were aware was going on,” Klein said. “I’m also very sorry for allowing this to slip from my fingers. With any large festival, drugs do start to become an issue, but we assure the city that this will not become the case for us. We are very disappointed in this violation, but have welcome the opportunity to make positive changes and increase awareness and safety protocols.”

Even after hearing Klein’s proposal, some commissioners, such as Randall Bernard, voted in favor of the entertainment license revocation, arguing that even if the security enhancements were implemented, some vendors would continue to use loopholes to covertly sell drugs.

“It’s a tough situation because you’re where the buck stops,” Bernard said. “I had the opportunity to say, ‘Oh geez, I didn’t think you could sell this,’ and he said, ‘Oh, we can’t. But how about a donation?’ Or I had one guy say, ‘I can’t tell you this but I’ve got some real good [expletive] in the back.’”

Commissioner Alan Ball, who voted against the license revocation, asked Klein if she had considered hosting non-cannabis-related events, to which Klein responded that she would be willing to remove cannabis from future events to retain her entertainment license.

Although Klein’s license revocation will result in the cancellation of her Sept. 1 event, the Board of License Commissioners assured her she would be able to reapply in September for an entertainment license for her October event.

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.