Recreational marijuana sales are legal in Massachusetts starting Sunday (though, there aren’t any stores actually licensed and open to make sales). But most of the state’s cities and towns have either a ban or a moratorium on retail sales.

The skittishness on marijuana is evident among patients at Sira Naturals, a medical dispensary located in Needham, MA. Several did not want to go on the record about their own use, for fear that it still carries stigma.

Needham allows medical marijuana sales, and has a medical dispensary in town, but voted against recreational marijuana in the 2016 referendum. In May, the town voted to ban recreational sales within its limits.

First-time patient Karlene Kadra, 52, admits she was skeptical of marijuana. She voted no on legalization in 2016, but has since changed her mind.

“I used to think that everyone who smoked marijuana was a pothead, a deadbeat, a burnout,” she says.

There’s an obvious generational shift in attitude toward marijuana. Medical marijuana patient David Hepp, 23, who lives in neighboring Natick, says he’s seeing the stereotype of the “stoner persona” fading away.

“Being a young dude, I don’t know many people who don’t smoke or are against it,” Hepp says. “It’s very socially acceptable. It’s like having a drink.”

See the original article at WBUR