If you live in Reading or North Reading and want to know where to buy cannabis, the plain answer is outside town. Neither town has a shop on the Cannabis Control Commission's Where to Buy list, and the Commission's zoning tracker records an adult-use ban in both. The closest licensed shop in these records is a medical dispensary in Woburn. This guide gives the tracker entries, the shops within reach, the road from each town to Peabody, and the steps a Reading or North Reading resident follows to get a medical card.
The Commission's Municipal Zoning Tracker lists Reading as adult-use "Ban in place", delivery "Delivery permitted", and social consumption "No zoning in place". North Reading has the identical three entries. Nearby Wilmington, Wakefield and Stoneham also read "Ban in place" for adult-use. So does Woburn, which still has a licensed Medical shop on the list, the same way Danvers does: the tracker entry is about adult-use establishments, and a medical dispensary holds a separate license.
The tracker describes itself as a general guide and gives no bylaw text. Anything about what a particular street or business may do is a question for the Reading or North Reading town clerk or planning office. This page does not repeat or interpret local bylaws.
With nothing in either town, the list below is built from the towns that touch or sit close to them. It is not a ranking, and it leaves out shops farther away.
| Shop (as the Commission lists it) | Address | License type on the list |
|---|---|---|
| Sanctuary Medicinals | 130 Commerce Way, Woburn, MA 01801 | Medical |
| Garden Remedies | 732 Newburyport Tpke, Melrose, MA 02176 | Medical |
| Garden Remedies | 732 Newburyport Tpke, Melrose, MA 02176 | Adult-use |
| Sanctuary Medicinals, Inc. | 181 Broadway, Saugus, MA 01906 | Adult-use |
| Lazy River Products | 553 Main Street, Unit 2, Tewksbury, MA 01876 | Adult-use |
| Smyth Cannabis Co | 1695 Shawsheen St, Tewksbury, MA 01876 | Adult-use |
For a patient, the Woburn row is the one that matters. The Commission marks it Medical, which means it serves registered patients. Melrose has the same business listed twice, once under each license type. The Saugus and Tewksbury rows are adult-use only, so a medical card is not what gets you in there. From Reading Town Hall on Lowell Street, the Woburn address is about 4 miles and about 7 minutes by car in light traffic. From North Reading Town Hall on North Street it is about 6 miles and about 10 minutes.
The Commission does not date the list. Shops close, move and change names, so check with the shop before you make the drive.
From Reading Town Hall to 25 Newbury Street, the router gives about 6 miles and about 12 minutes by car in light traffic. The trip leaves Reading on Route 129 (Lowell Street), joins I-95 and Route 128 north, and finishes on US 1 in Peabody.
North Reading is farther: about 11 miles and about 19 minutes. The route comes out of town on Route 62 and local streets to I-95 and Route 128, then US 1. Route 128 backs up on weekday mornings and evenings, so allow more time then. Advanced Dispensary will serve registered medical patients and caregivers only.
Because neither town has a shop, a card is how a resident buys from a medical dispensary elsewhere. The state process is the same everywhere:
Patients can be 18 or older. Caregivers, renewals and the list of accepted documents are in the card guide.
There is no licensed shop in Reading on the Commission's list, and its tracker shows an adult-use ban.
Of the shops in the table, the Woburn one is Medical only, and the Melrose business holds a Medical entry along with its adult-use entry.
On the road, yes: Woburn is nearer to Reading. Advanced Dispensary is a separate store, still being renovated, and no opening date has been announced.
Advanced Cultivators (AC) grows in Lowell, Massachusetts, under cultivation license MC283314. Its medical dispensary, Advanced Dispensary at 25 Newbury Street on US Route 1, is being renovated for registered patients and caregivers and is the closest AC location to Reading. No opening date has been announced. The patient list on the Peabody page is where the date will appear first.
Advanced Dispensary, 25 Newbury Street, Peabody, MA 01960. Phone: (978) 896-6640.
The shop list was retrieved on October 23, 2026 and the zoning tracker was read on October 30, 2026. The Commission publishes both without an updated date and tells readers to confirm details with the town.
This page reports what the two public records say about Reading and North Reading. It is not a shop ranking, medical advice or legal advice, and it makes no claim about marijuana and any condition.
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