It’s been almost three years since Massachusetts voters approved medical marijuana by a wide margin. The dispensary in the western half of the state is expected to open soon in Northampton. On Wednesday night, it held a coming out party, of sorts.

The event — billed as a meet and greet with the community — was held in a hotel right across from the soon-to-open medical marijuana dispensary. If the word “marijuana” conjures up images of black-light posters, tie-dye shirts and pot brownies, think again.

“Smoked salmon canape?” a waiter offered.

“Do you care for an asparagus-wrapped prosciutto?” asked another.

This was a fairly corporate affair.

“You can take a brochure,” a dispensary employee greeted a prospective patient. “If you have any specific questions, I can help you out. Or there’s a room around the corner.”

That room around the corner was strictly off-limits to the media. Inside, people could fill out applications to become new patients or learn more about job opportunities at the dispensary. A few folks were willing to talk to us on their way out, including Jeremy Moriarty.

“I can’t wait until they open up because it’s been a long time coming because I’ve been registered for…two-and-a-half years,” Moriarty says. “To finally get to go somewhere and just get the medication that we need is going to be awesome.”

“I have PTSD and some back pain from construction all my life,” he says. “And it helps me sleep.”

For the last few years, the only legal options for patients seeking marijuana were to either grow it themselves, or get it from what’s known as a caregiver, someone the patient designates to grow for them. But soon, it’ll be like a trip to the pharmacy.

“I think we all need to come out of the closet,” says a woman who — despite that statement — declined to give her name, for fear her employer would find out.

“You know, we’ve been self-medicating for years. And now we find that it actually was helping us,” she says. “Now there’s not such a stigma. And sometimes it’s scary for people to come to things like this.”

She may not have to wait much longer to buy marijuana legally. Next month, the dispensary is hoping to open its doors.