Key Takeaways:
If you’re a New Yorker or a person who has visited New York recently, you’ve probably seen or heard of stores selling a product or service to consumers and providing cannabis as a “gift” in return. Others – banking on lack of enforcement – may simply be selling cannabis at retail even though no licenses are yet available. Some of the “dispensaries” are even in the heart of Manhattan. This practice,… More
On November 23, 2021, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) released Draft Guidance on Hemp (Draft Guidance).
Pursuant to a 2020 amendment, adult-use cannabis establishments licensed by the CCC are permitted to cultivate, manufacture, and sell hemp products. This amendment did not give the CCC the authority to regulate hemp or hemp products—that authority remains with the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health,… More
On February, 3, the highest court in Massachusetts, the Supreme Judicial Court (“SJC”) will hear two cases involving municipalities’ scope of authority in allowing adult-use cannabis businesses, Mederi Inc. v. City of Salem and CommCan, Inc. v. Town of Mansfield.
The facts leading up to the Mederi case began nearly three years ago in 2018 when Mederi Inc. was denied a host community agreement (“HCA”) with the city of Salem following a Committee of applications for more than the City’s five allotted marijuana retailer slots.… More
During a Cannabis Control Commission (“Commission”) regulatory policy discussion on June 19th, Chairman Steven Hoffman confirmed the Commission’s plans to publish draft revised regulations within the next few weeks and to vote on final regulations by the end of August. The revisions will address numerous issues that the Commission has identified since it updated its regulations last fall, including proposing new requirements for vape products and establishing a permitting process for cannabis research projects.… More
With July 1st now fully in the rear-view mirror, we thought it would be a good time to update you on the latest developments at the Cannabis Control Commission. Earlier this month, the Commission approved two final retail licences for businesses in Northampton and Leicester. These represent the very first final adult-use retail licenses awarded in the Commonwealth. With this, Massachusetts residents should expect adult-use retail shops to open to the public within a matter of weeks. … More
GFA Federal Credit Union, a Massachusetts credit union with headquarters in Gardner, will become the first financial institution in the Commonwealth to serve the recreational cannabis industry by offering banking services to cannabis companies. This represents a major step forward for companies in the Commonwealth’s burgeoning recreational cannabis industry, as previously most companies resorted to running cash-only operations without being able to offer customers the benefits of credit or debit purchases. … More
Last week, the CCC released two new sets of draft medical marijuana regulations so that final regulations can be promulgated in enough time for it to take over the Commonwealth’s Medical Marijuana Program by the end of the year.
The CCC released a draft of 935 CMR 501, which it calls a “lift and replace” of the existing Department of Public Health medical marijuana regulations.… More
Although the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission has begun awarding provisional, adult-use licenses to some entities in the Commonwealth as of July 1, only one retail license has been awarded and, to date, no retail stores have yet opened for business. One large impediment to opening retail stores is the statutory requirement that all cannabis sold in the Commonwealth for adult use be tested by an independent testing laboratory, which itself must be licensed as such by the Commission. … More
Pursuant to the legislature’s direction, the Cannabis Control Commission can start issuing adult use licenses after June 1 and the Commission has indicated that they will start issuing licenses soon.
We expect that a handful of previously medical-only cannabis dispensaries that are awarded adult use licenses will be dispensing both adult use and medical cannabis on July 1 or shortly thereafter. The lines will be very long. … More