Advocates, lawmakers and former regulators urged a legislative committee on Tuesday to provide more oversight of required contracts between municipalities and marijuana businesses, arguing that the system continues to be exploited by some cities and towns, which creates a barrier for small and minority owned businesses to get started in the industry.
The issue of host community agreements has been one fraught with tension as people in the industry have argued for years that negotiations are often one-sided, with the municipalities controlling all the leverage.
The result, according to testimony given to the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, are agreements that often violate the limits put on how much cities and towns can charge marijuana businesses for traffic, public safety and other impacts they have on a community.
Cannabis community host agreements being exploited by some Massachusetts cities and towns, advocates say
Updated May 12, 2021;
By Matt Murphy | State House News Service
Advocates, lawmakers and former regulators urged a legislative committee on Tuesday to provide more oversight of required contracts between municipalities and marijuana businesses, arguing that the system continues to be exploited by some cities and towns, which creates a barrier for small and minority owned businesses to get started in the industry.
The issue of host community agreements has been one fraught with tension as people in the industry have argued for years that negotiations are often “one-sided,” with the municipalities controlling all the leverage.
Massachusetts sets marijuana sales records around 4/20 holiday
Recreational sector surpasses $1.5 billion in total sales
By Dan Adams Globe Staff,Updated May 5, 2021, 10:47 a.m.
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After a slow start, the Massachusetts marijuana industry is starting to pick up momentum.
Recreational cannabis stores in the state have now sold more than $1.5 billion of pot products since their debut in November 2018, according to new data released by the Cannabis Control Commission, passing the milestone just before the traditional â4/20â³ stoner holiday observed on April 20.
The sector also set an all-time single-day sales record on April 17, the Saturday before 4/20, when the roughly 140 pot shops in Massachusetts sold more than $5.04 million worth of cannabis buds, edibles, vapes, and other products. That surpassed the previous high-water mark of nearly $4.77 million set on April 2, the Friday before Easter.
With marijuana legal in New York, and other states close behind, will Mass. dispensaries along state borders survive?
Operators insist impact wonât be immediate â but foresee disruption
By Dan Adams Globe Staff,Updated April 20, 2021, 1 hour ago
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It was a good run while it lasted.
When Massachusetts voters passed Question 4 in 2016, the state became an oasis of legal marijuana on the East Coast, surrounded by neighbors that prohibited the drug entirely or only allowed its medical use. Today, total pot sales are approaching $1.5 billion.
But with New York legalizing cannabis late last month, the first recreational shops now ringing up customers in Maine, Vermont recently authorizing commercial sales, and Rhode Island and Connecticut lawmakers poised to establish regulated marijuana markets in their states, our early-mover advantage is rapidly evaporating.
This Massachusetts activist wants cannabis companies to sign a pledge committing resources to equity
Updated Mar 03, 2021;
Posted Feb 24, 2021
Ominique Garner, a grassroots cannabis activist in Massachusetts, is urging cannabis businesses across the state to sign an equity pledge. Courtesy photo.
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Ominique Garner, a grassroots cannabis activist in Massachusetts, is urging cannabis businesses across the state to sign an equity pledge, committing to using their resources to fight for an industry that supports people and communities harmed by the war on drugs.
“Companies who are willing to commit to a simple set of statements, such as protecting local and statewide social equity priority periods for cannabis licenses, avoiding predatory lending practices, and pledging not to engage in anti competitive cabals aimed at destroying all delivery operator licensees, will make it clear to the wider community that, when the chips are down, a fair and equitable market com