Facing an exodus of its members, the Commonwealth Dispensary Association is withdrawing its lawsuit against recently approved recreational marijuana delivery rules in Massachusetts.
The license which would effectively allow standalone marijuana delivery businesses with their own warehouses was part of the CCC’s ongoing, if fledgling, efforts to increase the number of local and minority-owned operators in the industry. The CCC also decided to make the delivery license, as well as a courier-style license, available only to applicants in their social equity programs for a minimum of three years meaning that almost all of the state’s existing dispensaries would be locked out from the delivery game until at least 2024.
Commonwealth Dispensary Association withdraws lawsuit against the Mass. Cannabis Control Commission after dispensaries pull memberships
Updated Mar 03, 2021;
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The Commonwealth Dispensary Association has withdrawn a lawsuit against the state Cannabis Control Commission on Monday, citing that it is in the “best interest of the industry and our members.”
In the lawsuit, which was filed earlier this month, the CDA argued that new delivery regulations from the CCC that allow for a marijuana operator license violate the commission’s statute. Cannabis delivery licenses are limited to social equity and economic empowerment applicants for the first three years.
Some delivery applicants saw the suit as an “attack on equity.”
Mass. plaintiffs drop suit over marijuana delivery rules
Colin A. Young
BOSTON Stung by an exodus of members since it filed suit to block new cannabis industry rules permitting home delivery, the business group that represents most of the state s brick-and-mortar marijuana shops announced Monday morning that it is dropping the legal challenge.
The Commonwealth Dispensary Association and its attorneys from Foley Hoag argued in a suit that the new delivery-only license types created by the Cannabis Control Commission violated the state s marijuana law, which they said gives the retailers the right to deliver cannabis under their existing licenses. Simply, the CCC overstepped its authority and disregarded state law, radically upending the established rules that hundreds of small businesses and their host communities operated in accordance with since 2016, the CDA said in a statement when it filed its suit earlier this month.
More Massachusetts cannabis dispensaries leave Commonwealth Dispensary Association, citing support of equity following lawsuit on delivery
Updated Mar 03, 2021;
Fallout from a lawsuit filed by the Commonwealth Dispensary Association against the Cannabis Control Commission over new delivery regulations has continued this weekend, with more dispensaries announcing an end to their membership.
The CDA sued the CCC, arguing that newly promulgated regulations that introduce a marijuana operator license violate the commission’s statute, G.L. c. 94G.
The operator license allows for the wholesale purchase of cannabis to be warehoused and then sold and delivered. There’s also a courier license, allowing applicants to partner with retailers to deliver directly to consumers. Couriers can charge fees but cannot sell, process, store or repackage goods.
NETA, Garden Remedies end membership with Commonwealth Dispensary Association days after group files lawsuit over cannabis delivery regulations
Updated Mar 03, 2021;
Two Massachusetts dispensaries have announced they are ending membership with the Commonwealth Dispensary Association, a decision that comes days after the CDA filed a lawsuit that has been viewed by some as an “attack on equity” in the state’s cannabis industry.
Garden Remedies announced its decision on Saturday morning. NETA made its decision to leave the CDA on Friday. Both cited a commitment to supporting equity in Massachusetts, as the state prepares to start home delivery of cannabis, an opportunity that will only be available to equity applicants for three years.