New cannabis equity rules go into effect
Photo | WBJ File
The Cannabis Control Commission occupies the second floor of Union Station.
New cannabis industry rules that seek to increase equity in the cannabis industry and add oversight to host community agreements have gone into effect after being promulgated by the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
The new rules, which were approved by a 3-1 vote of commissioners in September, are the result of a months-long process that included public hearings and the gathering of written testimony, according to a release issued by the Cannabis Control Commission on Friday.
The new provisions regulating community host agreements were mandated by the passing of new state laws last year that required the agency to regulate and scrutinize these deals between municipalities and businesses, which seek to address unique costs that cities and towns claim are the direct result of hosting a cannabis-related business.
The new regulations solidify the fact that the Cannabis Control Commission has the authority to regulate these agreements to ensure compliance with state law, ensuring that municipalities do not require payments from companies that would exceed three percent of the licensee’s gross sales.
More than 1,000 community host agreements are currently in place in Massachusetts, according to the Mass. Municipal Association’s website.
The new regulations also seek to make it easier for individuals who have been disproportionately harmed by the War on Drugs to gain the local approvals necessary to open a cannabis business. The commission will require municipalities reserve future cannabis business licenses for equity applicants in certain situations and will have the ability to fine cities and towns who are not in compliance, among other new previsions.
Rules governing who is allowed to participate in the cannabis industry were also altered, as the agency eliminated previously existing disqualifiers that prevented individuals with certain criminal backgrounds from employment in the cannabis industry.
The goal of these new rules were to increase opportunities for people with prior records to work in the cannabis space, but some critics of this proposal, including Senator Michael Moore of Millbury, argued that these new rules would open the door to individuals with sexual offenses to be employed in situations that may put the public at risk.
The new rules were approved without the vote of Chair Shannon O’Brien, whose position with the agency has been left in limbo after Treasurer Deb Goldberg announced in September that she had been suspended from the role.
O’Brien has pushed back against her removal with a lawsuit against Goldberg, arguing that the Treasurer does not have the authority to suspend her. A planned hearing involving the lawsuit in October was canceled after it was announced that Goldberg has agreed to an administrative hearing regarding the issue.
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