Massachusetts Is The New Testbed For Cannabis Legalization - Kris Kane, Forbes:
April 10, 2018 - "Massachusetts, whose residents voted in 2016 to legalize cannabis for adult use, is on the cusp of implementing experimental, never-before-seen rules that will be closely watched by both the cannabis industry and regulators around the country.
"Last month, the state’s Cannabis Control Commission, the regulatory agency tasked with overseeing the rollout and implementation of Massachusetts’ new adult-use cannabis industry, released the final rules that will govern the market.... Many of the rules have been seen before (child-resistant packaging requirements; separate licenses for cultivators, producers, and retailers; etc.) What’s noteworthy about Massachusetts’ new rules, though, are the ones that have never been tried before and could serve as a blueprint for other states....
"Massachusetts is seeking to ... rectify ... some of the social injustices that have been a result of marijuana prohibition.... Nearly 80% of people in federal prison for drug offences and almost 60% in state prison are black or latino.... And yet, for the most part, people of color and people who have convictions for non-violent cannabis offenses have so far been largely excluded from meaningful participation in the new cannabis economy....
"[T]he state has eliminated the vertical-integration requirement of the medical program, which mandated that all businesses must produce the products sold in their dispensaries.... The commission decided to not only split these into separate cultivation, production, and dispensary licenses, but also to create sub-licenses for cultivation facilities of different sizes. Under these rules, an entrepreneur wanting to open a smaller cultivation/production facility will have to pay some of the lowest registration fees in the country.... The commission will also allow these small 'craft' cultivators to cultivate collectively, meaning that they can pool resources to achieve economies of scale....
"It is important to note that these provisions ... did not happen in a vacuum. Commissioner Shaleen Title, one of the five commissioners ... is a veteran drug policy reformer. Shaleen founded a chapter of NORML/Students for Sensible Drug Policy as an undergrad in college in the early 2000s, worked for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (now Law Enforcement Action Partners), and ... went on to form a staffing company, THC Staffing.... It goes to show how important it is that people who have spent their careers advocating for sensible marijuana policies have a seat at the table as regulators, and not have these positions left solely to lifelong bureaucrats, attorneys, and businesspeople....
"The state will also be closely watched as one of the first in the country to roll out 'social consumption' licenses for businesses to allow customers to consume marijuana on-site.... Within a few years cannabis consumers will not only be able to indulge at their favorite dispensary, but could be able to enjoy cannabis at a cafe, movie theater, or yoga studio."
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kriskrane/2018/04/10/massachusetts-is-the-new-testbed-for-cannabis-legalization/#37324b123a39
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April 10, 2018 - "Massachusetts, whose residents voted in 2016 to legalize cannabis for adult use, is on the cusp of implementing experimental, never-before-seen rules that will be closely watched by both the cannabis industry and regulators around the country.
"Last month, the state’s Cannabis Control Commission, the regulatory agency tasked with overseeing the rollout and implementation of Massachusetts’ new adult-use cannabis industry, released the final rules that will govern the market.... Many of the rules have been seen before (child-resistant packaging requirements; separate licenses for cultivators, producers, and retailers; etc.) What’s noteworthy about Massachusetts’ new rules, though, are the ones that have never been tried before and could serve as a blueprint for other states....
"Massachusetts is seeking to ... rectify ... some of the social injustices that have been a result of marijuana prohibition.... Nearly 80% of people in federal prison for drug offences and almost 60% in state prison are black or latino.... And yet, for the most part, people of color and people who have convictions for non-violent cannabis offenses have so far been largely excluded from meaningful participation in the new cannabis economy....
"[T]he state has eliminated the vertical-integration requirement of the medical program, which mandated that all businesses must produce the products sold in their dispensaries.... The commission decided to not only split these into separate cultivation, production, and dispensary licenses, but also to create sub-licenses for cultivation facilities of different sizes. Under these rules, an entrepreneur wanting to open a smaller cultivation/production facility will have to pay some of the lowest registration fees in the country.... The commission will also allow these small 'craft' cultivators to cultivate collectively, meaning that they can pool resources to achieve economies of scale....
"It is important to note that these provisions ... did not happen in a vacuum. Commissioner Shaleen Title, one of the five commissioners ... is a veteran drug policy reformer. Shaleen founded a chapter of NORML/Students for Sensible Drug Policy as an undergrad in college in the early 2000s, worked for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (now Law Enforcement Action Partners), and ... went on to form a staffing company, THC Staffing.... It goes to show how important it is that people who have spent their careers advocating for sensible marijuana policies have a seat at the table as regulators, and not have these positions left solely to lifelong bureaucrats, attorneys, and businesspeople....
"The state will also be closely watched as one of the first in the country to roll out 'social consumption' licenses for businesses to allow customers to consume marijuana on-site.... Within a few years cannabis consumers will not only be able to indulge at their favorite dispensary, but could be able to enjoy cannabis at a cafe, movie theater, or yoga studio."
Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kriskrane/2018/04/10/massachusetts-is-the-new-testbed-for-cannabis-legalization/#37324b123a39
'via Blog this'
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