Boston’s first adult-use marijuana retailer could open in March

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Massachusetts regulators on Thursday approved a business license for the first recreational cannabis store in Boston.

The approval means Pure Oasis could open in about a month in Boston’s Dorcester neighborhood, co-owner Kobie Evans said.

The Cannabis Control Commission’s licensing of Pure Oasis is the first for a recreational marijuana retailer under Massachusetts’ social equity program.

Pure Oasis must pass a final inspection and obtain a notice to begin operations before it can start selling adult-use cannabis, the Boston Business Journal reported.

To date, Massachusetts has granted some level of approval to about 280 marijuana businesses.

Of those, only about 10 licenses have gone to companies such as Pure Oasis that are certified under the state’s social equity program.

Nearly 75% of those who have applied or approved to work in Massachusetts’ legal marijuana industry are white, according to statistics released Thursday by the CCC.

Black and Latino people make up less than 12% of the marijuana workforce in Massachusetts.

– Associated Press