Cannabis tech firm joins Boston Chamber of Commerce

Weedmaps, a marijuana-focused tech company, has joined the Boston Chamber of Commerce and is finalizing a lease for an office that will house its sales and marketing team in the city’s pricey downtown.

The move suggests California-based Weedmaps is confident the Massachusetts market will be lucrative and gives the company an anchor in the increasingly active Northeastern market.

Massachusetts and Maine will launch their recreational programs next year, while New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont are also serious contenders to pass recreational laws in the next year or two.

Weedmaps will also be close to the state house, where the company plans to be a lobbying force, The Boston Globe reported.

Weedmaps President Chris Beals told the newspaper that his lobbying priorities are making sure testing standards are reasonable and that there will be enough stores in locations that are convenient for customers.

The Boston Chamber officially opposed the legalization referendum that voters passed last November, but President Jim Rooney said – even before the referendum vote – that if it passed, the group would welcome marijuana companies, according to the Globe.

Rooney also told the newspaper that many chamber members may profit from marijuana companies in the state that will need services that include accounting, insurance and legal assistance, to name a few.