Law firm analysis: 79% of MA marijuana business contracts with municipalities illegal

In review performed by the Boston law firm Gersten Saltman, nearly four out of five of the so-called “host community agreements” between local governments and cannabis firms in Massachusetts are illegal, The Boston Globe reported.

The cannabis-centric law firm’s analysis of 77 of the contracts found that 79% either required businesses to make payments to municipalities that exceeded a state law’s cap on their value or covered a time period longer than allowed under law – or both.

Such activity showed a pattern that Gersten Saltman suggested hurts small businesses.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission has said it doesn’t have the authority to review the contracts, but the agency voted this month to ask state legislators to give it that authority.

More details can be found here.