MA Town Nixes Dispensary, Forgoing Big Revenue Stream

A Massachusetts town has rejected a deal with a medical cannabis dispensary, in essence turning down hundreds of thousands of dollars in future revenue under the proposed terms.

The move by the city council leaves the town of Springfield without a dispensary, MassLive.com reported, and arguably leaves intact a “pay to play” culture in Massachusetts’ medical marijuana industry.

Hampden Care Facility Inc. had agreed to pay $50,000 a year to the town’s police department, plus a percentage of its gross revenue. But the city council didn’t like that the dispensary wanted five years of exclusivity in the municipality in return.

That means that to date only around a half dozen dispensaries remain open in the entire state, despite there being nearly 29,000 registered patients, and an unlimited number of dispensaries allowed by law.

Meanwhile, other Massachusetts towns are extracting tens if not hundreds of thousands in revenue from dispensaries in exchange for the ability to legally sell cannabis to MMJ patients.