A member of Massachusetts’ marijuana regulatory agency predicted that social consumption businesses are “years” away from happening in the Bay State, even though a voter-approved ballot initiative legalizing recreational MJ in 2016 gave regulators the authority to license such venues.
“I would say it’s a matter of years,” Shaleen Title, one of five commissioners on the state’s Cannabis Control Commission (CCC), said during a meeting Tuesday, according to Boston.com.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Under state law, social consumption venues are banned at the local level unless a municipality opts in by holding a referendum.
- To hold such a referendum, supporters much launch a petition drive. However, Massachusetts doesn’t have a state law that governs such petitions, and so cities and towns have no legal way to hold a referendum, according to The Boston Globe.
- To address the issue, Title urged the CCC to establish a working group composed of local government officials who support social consumption businesses, Boston.com reported.