Massachusetts will delay rollout of marijuana delivery, on-site consumption

Cannabis regulators in Massachusetts have agreed to allow recreational marijuana shops to open in July, as scheduled, but they also decided to defer licensing MJ delivery and on-site consumption businesses.

According to The Boston Globe, diversity proponents see the delay as a setback because delivery and on-site consumption businesses generally cost less to run and don’t require investor backing, which means such opportunities are more accessible to minorities who often don’t have the same capital or access to investors as do white entrepreneurs.

Hoping to offset that potential problem, the state’s five-member Cannabis Control Commission voted to have regulations for delivery and on-site businesses ready within a year, the newspaper reported.

The regulators also voted to give priority in awarding delivery and on-site consumption business licenses to people:

• Convicted of drug offenses.
• Related to individuals with drug convictions.
• Who live in neighborhoods with high rates of drug arrests.

According to the Globe, once licenses are issued, the commission’s proposal would permit deliveries by two other types of companies – “craft” cooperatives of cannabis cultivators and “microbusinesses” that specialize in small quantities of marijuana and edibles.

But larger growers, retailers and infused product manufacturers would not be allowed to offer delivery services for potentially up to five years, the Globe said.

Those companies could, however, collaborate with a delivery service or on-site consumption business whose license holder meets the diversity criteria.