Rhode Island legalized recreational marijuana in 2022 with a plan to license 24 new retail stores, but four years later, not one has opened.
Kim Ahern, the Cannabis Control Commission’s first chair and now a candidate for state attorney general, oversaw a licensing process that left dozens of prospective operators in limbo, according to The Boston Globe.
Why is adult-use cannabis licensing stalled?
Ahern said upon her June 2023 confirmation that stores would open in 2024. However, she resigned in October to launch her run for attorney general before any new licenses were issued, the Globe reported.
The slow rollout has drawn criticism from would-be business owners and state lawmakers, with even a federal judge weighing in on the delays, according to the Globe.
For entrepreneurs who invested time and capital expecting a functioning adult-use market, the holdup has meant years of waiting with no clear path to a license.
Ahern has defended her record, saying her priorities as commission chair were “safety, equity and transparency,” not speed.
“I viewed that role as a firewall to prevent special interests, lobbyists, know-a-guy corruption,” Ahern told the Globe.
She framed the deliberate pace as a safeguard during a period when everyone wanted a piece of the state’s new legal market.
Why are adult-use cannabis products still selling?
While the licensing process remains stalled, Rhode Island’s existing medical marijuana dispensaries are permitted to sell to adult-use customers.
That workaround has kept legal product on shelves and given established operators an extended head start, but it hasn’t delivered the broader retail expansion the 2022 law promised.
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The gap between legalization and retail buildout is a familiar pattern for cannabis operators watching new markets come online.
Regulatory bottlenecks, licensing disputes and litigation have slowed store openings in several states, complicating expansion plans for multistate operators and independent entrepreneurs alike.
