Rec and MMJ infighting continues in Massachusetts

A battle in Massachusetts between recreational marijuana supporters and some of their medical marijuana counterparts is getting increasingly heated, and could have ramifications for rec legalization in the state.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol announced its intention to protest the opening of the Commonwealth Alternative Care dispensary in Cambridge, because the company head has been organizing opposition to its proposed ballot measure, according to Wicked Local Cambridge.

Commonwealth’s CEO, Dan Delaney, is also the head of Safe Cannabis Massachusetts, a group lobbying against the campaign’s rec initiative, which is expected to be on the ballot this November. Delaney is also a lobbyist for Patriot Care, a subsidiary of Columbia Care, a national juggernaut of dispensaries.

Rec campaign supporters also protested at the opening of Patriot Care’s dispensary in Lowell, Massachusetts last month.

Delaney has said he does not oppose recreational legalization, just the model proposed by the current initiative. But a spokesman for the campaign believes Delaney is opposed to rec legalization for financial reasons.

Delaney said he hasn’t submitted any proposed dispensary locations for Commonwealth to the Department of Public Health, and that an opening date hasn’t been announced.