Ask your Connecticut state lawmakers to legalize cannabis this year.

Good news! As you may recall, earlier this month the Connecticut Judiciary Committee advanced an amended version of Gov. Lamont’s proposal to legalize cannabis for adults 21 and older in a 22-16 vote. The final language the committee approved was recently released, and it’s a major improvement over SB 888 as introduced.

Please email your state lawmakers and ask them to support legalization.

Here are some key features of the bill, as amended:

• Social equity applicant status is defined as an applicant with 51% ownership or control by one or more persons with an immediate family member with a cannabis-related conviction, a resident of a disproportionately impacted area for five of the last 10 years, or a resident of tribal land. (We understand the provision allowing for applicants to qualify based solely on control — not ownership — will be removed during the process.)
• Awards new licenses only to social equity applicants until January 1, 2024. At least 40% of licenses will be awarded to social equity applicants.
• Allows existing medical businesses to become licensed on September 1, 2021 after paying a hefty conversion fee that is directed to social equity start-up.
• In addition to allowing adults to possess up to 1.5 ounces on their person, it also allows up to five ounces in a locked location in one’s home.
• Decriminalizes possession of up to four ounces and cultivation of up to six plants.
• Creates a free erasure process for cannabis possession and sale convictions of up to four ounces or six mature plants.
• Eliminates law enforcement’s ability to initiate a search on the basis of odor of cannabis or burnt cannabis.
• Establishes a Cannabis Control Commission to establish guidelines for the issuance of licenses.
• Establishes a 13-member Social Equity Council to further develop equity criteria, priority in licensing, and direct cannabis revenue.
• In the first year and two months of legal sales, state cannabis revenue would be directed to the general fund. In year three of legal sales, and every year thereafter, 55 percent of the state excise tax revenue would be directed to the Cannabis Equity and Innovation Fund, 15 percent to prevention and recovery services, and 30 percent to the general fund.
• Creates a cannabis business accelerator program.

You can check out an updated summary of the amended bill here.

Negotiations between the legislature and the governor’s office on the final details will continue over the coming weeks. We are working to ensure legislators send a bill to Gov. Lamont’s desk before the June 9 session deadline. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as the bill makes its way through the legislative process.

In the meantime, please spread the word and write your legislators, urging them to support legislation to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults in the 2021 session.

Read more

Ask your state lawmakers to legalize cannabis this year.

Great news! Earlier today, the Judiciary Committee advanced an amended version of Gov. Lamont’s proposal to legalize cannabis for adults over the age of 21 in a 22-16 vote.

Please email your state lawmakers and ask them to support legalization.

Here are some key features of the bill, as amended:

• Social equity applicant status is defined as an applicant with 51% ownership or control by one or more persons with an immediate family member with a cannabis-related conviction, a resident of a disproportionately impacted area for five of the last 10 years, or a resident of tribal land.
• Awards new licenses only to social equity applicants until January 1, 2024.
• Allows existing medical businesses to become licensed on September 1, 2021, after paying a hefty conversion fee.
• In addition to allowing adults to possess up to one and a half ounces on their person, it also allows up to five ounces in a locked location in one’s home.
• Decriminalizes possession up to four ounces.
• Creates a free erasure process for cannabis possession and sale convictions up to four ounces or six mature plants.
• Eliminates law enforcement’s ability to initiate a search on the basis of odor of cannabis or burnt cannabis.
• Establishes a Cannabis Control Commission to establish guidelines for the issuance of licenses.
• Establishes a 12-member Social Equity Council to further develop equity criteria, priority in licensing, and direct cannabis revenue.
• In first two years, all cannabis revenue would be directed to the general fund. In year three of legal sales and every year thereafter, 55 percent of the revenue would be directed to the Cannabis Equity and Innovation Fund, 15 percent to prevention and recovery services, and 30 percent to the general fund.
• Creates a cannabis business accelerator program.

It’s anticipated that the bill will now head to the Senate for a floor vote. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as the bill makes its way through the legislative process. In the meantime, please spread the word by writing your legislators and urging them to support legislation to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis to adults in the 2021 session.

Read more

Controversial host community agreements have compromised the program’s swift and equitable implementation — tell state legislators it’s time for the Cannabis Control Commission to review and regulate these agreements!

There are now more than 30 cannabis retail stores operating in Massachusetts, and the state recorded over $400 million in sales in 2019. These are the first retail stores serving adults in the northeast, and we know that this is only the beginning of what will become a robust market throughout the region.

Unfortunately, the rollout of the program has been frustrating for many Bay Staters, especially those who are trying to get businesses up and running. In particular, the requirement that applicants sign host community agreements (HCAs) with municipalities has created significant problems, especially for smaller businesses. HCAs detail benefits cannabis businesses must provide to a locality, such as fees and “voluntary” donations. They are typically negotiated between individual business applicants and the locality, rather than localities having generally applicable terms.

Massachusetts law already caps the amount of financial benefits HCAs may require, but the Cannabis Control Commission has not reviewed HCAs to ensure compliance. There have been many reports of HCAs exceeding the limits of the law. Fortunately, the legislature’s Cannabis Policy Committee has advanced a bill, S 1126/H 3536, that would clarify the rules for HCAs and give the Cannabis Control Commission express authority to regulate them.

Please contact your state legislators and urge them to support this urgently needed reform!

Then, please share this message with your family and friends.

Read more

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission has begun its public policy discussion for the retail marijuana regulations to implement Question 4. While we will address a few items during the upcoming public hearings, the first few days have generally shown encouraging results! The commission has looked at a variety of issues around marijuana business licensing and has made a few key determinations already:

• Businesses that derive more than 50% of revenue from marijuana may apply for a social consumption license, which would allow on-site consumption of marijuana. Other businesses that derive less than 50% of their revenue from cannabis sales may apply for a mixed-use license and may only sell marijuana in conjunction with another service, such as a restaurant, spa, movie theater, or yoga studio.

• The regulations will give priority review to business license applicants who have lived in areas disproportionately impacted by marijuana prohibition and who hire employees that live in areas of disproportionate impact. This change will help the communities that have been most affected by the racial disparity in enforcement of marijuana prohibition.

• Applicants will receive priority for hiring people with prior drug convictions.

These decisions show the Cannabis Control Commission’s willingness to address the problems created by marijuana prohibition and the racial disparity in its enforcement, and we applaud their willingness to craft a fair and effective regulatory scheme. The commission will continue looking at draft regulations through next week, at which point the rules will be open for public comment. The final regulations are slated for March of next year.

Read more

In Massachusetts, the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy just approved a "repeal and replace" bill that bears very little resemblance to the legalization law passed by 1.8 million voters in November.

The bill would undermine efforts to replace the unregulated market with a system of licensed businesses. It would take away the right of voters to decide on local marijuana policy, and it could impose a tax rate on marijuana that exceeds 50%. It authorizes the sharing of information with the FBI on cannabis commerce, including employees and medical patients. It also makes the Cannabis Control Commission — the entity that will regulate marijuana businesses — less unaccountable.

If you are a Massachusetts resident, please call your state representative and tell them not to vote for this bill when it is presented for a vote in the House on Thursday. We must not allow politicians to repeal and replace the will of the people, especially when their proposed changes are so flawed and misguided.

Read more

On Friday, we received a clear indication of what to expect from the Massachusetts Legislature in the next few months. Politicians introduced a number of bills that would adversely impact the implementation of Question 4 and restrict the new law’s home cultivation and personal possession limits.

Legislators have filed bills that would push back sales of edibles by two years, reduce home grow and personal possession limits, give local officials the power to block marijuana establishments, unnecessarily restructure the Cannabis Control Commission, and increase the legal age limit to 25.

These are clear attempts to reverse the will of the 1.8 million voters who approved Question 4.

If you are a Massachusetts resident, please contact your lawmakers and tell them that you oppose any attempts to significantly alter Question 4, including those listed above.

Read more