On Friday, the second Massachusetts Marijuana Summit will bring together panels of legal, political and business experts to discuss the ins and outs of the cannabis industry as recreational marijuana legalization nears.
The panels at the summit will update industry stakeholders and the general public about current regulations, potential federal threats to the industry and financial obstacles for cannabis business owners.
Jim Borghesani, the Massachusetts spokesperson for the Marijuana Policy Project, said this summit is coming at the precipice of an important deadline to the recreational marijuana industry. The Cannabis Control Commission, a government agency that oversees marijuana rollout in the state, has until March 15 to finalize regulations for the sale of recreational cannabis.
“These regulations, such as establishing qualifications for licenses to produce and sell, are setting up the framework for the marijuana industry,” Borghesani said.
Borghesani, who will be the moderator of a forum on implementation and obstacles, said the summit will address updates about regulations in their current form and what stakeholders can expect after July 1, the target date for marijuana sales to begin.
James Smith, a partner at Smith, Costello, and Crawford and one of the panelists for the forum, said all dispensaries currently in Massachusetts are for medical use. Opening dispensaries for recreational use requires communities to set up proper zoning laws across the state, he said.
“My biggest concern is getting these dispensaries open,” Smith said in an interview. “There are 351 zoning authorities, and most of them have done absolutely nothing.”
However, Smith said only a few local areas have actually set up the proper zoning regulations for these types of dispensaries.
“There are just no initiatives or incentives in the local communities,” Smith said.
Borghesani said local governments can determine where the dispensaries will be located and set up construction applications. He said towns should take steps to set up zoning for opening up dispensaries will benefit them and the state as a whole.
“[Opening dispensaries] will be a positive for everybody,” Borghesani said. “It would displace criminals, create more jobs, generate new revenue for the town and collect taxes to help the state economy.”
Recent developments on the federal level may be an obstacle to the marijuana industry in Massachusetts, Borghesani said. U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling said in a statement that if prompted, he would be willing to prosecute cannabis businesses that are legally operating in the state.
For potential cannabis business owners, Aaron Bluse said the marijuana industry is a very “capital intensive market.” As CEO and director of Altitude Organics, Bluse will speak to the business side of the marijuana industry at the summit.
Bluse, another panelist in the forum, said his expertise will give the potential business owners in the Commonwealth some perspective on how to safely and successfully sell medical and recreational cannabis. However, he also said Massachusetts has its unique challenges.
“[Cannabis] has to be produced state-by-state, and in Massachusetts, there’s a much higher barrier to entry,” he said. “There’s several check-gates. We’ve gone through two different zoning and planning hearings, two different town hall meetings, getting background checks, etc.”
The Department of Public Health for Massachusetts thoroughly reviews dispensaries’ proposals, Bluse said.
“[The] DPH holds a pre-construction meeting where they look at the design of our facility from security down,” he said. After this meeting, businesses are granted a provisional certificate of registration, which allows for construction of the facility to begin.
The CCC will likely adopt a similar approval process for aspiring recreational marijuana companies, Bluse said. Until the release of the official recreational marijuana regulations, he said he is looking forward to the expansion of the industry in Massachusetts.
“It’s a tipping point right now for the Commonwealth,” he said. “This is one of the emerging markets in the nation, and especially on the eastern seaboard, and we just want to try to be a part of that and help do it right.”
A second forum will highlight possible financial issues entrepreneurs could face when entering the industry for the first time, including how to juggle the new regulations with getting personnel.
Borghesani said the recreational marijuana industry has the potential to generate $200 million of tax revenue from the state by putting marijuana sales into the hands of legal businesses controlled by government regulations.
