Lawmakers stressed the urgency of dealing with the issue of intoxicating hemp-based products but said that they’re unlikely to do anything before the next legislative session begins next year.
Marijuana
Posted inMarijuana
Vineyard and Nantucket pot shops on the ropes
Marijuana outlets on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket say they are facing an untenable fiscal squeeze because of a ban on transporting cannabis through federal waters.
Posted inMarijuana
State agencies clear up confusion about hemp-based seltzers and gummies
The notice from the Department of Public Health and the Department of Agricultural Resources made explicit that the “addition of CBD and/or THC to food manufactured or sold in Massachusetts is illegal.”
Posted inMarijuana
More turmoil at the Cannabis Control Commission
Commissioner Roy alleges actions by fellow commissioner members caused upheaval and discord
Posted inState Government
Cannabis regulator calls intoxicating hemp products a ‘public menace’
“I’ve heard from many of our licensees that [unregulated hemp is] impacting them greatly. It’s a phenomenon known as gas station weed,” said Roy. “These are hemp products that are unregulated, that aren’t tested, that our children can buy. It keeps me up at night, the concerns around this gas station weed.”
Posted inMarijuana
What does potential fed shift on cannabis mean for states like Mass.?
While proponents of social equity in the marijuana industry are cheering the sentiment, they say these more lenient federal gestures, which are silent on established state cannabis regulations, could create confusion.
Posted inMarijuana
Cannabis Control Commission drags its feet on two-driver rule
“The two-driver rule is a hurdle and a handcuff that companies like mine are facing,” said Gyasi Sellers, the owner of cannabis delivery company Treevit. “There are a lot of companies like mine that are running out of time. Some have gone under already and that rule is one of the primary causes of that.”
Posted inMarijuana
Social equity marijuana businesses sold ‘bag of dreams’
The entire cannabis industry is struggling as pot prices have plummeted and operators deal with the unique challenges of working with a substance that is illegal under federal law. But those who got into the industry based on state promises of social equity seem to be in particularly dire straits.
Posted inTransportation
Political notebook: Tibbits-Nutt silence | cannabis chief resurfaces | Southie rep race
The former head of the Mass. Taxpayers Foundation told the MBTA board of directors on Thursday that a political coalition is needed to tackle the T’s problems, but the natural leader of such an effort, Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt, who stirred controversy with recent comments about ways to raise revenue, was conspicuously silent during the meeting.
Posted inBy The Numbers
Mass. residents don’t support hemp THC loopholes
Those who say they have used or purchased marijuana are slightly more likely to support the sale of the hemp-based products outside of the dispensary system, but more say they still want it to be limited to dispensaries. A substantial majority – 65 percent of respondents – said that legalizing marijuana broadly was the right thing to do in the state.
Posted inMarijuana
After long delay, cannabis social equity fund starts up
The Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund was signed into law in 2022 to steer a portion of marijuana tax revenues to “entrepreneurs from communities that have been disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement.” The fund sat empty for many months, largely because of the way the law was drafted.
Posted inOpinion
About those beverages with THC from hemp
Hemp and marijuana are both the same cannabis plant, but with the key distinction that hemp is federally legal and marijuana is not.
Posted inMarijuana
Healey makes history with marijuana mega-pardon
Healey said her move makes Massachusetts “the first state to take action” since President Joseph Biden in 2022 asked the nation’s governors to follow his lead on pardoning simple cannabis possession convictions.
Posted inDrugs
THC-infused hemp products getting Beacon Hill’s attention
The products are technically illegal in Massachusetts, but neither the Agricultural Department, which regulates hemp, nor the Department of Public Health, which regulates food products, has stepped up with any enforcement. The agencies have left that job to under-resourced local boards of health which have taken no action.
Posted inCourts
O’Brien’s lawyer says he’s ‘unaware’ of probe behind subpoena report
A lawyer for suspended cannabis regulator Shannon O’Brien said he’s not aware of any federal investigation into his client and has not the subpoena that the Boston Globe reported was sent to state officials last fall.
Posted inMarijuana
Lawyer for Goldberg says O’Brien appeal delayed sharing results of new investigation
There’s been a delay in handing the results of second probe of her conduct to suspended cannabis commission chair Shannon O’Brien because of a new appeal O’Brien filed.
Posted inMarijuana
Hemp-based THC products are showing up all over
The reason hemp is treated differently is because the 2018 federal Farm Act removed hemp from the definition of marijuana, which is considered a controlled substance under federal law.
Posted inMarijuana
Judge sides with Goldberg in dispute with O’Brien
A state judge sided with Treasurer Deborah Goldberg in her dispute with Shannon O’Brien, ruling that the suspended cannabis commission chair is not entitled to the public, name-clearing hearing she has been seeking.
Posted inOpinion
Creating opportunities for those most impacted by the war on drugs
A legislative update enacted last year may provide the greatest opportunity for individuals directly impacted by the war on drugs.
Posted inMarijuana
Judge puts off Goldberg-O’Brien meeting
A state judge sided with Shannon O’Brien on Tuesday, ruling that the suspended chair of the Cannabis Control Commission shouldn’t be required to meet with Treasurer Deborah Goldberg until all of the investigations into O’Brien are completed and the investigators are available for questioning.
Posted inMarijuana
O’Brien attorney calls charges against her laughable
“You will see there are only five specific charges against her and if you look at what she’s charged with and look at what really happened, you’ll find that these are laughable,” Shannon O’Brien’s lawyer, Max Stern, told reporters.
Posted inMarijuana
Tree House incentivizing recycling of cannabis plastic containers
One of the state’s cannabis retailers is encouraging customers to recycle the plastic that encases certain cannabis products by offering them a $4 pre-rolled joint for every piece of packaging they return.
Posted inMarijuana
Collins stepping down as cannabis commission executive director
Two months after pushing back on a claim he would be leaving by the end of the year, Shawn Collins is resigning as executive director of the Cannabis Control Commission, the latest move to rock the troubled state agency, whose chair was suspended in September.
Posted inMarijuana
Who’s in charge at the Cannabis Control Commission?
With its chair indefinitely suspended, the four remaining members of the Cannabis Control Commission are having a hard time deciding who’s their leader. They can’t even agree whether they are in a pickle or a conundrum.
