THE BONG, ER, GONG, sounded early Wednesday morning for the nationwide sale of marijuana in Canada, only the second country in the world to legalize the drug and the first […]
Legal marijuana
Posted inThe Download
Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em – at home
In the language of the emerging marijuana industry, where cannabis is the preferred term, they are called social consumption sites. Years ago, we would have called them pot bars. The cafes […]
Posted inUncategorized
Final approval given to two retail pot stores
THE STATE BOARD overseeing the nascent marijuana industry gave final approval to the first licenses for retail stores Thursday with some conditions. But the vote, one of the most momentous […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Slow pot rollout costing state tax revenue
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SAYING MASSACHUSETTS HAS missed out on $16 million in marijuana taxes, officials behind the 2016 legal marijuana ballot question on Monday pointed to staffing levels and […]
Posted inOpinion
E-cigs pose big danger to teens
NOW THAT MARIJUANA can be sold legally in Massachusetts, we want to remind you of an age-old problem: smoking in the boys’ room. Indeed it is a problem in the […]
Posted inUncategorized
AG: Towns can’t ban medical pot
IN A STARTLING TURNAROUND, Attorney General Maura Healey has reversed her office’s decision that allowed communities to ban medical marijuana dispensaries after opening the door earlier this summer for cities […]
Posted inUncategorized
Pot notes: Everything but the labs
THE STATE CANNABIS Control Commission approved seven more provisional licenses for recreational marijuana, bringing the total to 19 retail stores, cultivation facilities, and manufacturers. But the commission still has not […]
Posted inPolitics
Another twist for legal pot
THE STATE’S MARIJUANA oversight board wants to put a halt to communities demanding payments from legal pot businesses in excess of what’s allowed by law but the panel’s decision could […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Don’t drive stoned, state ad urges
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE STATE PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICIALS on Wednesday launched a public awareness campaign to urge drivers to find alternate transportation if they have been drinking or using marijuana. […]
Posted inEconomy
State’s first pot store to open in Leicester
THE STATE’S CANNABIS Control Commission on Monday awarded its first license for a retail recreational pot store to a medical marijuana facility in Leicester, where sales will probably start sometime […]
Posted inUncategorized
The marijuana blame game
July 1 has come and gone and no one legally bought marijuana in Massachusetts. Plenty of people bought illegal marijuana and legally smoked it, sort of a “don’t ask/don’t tell” situation. But […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: The marijuana blame game
July 1 has come and gone and no one legally bought marijuana in Massachusetts. Plenty of people bought illegal marijuana and legally smoked it, sort of a “don’t ask/don’t tell” situation. But […]
Posted inUncategorized
Massachusetts issues first marijuana license
THE CANNABIS CONTROL COMMISSION marked a historic milestone Thursday with the approval of the first license for recreational pot in the state – the first ever granted east of the […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics
Pot board red-faced over green light
THE STATE BOARD overseeing the nascent pot industry in Massachusetts had been running smoothly in its first months of operation. But as the most critical aspect of its mission began […]
Posted inOpinion
Too many municipal marijuana bottlenecks
APPLICATIONS FOR ADULT-USE MARIJUANA licenses have begun to pour into the state’s newly created Cannabis Control Commission with likely several hundred applications expected in 2018 alone. The commission has quickly […]
Posted inEconomy
Pot board high on Worcester
THE STATE BOARD regulating the legal marijuana industry will set up permanent shop in Worcester as its headquarters with a satellite office in Boston. The five-member Cannabis Control Commission on […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em
To listen to the state’s newest regulatory commission in its meetings, the tenor and terms, for the most part, are no different than hearings regarding oversight of most industries in […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Pot board mandates medical set-aside
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOPING TO ASSUAGE fears that medical marijuana patients could find their medicine in short supply when dispensaries begin selling to the newly-legal retail market, state pot […]
Posted inUncategorized
Pot board retreats on sweeping regs
THE COMMISSION OVERSEEING the nascent pot industry bowed to pressure from top elected leaders and put off approving home delivery and so-called “social consumption” cafes but voted to give minorities […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service
Pot chair says no pressure on regs
THE CHAIRMAN OF the state board charged with regulating legal pot said he and his colleagues are feeling no added pressure in light of comments from top elected officials calling […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, State House News Service
Lelling doesn’t budge on pot stance
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE OPIOID CRIMES ARE HIS TOP drug enforcement priority, but US Attorney Andrew Lelling told reporters Wednesday that his enforcement of federal marijuana laws could ensnare anyone […]
Posted inEconomy
Debit card payer pulls plug on pot dispensaries
THE HARDLINE STANCE from the top federal prosecutor in the state about pot enforcement has caused a company that processes debit transactions for medical marijuana dispensaries to stop accepting the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Top pols move cautiously on marijuana
STATE LEADERS, most of whom opposed the legalization of marijuana, appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to US Attorney Andrew Lelling’s announcement that pot cultivation, distribution, and possession are […]
Posted inPolitics
Pot and the minority community
Photographs by Michael Manning THE PRESIDENT OF THE LAWRENCE CITY COUNCIL had already issued a stern warning against booing. City resident Steven Gil was at the podium, struggling mightily to […]