Smoke clears, pot cafes approved in Massachusetts

That pungent smell of weed will soon be wafting from pot cafes The Cannabis Control Commission unanimously approved regulations governing sites where people could consume marijuana products in social settings but it may take a while for sites to be established The rules outline how marijuana can be legally consumed at events and social settings authorizing businesses with licenses to let customers use their products on site whether it s at lounges dispensaries or yoga studios Currently we honored the will of the Massachusetts voters and they voted for this in Here we are almost in and we got it across the finish line commissioner Kimberly Roy revealed during a press conference after the vote In the current era is another milestone in the Massachusetts cannabis industry Commission Chair Shannon O Brien agreed The fundamental thing is this is the will of the voters O Brien explained Certain people may have certain concerns because this is a little bit of a brave new world We don t really know We know what our local pub looks like but we don t really understand what this looks like Commissioners estimate that businesses can begin serving cannabis on-site in up to months That is based on the rollout of cannabis delivery licenses when it took six months until a licensee filed an application Once the applications were received it took additional months before the licensees began operating Commission staff expect the regulations will be filed with the Secretary of State by Dec and promulgated on Jan Municipalities must opt in to allowing social consumption businesses and develop their own standards of practice Roy commented several communities have expressed interest in allowing social consumption including Cambridge Chelsea Fitchburg Somerville Haverhill Holyoke Provincetown and Worcester Commission Chair Shannon O Brien mentioned the commission would also continue work with municipalities over the next six months to gauge which ones would opt in I m hoping that specific of these things can go more fleetly O Brien commented But there is a lot of work to do with the municipalities to make sure that they are ready because there s going to be a lot of regulatory framework that is going to be controlled by municipalities a lot of applications that s going to be managed by them Commissioners are also part of several working groups including one for local advisory to help city and town leaders with the regulations masses awareness and a group focused on responsible vendor training Three different types of social consumption licenses are available under the regulations One is a supplemental license for existing marijuana businesses to offer customers to consume products they have purchased on-site a hospitality license category would allow for on-site consumption at new or existing non-cannabis businesses like yoga studios or theaters and an event organizer license category would allow for temporary on-site consumption at events like rallies and festivals O Brien noted the regulations have been changed from the draft published in late July to get rid of unnecessary regulatory burdens allow retailers to bring in more revenue and help businesses to take care of consumers if they are over-served For example O Brien revealed the approved regulations allow retailers to sell shelf-stable snacks which offers a new form of revenue Also retailers can offer what s called THC inhibitors which can help reduce signs and reactions for those who feel like they ve consumed too much marijuana The regulations require licensees to offer customers food and ban alcohol sales within the same area so there is no co-mingling of substances Alcohol can be sold under the same roof as cannabis but they must be sold in different areas Roy declared Roy noted there are several provisions aimed at ensuring safe cannabis consumption These include training budtenders or those serving cannabis on site to recognize signs of impairment Also the sale of cannabis products must end minutes before a business closes and licensees must have approved transportation plans to help customers who may be too impaired to drive home Licensees also have to get a society safety plan approved by both the commission and local leaders Commissioner Bruce Stebbins revealed that during listening sessions on the proposed regulations there was a chorus from population healthcare and safety stakeholders to train those working at consumption sites Specifically they requested training for recognizing impaired customers how to help those who might have an adverse reaction to cannabis and checking customer identifications Stebbins stated social consumption will offer economic opportunities for the state I m excited obviously the opportunity to create more jobs obviously the opportunity for more revenue for cities and towns and the Commonwealth the opportunity for maybe more consumers to venture into the marketplace and try out different products he noted And I also look at a tremendous opportunity for the tourism and hospitality locality We have folks that flock to Boston and Massachusetts as a tourist chosen come from countries or states that don t allow cannabis use Social consumption sites were envisioned under the marijuana voter law Commissioners previously planned to vote on the regulations in September That timeline was pushed back to November and then to Christmas In September O Brien s return to the CCC pushed back the finalization of the long-awaited rules Then in November the vote was pushed again so commissioner Carrie Benedon who was appointed in November could have time to catch up on the proposed regulations Massachusetts is the first state in New England to allow social consumption of cannabis and joins states like Alaska California Colorado Illinois Maryland Michigan Nevada New Jersey New Mexico and New York