Political pressure on the state Cannabis Control Commission intensified Thursday, as Attorney General Maura Healey and 78 state legislators joined Governor Charlie Baker in pressing the independent agency to roll out a more limited recreational marijuana industry this summer. In letters sent at the close of a public comment period on the commission's draft rules for pot companies, Healey and the lawmakers urged cannabis regulators to delay their provisional plans to license marijuana cafes, delivery services that don't also operate a physical storefront, and "mixed-use" businesses such as art galleries and theaters that want to sell cannabis on the side. [continues 450 words]
Drug treatment can't help dead people. That's why San Francisco is scheduled to open two safe injection sites later this year, where drug users will be allowed to shoot up under medical supervision. If an addict overdoses, trained staff will be available to revive them with an overdose antidote like naloxone, commonly known as Narcan. Staffers can also recommend treatment options to those interested. In an effort to stem fatal overdoses, safe injection sites are now under discussion in such cities as Philadelphia, Seattle, and Ithaca, N.Y. [continues 494 words]
The Baker administration chastised Massachusetts pot regulators this week, saying their draft plan to create one of the world's most permissive regulated marijuana markets goes too far, too fast. The Baker administration chastised Massachusetts pot regulators this week, saying their draft plan to create one of the world's most permissive regulated marijuana markets goes too far, too fast. In a letter to the Cannabis Control Commission dated Monday , the governor's office warned the independent agency that it had reached beyond the core mandate of the state's marijuana legalization law by proposing the licensure of businesses not seen in other states' recreational markets: sit-and-get-high cafes, pot delivery services not tied to dispensaries, and even movie theaters that want to offer patrons cannabis-laced snacks. [continues 921 words]
WORCESTER - There are board games, an X-Box and snacks for sale. Members of The Summit Lounge social club are allowed to bring in food from nearby restaurants. But that's not all they can bring in. The Summit Lounge opened Friday as the city's first private club for those who want a social setting in which to smoke a joint. But Mr. Moon, 27, of Northbridge, said the goal of the business is not just to provide people with a place to get high. [continues 470 words]
Governor Charlie Baker plans to meet with US Attorney Andrew Lelling next month, and the governor thinks state and federal law enforcement priorities could converge on cracking down on the illicit marijuana market. At the state level, where marijuana has been legalized for medical and other uses, stamping out the black market trade could bolster the regulated sale of the intoxicant, the governor said. "Once we have a regulated legal market here we should want to prosecute and go after people who continue to engage in this product illegally. If you talk to the folks in Colorado, they'll tell you that one of their big problems is they still have an enormous black market, and some of that black market's being supported by some of the legal market, and I think one of the things we should make sure is that the legal market is the market," Baker told co-hosts Jim Braude and Margery Eagan during his regular "Ask the Governor" segment on WGBH radio. [continues 360 words]
NORTH ANDOVER - Dr. Jeff Goldstein is hunting for "a billion-dollar molecule." But to find it, he first needs permission from residents here to grow marijuana - actually, a stupendous amount of marijuana. That's why, on Sunday afternoon, he was pacing anxiously behind a small folding table in the lobby of Osgood Landing, the massive former Lucent Technologies plant he bought with his wife in 2003 and now hopes to convert into one of the world's largest indoor marijuana growing and research centers. [continues 1246 words]
Dajia Brown cares for Brooklyn at their Somerville home. She credits a Boston Medical Center program for her progress. Last June, Dajia Brown embarked on a dangerous phase of life - so dangerous that many in her situation do not survive. It started when she gave birth to her daughter, Brooklyn, several months after entering treatment for addiction to fentanyl pills. The postpartum period, a tough time for many women, can be particularly challenging for women with opioid use disorder, putting them at high risk of relapse and overdose. [continues 982 words]
A public hearing on Whitman's proposed ban of recreational marijuana sales will be held before the Planning Board on Feb. 12. To take effect, the ban requires approval at a special town election, which has been set for March 17, and approval at a special Town Meeting. A date for the Town Meeting has not yet been set, according to Town Administrator Frank Lynam. The town voted in favor of the 2016 statewide ballot question legalizing recreational marijuana, but Lynam said these votes test the will of residents on whether they want non-medical retail sales within the town. "This is the community's opportunity to say yes or no here," he said. [end]
The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission is plowing ahead with its preparations for the debut of recreational pot sales in July, despite a recent change in federal law enforcement policy that has put a cloud of uncertainty over the marijuana industry. The commission has voted to negotiate a contract with Franwell Inc., a Florida-based software firm whose "Metrc" product tracks all the marijuana sold legally in Colorado and most other states with recreational markets. The system, for which about $750,000 has been budgeted, is a vital piece of regulatory infrastructure meant to prevent marijuana that's grown, processed, and sold in state-licensed facilities from being diverted to the illicit market. [continues 191 words]
Police in Hingham are investigating after a student at the South Shore Educational Collaborative School allegedly supplied classmates with cookies that were laced with marijuana, officials said Monday. According to a public notice posted to the department's website, police were called to the school Thursday, after the student, who wasn't named in the report, had distributed the cookies to at least five other people. Police said the students who ate the cookies, who were between the ages of 16 and 17, were "evaluated by a school nurse who believed the students were under the influence of marijuana." [continues 262 words]
IN WASHINGTON, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has reversed Obama administration policies and freed US attorneys to prosecute the marijuana business, even where it's legal. In Boston, US Attorney Andrew Lelling has given no assurances that he won't. Meanwhile, in a nondescript Natick strip mall, in a physician's office above a pizza joint and dance school, and down the hall from the Ebenezer Assembly of God ministry, Dr. Uma Dhanabalan helps patients use marijuana to wean themselves from an actual drug menace. That would be opioids, legally prescribed, government approved, a drug that's made billions for the politically wired pharmaceutical industry and now kills nearly 100 Americans every day. [continues 553 words]
SPRINGFIELD - Two Central Massachusetts men were charged in federal court in Springfield Friday with commercial growing of marijuana. Federal agents learned of their operation when one of them was featured in a magazine article talking about his business. Mr. Vallee was featured in an article in High Times published in February. In the article, Eric Vallee, 38, of Auburn, spoke of regularly harvesting 10 pounds of marijuana per month. Based on that number, federal agents determined that he was harvesting a substantial amount of marijuana per year. The article also noted he worked with Peter Molle, 35, of Holland. [continues 142 words]
Beantown Greentown is trying to build a 100-foot-long joint this weekend at a marijuana expo event in Worcester. This is a practice run. Keith Laham and his friends have been practicing for the past few months. They have gathered in his cellar, in other people's cellars - you name it, the 42-year-old West Roxbury native said. But this weekend will mark the true attempt, and Laham, cofounder of Beantown Greentown, a medical marijuana advocacy group, lifestyle brand, and cannabis club, has high ambitions for it. [continues 627 words]
WORCESTER - Thousands of people gathered at a convention hall Saturday for the first-ever Harvest Cup, a friendly if spirited competition among home-growers of marijuana that doubled as a convention for the burgeoning cannabis industry and its consumers. The event, taking place this weekend at the DCU Center, came the same week that marijuana regulators began drafting rules for the scheduled July start of recreational sales in Massachusetts. Many participants Saturday were overheard debating various policies and what they will mean for the small-scale cultivators at the heart of the Harvest Cup once millions of dollars of investment funds pour into the state. [continues 683 words]
Last March, I wrote Congressman Seth Moulton asking him to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 975, the "Respect State Marijuana Laws Act." He responded that, "The federal government ought to respect the will of the voters in states like Massachusetts, Colorado and Washington that have approved marijuana legalization." Yet, instead of signing on as a co-sponsor, he chooses to leave federal enforcement up to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Mr. Sessions understands the proper roles of Congress and his office. He stated at his confirmation hearing, "I think one obvious concern is that the United States Congress made the possession of marijuana in every state and the distribution of it an illegal act. If that's something that's not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change the rule. It is not the attorney general's job to decide what laws to enforce. We should do our job and enforce laws effectively as we are able." By "able," he is referring to budgetary constraints of attempting to enforce federal prohibition of a plant that grows in every state. Mr. Moulton, leaders lead. Get off the fence and sponsor the legislation. Steven S. Epstein West Street Georgetown [end]
Pot sales are expected to begin around July 1 in Massachusetts. The Cannabis Control Commission is pushing to write a first draft of new rules permitting the legal sale of marijuana in Massachusetts by the end of the year, setting up a frenetic month that will shape the recreational pot industry. The commission announced Tuesday that it plans to file initial regulations by Dec. 29. Among numerous details, they will spell out the criteria for winning dispensary licenses, rules for marijuana consumption bars, and a plan for ensuring diversity in the industry. [continues 379 words]
BOSTON - Genuine debate on marijuana policy and how the legal pot industry should look in Massachusetts is likely coming from the Cannabis Control Commission during the middle two weeks of December, which are shaping up to be the CCC's busiest yet as the agency tries to file the first draft of its regulations by Dec. 29. The CCC has tentatively penciled in public meetings for policy discussion and debate on the draft regulations each day of the week of Dec. 11, chairman Steven Hoffman said Tuesday. The following week will begin with three days of private stakeholder meetings and then at least one public meeting for the CCC to vote on acceptance of the draft regulations. [continues 834 words]
To the editor: Last March, I wrote Congressman Seth Moulton asking him to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 975, the "Respect State Marijuana Laws Act." He responded that, "The federal government ought to respect the will of the voters in states like Massachusetts, Colorado and Washington that have approved marijuana legalization." Yet, instead of signing on as a co-sponsor, he chooses to leave federal enforcement up to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Mr. Sessions understands the proper roles of Congress and his office. He stated at his confirmation hearing, "I think one obvious concern is that the United States Congress made the possession of marijuana in every state and the distribution of it an illegal act. If that's something that's not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change the rule. It is not the attorney general's job to decide what laws to enforce. We should do our job and enforce laws effectively as we are able." By "able" he is referring to budgetary constraints of attempting to enforce federal prohibition of a plant that grows in every state. Mr. Moulton, leaders lead. Get off the fence and sponsor the legislation. Steven S. Epstein West Street Georgetown [end]
Help wanted: Pot inspector. The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources posted a listing on the state's career site Friday for an agricultural inspector who will specialize in a new crop in Massachusetts: cannabis. "This Inspector position will enforce the laws and regulations involving hemp and overlapping laws and regulations that impact the cultivation of marijuana," the listing says. Other duties of the job include providing "education and outreach to stakeholders relative to the enforcement of pertinent laws and regulations," and reporting and summarizing inspections, the listing says. [continues 219 words]
Organizers of the Cannabis World Congress & Business Exposition say they expect more than 2,000 people at the event Thursday and Friday at the John B. Hynes Convention Center in Boston. It's the first time this particular exposition has come to town. The organizers also held events this year in New York and Los Angeles. "We are planting our flag here," said Dan Humiston, an organizer of the show. "We anticipate the New England area is going to be the next big market for the industry. All the tea leaves say this part of the country will take off." [continues 470 words]
Inside Massachusetts
