Marijuana home delivery is coming to Massachusetts after receiving the green light from state regulators on Monday.
The state’s Cannabis Control Commission approved new regulations that will open the door for pot being delivered directly to your door in the commonwealth. The commission created two types of licenses for delivery, according to local television station WCVB: one for “marijuana couriers” who “will be allowed charge a fee to make deliveries from a retailer or dispensary to the customer,” and another for “marijuana delivery operators,” who will be “permitted to buy wholesale products and make deliveries from their own warehouse.”
According to WCVB, the commission passed the new regulations by a vote of 3-1 “in a virtual meeting to approve revised rules for the industry.”
Under the regulations as written, a delivery agreement is defined as “a contract between a licensed Marijuana Establishment and a Delivery License holder or Marijuana Establishment with a Delivery Endorsement to deliver Marijuana or Marijuana Products from the Marijuana Establishment directly to Consumers and as permitted, Marijuana Couriers to Patients and Caregivers, under the provisions of a Delivery License.”
Cannabis Delivery in Massachusetts
Home delivery has been a feature of the state’s medical cannabis program for a while, but not the recreational marijuana market in Massachusetts. But the commission has been circling the idea for some time. Last year, for example, the commission voted to allow recreational pot businesses in the state to apply for delivery licenses. In May, the commission began accepting those applications.
For marijuana advocates and cannabis business owners in the state, home delivery was a longstanding goal. But others have threatened legal action. In a letter to state regulators earlier this month, as reported by local television outlet WBZ, Boston attorney Howard Cooper said that the commission’s adoption of the new rules “would be in direct contravention of its own governing and enabling statute which clearly and unambiguously states that only Marijuana Retailers, as defined in the statute, are permitted to deliver cannabis products to consumers.”
“Given the clarity of the law here, please understand that our clients will have no choice but to challenge the Commission’s Proposed Regulations in court if adopted. We write in hope of avoiding a legal dispute,” Cooper wrote in the letter.
But cannabis activist Aaron Goines saw it differently, saying Monday that the opposition is driven by efforts of certain retailers to hinder competition.
“Essentially, they want to own 100 percent of it or 80 percent or have as much control or influence over it as possible,” said Goines, as quoted by WBZ. “That’s just not how the regulations are written, so get on board. Compete. You are not entitled to a clear runway of no competition in this country, it just doesn’t work like that.”
Voters in Massachusetts passed a measure in 2016 to legalize recreational pot use for adults. As with other states and cities that have done away with pot prohibition, Massachusetts’ law requires individuals to be at least 21 years old if they are using marijuana, while also imposing restrictions on when and where one can use it.
Great. Cannabis Delivery management rolled out in Massachusetts. Helps people to save time.