LOCAL NEWS
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RHODE ISLAND’S
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Photo by Sharon McCutcheon
hode Island is on the verge of passing legalization legislation (stop us if you’ve heard this one before). After months of negotiations, a revised legalization initiative is headed to Judiciary and Finance committees and then (hopefully) to the House and Senate for floor votes in late May. Welcome to the latest installment of Rhode Island’s legalization saga.
This month (just like each installment that came before it) lawmakers in the Ocean State struggle to hash out compromise legislation while invariably characterizing themselves as “close” to legalizing Cannabis. The state has been stuck in neutral on legalization for months. Lawmakers originally considered three separate adult-use proposals – from the House, the Senate and the governor’s office. After attempting to create a compromise bill, the primary sticking point the legislature encountered was whether a currently existing agency or a new regulatory body should oversee the state’s Cannabis industry. A new bill attempted to settle that question with a hybrid approach that calls for a Cannabis Office to operate under the state’s Department of Business Regulation, as well as a newly created Cannabis Control Commission. Unfortunately, Gov. McKee felt this approach from legislators might limit his Constitutional power to appoint all commission members. And so, desperate to avoid a veto, lawmakers went back to work. The latest iteration of Rhode Island’s legalization bill addresses the governor’s “power to appoint” concerns. Additionally, lawmakers agreed to streamline licensing for hybrid medical/adult-use dispensaries, to provide automatic expungements of past Cannabis convictions by July 1, 2024, to allow local governments to create their own public consumption rules and to several other minor changes that move the legislation closer to consensus. In response to the latest attempt at legalization, Gov. McKee’s office said, “While this bill is different than the Governor’s original proposal – it does accomplish his priorities of making sure legalization is equitable, controlled and safe.” Should the new bill actually become law, adults 21 and older would be allowed to purchase up to an ounce of marjiuana, with retail sales beginning on December 1, 2022. Home cultivation of up to six plants would also be allowed. A spokesperson for the governor added, “We look forward to reviewing the final bill that comes out of the General Assembly and signing legalization of adult-use Cannabis into law.” Find out why that fails to occur in next month’s installment of Rhode Island’s legalization saga.
$3 BILLION OF BUD IN THE BAY STATE
LEAFMAGAZINES.COM
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he Massachusetts recreational marijuana market continues to grow, as officials announced in April that the state has sold nearly $3 billion worth of pot since launching adult-use sales in 2018. In three and a half years of retail – November 2018 through April 2022 – Massachusetts has recorded $2.87 billion in marijuana sales, according to the Cannabis Control Commission. The Commission also reported that the state has licensed 887 marijuana establishments, while an additional 109 applications await approval. Record sales numbers have led to higher than anticipated tax revenue generated by Cannabis. In 2021, Massachusetts took in over $112 million in marijuana excise tax. That’s twice as much as analysts expected, according to the Commission. A recently introduced bill would bolster the state’s social equity program by earmarking 10 percent of marijuana excise tax revenue for a Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund that would provide grants to qualified applicants. Massachusetts has long led the region’s adult-use market. While Vermont legalized pot possession in 2018, it only recently voted to commercialize Cannabis. And marijuana may be the top crop in Maine, but the state’s market is comparatively small and its medical sales far outnumber recreational retail. With New Hampshire a nonfactor and the region’s other states mired in prohibition, Massachusetts has been the Northeast’s unquestioned adult-use standard-bearer.
However, the region is on the verge of a sea change. With nearby New Jersey launching its recreational pot program in April and New York and Connecticut planning to follow suit in the coming months, Massachusetts will no longer be king of the hill. Yes, the state reported $3 billion in adult-use Cannabis sales over a 42-month period. But, when fully operational, industry experts expect the Garden State to reach $3 billion in retail sales annually. And the sky’s the limit in neighboring New York. Nonetheless, Massachusetts has gained experience through the growing pains of creating and running a taxed and regulated recreational Cannabis industry for nearly four years. Surely the start-ups in newly legal states will learn from the businesses that have thrived in the Bay State’s marijuana market.
Photo by Kindel Media
JUNE 2022
