Massachusetts House approves cannabis law amendment bill

The Massachusetts House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to pass a bill to amend the state’s weed laws, including significant social capital investments and adding cannabis consumption cafes to the state’s list of regulated cannabis businesses. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives voted 153-2 to pass the bill, which is nearly identical to a measure the Massachusetts Senate passed in April.

House Speaker Ron Mariano issued a statement, quoted by the Boston Globe, in which he said the bill aims to “create a fair and prosperous cannabis industry and promote equitable opportunity for those who are disproportionately affected by systemic racism.” affected by historical drug policy”.

The bill provides several changes to existing cannabis laws in Massachusetts, where voters approved a 2016 ballot measure to legalize cannabis for adult use in the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission report, released on the same day the bill was approved in the House of Representatives .

Adam Fine, a partner at cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg, says the “legislation represents the first significant move in the House of Representatives regarding cannabis since adult use was legalized.”

“Components of the bill address some of the concerns identified over the past five years, particularly around social justice, host community agreements and movements to allow social consumption sites,” Fine wrote in an email High Times. “The proposal creates the Social Equity Trust fund for social justice operators and provides a fundraising mechanism to facilitate applicants’ entry into the cannabis space.”

New investments in social justice

Under the bill, 20% of the state’s marijuana taxes will be used to invest in cannabis social equity companies. The percentage of revenue is higher than the 15% stated in an earlier version of the bill and double the 10% stated in the Senate bill.

The increase in funds would be significant. From July 2021 to April of this year, Massachusetts collected $124.5 million in recreational cannabis excise taxes. Under the House version of the bill, this revenue amount would equate to more than $25 million in funding for social justice cannabis companies in the state.

Under the current state social justice program, only 23 of the state’s 253 licensed cannabis companies are owned by entrepreneurs who qualify for the economic empowerment and social justice programs administered by the Cannabis Control Commission. Shanel Lindsay, the co-founder of advocacy group Equitable Opportunities Now, commended House lawmakers for the change and urged senators to keep the higher percentage in a compromise version of the bill.

“Without this funding, our equity targets are just empty promises,” Lindsay said.

Both versions of the bill require local governments to consider social justice aspects when issuing local permits. The House bill also simplifies the erasure process for previous weed killing convictions and arrests by allowing more felonies to qualify for exoneration. The legislation also directs judges to grant all allowable requests for deletion, losing much of their discretion to deny requests without justification.

“We mean business when we say our residents have the right to have these records untracked for life,” said state assemblyman Michael Day.

Massachusetts Bill Reform’s Host Community Agreements

Another provision of the legislation would reform the contracts cannabis companies sign with local governments to obtain local licensing approval, known as host community agreements. Cannabis operators and license applicants have argued that community impact fees included in such agreements by local governments outweigh the negative impact of the cannabis industry on the community.

Both the Senate and House versions of the bill cap fees by requiring local governments to detail any negative impacts and set reasonable fees. State regulators would have the power to reject plans that require excessive payments.

“Without enforcement, we have seen some communities push the limits further than the law allows, this legislation will make local approval straightforward and allow more social justice applicants to go through the local process,” Fine said.

The House version ends impact fees once a cannabis business has been open for five years and gives the Cannabis Control Commission 45 days to review local agreements, while the Senate bill allows up to 120 days.

“The community literally has the upper hand in these negotiations, and many have taken unfair advantage of them,” said state MP Daniel Donahue. He added that the legislation would help create a “legal, fair and honest” cannabis industry in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Municipal Association of Local Governments opposed the change, saying the influence fee changes are a way for cannabis operators to retain more profits at the expense of local communities.

“One of the key issues for cities and communities is to ensure that the final version of the legislation does not interfere with existing agreements with host communities, and to ensure that communities can appropriately charge for community impacts in the future,” Geoff said Beckwith, deputy director of the group.

Beckwith added that reducing or eliminating impact fees “could provide a disincentive for more communities to accept cannabis establishments.”

Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association President David O’Brien commended the changes to the state’s cannabis laws included in the legislation.

“By providing seed capital, strengthening the [cannabis commission] With proper oversight of greedy communities and the ability for cannabis operators to deduct normal business expenses,” O’Brien said, “entrepreneurs will now be able to achieve their dreams of starting a small business with fewer obstacles.”

Before the legislation can become law, a conference committee must correct the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. Both bodies would then have to vote on a final bill before sending it to Governor Charlie Baker for approval.

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