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With the cost of commercial rental spaces on the rise, this means entrepreneurs could be spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on rent before they can even open their doors. Applicants looking to receive approval from the city need to secure a retail location and begin paying rent on that location before they can set up shop. They spoke to no fewer than six different city departments and agencies, including: The Boston Cannabis Board, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Boston Planning and Development Agency, the Inspectional Services Department, the Office of Neighborhood Services, and the City Council. Mass Greenwoods, a dispensary in Allston, walked us through the process of opening up a dispensary. However, there are local and state solutions to remedy this problem.Ī major barrier to entry for prospective cannabis entrepreneurs is the amount of red tape business owners need to cut through just to set up shop.
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In fact, in many cases, we are recreating barriers to entry in the legalized cannabis market that make it easier to simply keep selling cannabis illegally. As cities and towns continue to put out rules and regulations for the legalized sale of cannabis, we have to start asking ourselves: Do the laws we are putting in place reflect the spirit in which Question 4 was ratified? Based on the conversations we have had with established dispensary owners and prospective entrepreneurs, it’s clear that it does not. Six years have gone by since the people of Massachusetts made that vote, and new cannabis shops are popping up across the Commonwealth. And to add insult to injury, even though possession of an ounce or less of marijuana was decriminalized in 2008, Massachusetts still saw over 600 arrests annually for marijuana possession. On November 8, 2016, the people of Massachusetts voted to legalize recreational cannabis. There were numerous arguments in favor of legalizing cannabis, including the benefits of millions of dollars of tax revenue. But the spirit of ratifying Question 4 was deeply rooted in dismantling the fundamentally racist War on Drugs. Data published by the ACLU around the time of the ballot referendum shows just how deep the systemic inequities were: In Massachusetts, Black people were nearly three times more likely than white people to be arrested for marijuana possession. If we can help others avoid the pitfalls, we would gladly do it.” “Our goal is to help others get into the business as well.