![]() Massachusetts voters approved legalization through a 2016 ballot question, just like New Jersey is poised to do on Nov. MPP gave it a B-minus, MASS CANN, the local NORML chapter, gave it a “strong B.” We asked representatives from the Marijuana Policy Project and the state chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws to grade Massachusetts’ law and implementation. (The entrepreneur and regulator perspectives will be explored in a future article.) We started with Massachusetts - our closest legal market - and spoke to cannabis activists who championed the law. In the coming months, NJ Cannabis Insider will examine the experience of other states to see which policies and actions should be emulated or avoided if New Jersey voters agree to amend the state constitution to legalize weed. We are 159 days away from Election Day, when New Jersey voters will decide whether marijuana should be legal for adults 21 and older and the source of a multi-billion-dollar legal industry. In turn, Canopy spent $300 million last year for the option to buy Acreage for $3.4 billion in the event of federal legalization. market in the event of federal legalization - Constellation Brands, the owner of Corona beer, Robert Mondavi wine and other brands, invested $4 billion in the Canadian cannabis powerhouse Canopy Growth in 2018. Acreage Holdings, if you’ll recall, is a foothold for a Fortune 500 alcohol company to dominate the U.S. This past November, Acreage formally entered into an agreement to acquire the dispensary subject to approval by the DOH, spurring the branding of CCF’s satellite dispensary in Atlantic City as The Botanist by Compassionate Care Foundation. CCF, opened in 2013, and, in 2018, it partnered up with Acreage Holdings for the development of a new cultivation facility. The Botanist by Compassionate Care FoundationĬompassionate Care Foundation in Egg Harbor Township is the outermost figure of a Matryoshka nesting doll. The DOH said Verano could open on Friday and Columbia Care in early June, but Verano CEO George Archos told Amanda Hover the dispensary’s opening may not happen until Monday and won’t be greeted by the usual fanfare due to the pandemic. ![]() Still, we’ve got at least some sunshine this week as both Verano and Columbia Care are expected to open in short order. It’s not just the Garden State where it can feel like the speed of government is akin to molasses oozing out of a jar. (Read Sue Livio’s special report on lessons learned from Massachusetts this week.) Unfortunately, it’s par for the course - Massachusetts, which legalized adult-use cannabis in December 2016 and has a considerable lead time on New Jersey, just put out licensing applications for social equity and economic empowerment applicants today for delivery. It’s a slow, iterative process that doesn’t typically travel in a straight line. Jake Honig’s Law, for instance, was put into effect nearly a year ago but many of the changes have yet to be put in place - advanced practice nurses and physician assistants are still unable to participate in the Medicinal Marijuana Program, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission still hasn’t materialized and home delivery remains in the works. One of the biggest criticisms of any sort of government reform with respect to cannabis is how slow it is for change to happen.Īs we’ve seen in New Jersey, there’s a long lead time between knowing what reform is needed to the enactment of actual reform.
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