Overview
- Massachusetts lawmakers approved a sweeping cannabis bill and sent it to Gov. Maura Healey for signature, with emergency language that would make it effective upon signing.
- The plan replaces the five-member Cannabis Control Commission with a three-member panel appointed by the governor under a full-time chair and executive director, removing current commissioners at enactment.
- Retail rules expand by raising the cap on storefront licenses from three to six, with five allowed on day one and a sixth available within a year.
- Compliance measures add audits to enforce license limits, a public list that cuts off credit to licensees more than 60 days late, an anonymous portal to report testing fraud, and an end to mandatory vertical integration for medical operators with a two-year social-equity window.
- Shop owners say the changes could help them survive or sell, while some former regulators warn the higher cap could tilt the market toward larger companies.