Massachusetts Moving Forward to Permit Marijuana Clubs and Cafes

December 13, 2017, Massachusetts

Massachusetts, one of the few US states who has legalized the consumption of marijuana for recreational purposes, may become the first state in the country to allow on-site consumption of weed at licensed marijuana cafes. Voters approved the adult-use legalization in 2016 by passing the Massachusetts Marijuana Legalization, Question 4.

Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission has collectively endorsed a plan to have commercial spaces where users can buy and consume marijuana products on site. This initiative is similar to the one already implemented in Amsterdam.

Shaleen Title, one of the five members of the commission and co-author of the legalization measure, told the media that the proposal of on-premise consumption was to provide a lawful space other than homes to consumers to use cannabis products.

Right now, Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission is working on a whole set of plans and proposals for the state’s approaching legalized cannabis environment. All these regulation are meant to be finalized until March 15, with recreational cannabis operations expected to be functional from July 2018.

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Massachusetts, like other legal states, will keep marijuana and liquor operations separate and therefore proposed marijuana clubs and cafes will not be allowed to server alcoholic products. Moreover, attendants at these cafes will require training to identify consumers who are already intoxicated, just like bartenders.

According to Title, these legalized spaces will provide an opportunity to cannabis advocates to set an example of responsible cannabis use. She thinks the decades of prohibition and under-the-cloak cannabis activities have restricted opportunities for spreading awareness and educating people about responsible consumption. With more open and legal spaces to consume marijuana products, the course of spreading awareness will expedite significantly.

The newly introduced policies are not only confined to establish cannabis cafes alone. Apart from primary licensing for designated social spaces for marijuana consumption, the proposal also includes a point to issue ‘mixed-use’ license for owners who want to slot in legalized cannabis in their business and already generating more than half of their income from other products and services.

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For instance, spas can apply for a ‘mixed-use’ license so a masseuse can utilize cannabis topicals to facilitate costumers. Yoga centers, movie theaters, and restaurants are also included in the list of possible candidates of this license.

Other states have also tried to play around the idea of allowing on-site marijuana consumption, but they are yet to materialize any plan of this sort. Example of Alaska is in front of us where recreational marijuana got legalized two years ago. But the state is still wrestling with the decision to allow public spaces for consumption. They have deferred the proposal to have such establishments in two different instances.

Last year, voters in Denver have approved a cannabis measure which allows on-site consumption of licensed commercial spaces. However, cannabis can’t be sold on the premises and similarly serving alcohol there would also be prohibited. It is important to note that the domain of public consumption isn’t undermined by the state’s law in Colorado.

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