Assessing legal cannabis access in ma.
Cannabis has been legal in Massachusetts since 2018, but a study was conducted by the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) of the Commonwealth to determine which communities have adequate access and what communities are underserved. Retail density was highest in Berkshire County and lowest in Norfolk County, with a retail density of 0.7 retail stores per 100k community members. Interestingly, residents from the state's central region were more likely to purchase black market cannabis than legal cannabis. Overall, the study showed that the people of the Southeast region of Massachusetts are much more underserved compared to the state's western region.
CAOA remains a long shot but opens up the path for safe.
A House of Representative member said that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, federal legalization bill (CAOA) that he announced last week is a big hurdle that was standing in the way of getting the already House-approved bipartisan SAFE Banking Act passed. “I think we may have just overcome our hurdle last week to getting this passed,” Perlmutter said, referencing the filing of the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act (CAOA). “I think we’ll get it passed.” Senator Schumer has already indicated that if there is not enough support for the CAOA, he is willing to compromise and pass a scaled-down version of cannabis reform which we would expect would include SAFE Banking legislation. “I think there’s a real opportunity to pass not as sweeping a piece of legislation as Schumer has introduced, but something that really will benefit the industry and make things safer,” Perlmutter said. “This has been a very bipartisan effort between me and a number of different Republicans,” he said. “David Joyce is a congressman from Ohio, and I think he will pick up the mantle. He’s been helping talk to Republicans in the Senate. He’s worked with his colleagues in the House, and I think he’ll end up picking up the mantle and get this across the finish line.”
What will Canada do?
The biggest difference between the U.S. and Canadian cannabis laws is how they handle hemp extracts. In the U.S. high THC level cannabis remains federally illegal while hemp is legal and broadly available compared to Canada which has had a federally legal high THC cannabis market since 2018, but CBD has remained a controlled substance in the country. Health Canada, which oversees both pharmaceutical drug sales and the nation’s high-THC cannabis industry, is expecting final recommendations this summer on CBD and what it calls “health products containing cannabis that would not require practitioner oversight.” “Canadian regulations have been a huge barrier to the CBD category gaining traction. If the regulations change, there’s a real opportunity for significant growth for CBD.” mjbizdaily.com
