Check out this great writeup by Katie Lannan at GBH News about the CCC’s move to set aside its current social consumption pilot program and focus on long-term regulations.
Here’s an excerpt:
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, the Equitable Opportunities Now coalition sent a letter to the commission, asking its members to “set aside the social consumption pilot program in the interest of avoiding overly burdensome regulations, removing artificial and unnecessary barriers, respecting local control, advancing the commission’s licensing prerogative, and providing clarity to potential entrepreneurs from disparately harmed communities and their potential host communities.”
The letter said the pilot would create uncertainty for potential operators of social use sites, “artificially” limit the number of communities that could host the establishments, and empower the commission “to pick winners and losers.”
“We look forward to working together to ensure that this exciting new license type creates meaningful opportunities for communities most harmed by the war on drugs,” Armani White, the coalition’s public policy co-chair, said in a statement after the vote.
With the pilot program now off the table, Camargo said commissioners are inviting public outreach on social consumption before it dives into the formal regulatory process. She said they’ll talk to officials from other states where marijuana is legal and host listening sessions, including a virtual one coming up in June.