Chris Faraone and Talking Joints Memo wrote up a great preview of EON’s letter to the Cannabis Control Commission in support of setting aside the existing but non-operational social consumption pilot program…
Ahead of a followup CCC meeting this Monday, May 22, the group Equitable Opportunities Now (EON), which “educates for and empowers people of color to become active participants in the Massachusetts legal cannabis market,” published an open letter regarding the social consumption pilot in particular. As EON Policy Co-Chair Kevin Gilnack explained, “during their last public meeting, Commissioners Nurys Camargo and Bruce Stebbins, who lead the CCC’s Social Consumption Working Group, asked the full Commission to vote on a recommendation to set aside a non-functioning social consumption pilot program written into existing regulations as they craft new regulations to implement An Act Relative to Equity in the Cannabis Industry, which was signed into law last year.”
CCC members didn’t vote on the change, but before they make any decisions, EON is reminding them that the current “social consumption license type has an exclusivity period for Economic Empowerment applicants and Social Equity Program participants, which is already being hampered by the uncertainty created by the pilot program,” which Gilnack said is “an additional and unnecessary barrier to entrepreneurs from communities harmed by the war on drugs who are exploring opportunities with potential host communities.”