1,000-plus licenses, nearly 100,000 patients, and 900 inspections
Where oh where does the time go? It seems like just the other day that people were still flocking to a handful of dispensaries while waiting for pot shops to open in their own cities and towns, yet in reality it’s 2023 and we have well over a thousand edible SKUs to choose from.
A lot of what we hear about when it comes to cannabis in Massachusetts has to do with waiting—waiting for licenses, or for new stores and products, or for social consumption. But in that constant rush of things, it’s easy to forget how far the industry has come and how much of an impact it has made—economically, socially, cosmically, the list goes on.
One chief way the state gauges so much progress is through the Cannabis Control Commission’s Annual Activities Report. The packet “provides information regarding the implementation under the Act of the adult-use marijuana program … inclusive of the Medical Use of Marijuana Program.” Their latest covers the 2022 fiscal year, with data included for up to June 30, 2023 that “presents a comprehensive analysis of the initiatives, challenges, achievements, and prospects that have defined the Massachusetts cannabis landscape throughout the past year.”
We suggest perusing the whole 28-page document, which really gives a snapshot of not just the agency regulating the market, but of the market itself plus the people who patronize and populate it. Below, we excerpted six passages that seemed especially noteworthy …
On priority applicants …
“Between April 17, 2018, and May 22, 2018, the Commission offered an application process for economic empowerment priority certification in accordance with state law. In total, the Commission received 322 submitted applications and ultimately granted priority certification to 81 Medical Marijuana Treatment Center or ‘MTC’ (formerly referred to as RMD) applicants and 122 Certified Economic Empowerment Priority Applicants. As of July 2023, the Commission has issued 22 commence operations approvals to economic empowerment priority applicants and 37 commence operations approvals to social equity program participants, enabling them to begin various licensing operations in the Commonwealth.”
On total active licenses …
“As of July 2023, 556 licensees have received notices from the Commission that authorize them to commence business operations in the Commonwealth, another 50 entities currently possess final licenses, and 499 have been approved for provisional licenses. Each year, the licensing team has authorized more businesses to commence operations and approved more final licenses than the previous year.” And on the medical side, “As of July 1, 2023, the medical-use cannabis industry is comprised of the following: 102 licensees that have commenced full operations to serve registered qualifying patients and caregivers through vertically integrated MTCs, as well as 43 provisional licensees, and 45 expired licenses. As of July 2023, the Medical Use of Marijuana Program is composed of 94,136 Certified Active Patients, 7,265 Active Caregivers and 441 Certifying Healthcare Providers.”
On industry growth …
“In Fiscal Year 2022, the Commission has seen a consistent increase in applications for provisional licensure, final licensure, and to commence operations. From a statistical perspective, there has been an approximate 30% rise in applications for commencing operations in fiscal year 2022 as compared to the preceding fiscal year, 2021. There has been a notable pattern in applications for Tier 1 to Tier 3 cultivation facilities, showing a surge of 14 applications compared to the previous year. In contrast, licenses for Tiers 9 to 11 cultivation facilities have grown by 4 licenses in the same time period.”
On closures …
“Of the 566 adult-use Marijuana Establishment licenses the Commission has authorized to commence operations, sixteen (16) licenses, or 2.8%, have either surrendered, not renewed their license, or have had their license revoked/voided by the agency and are no longer operating in Massachusetts. Adult-use Marijuana Retailers, which are the most sought-after license type, have seen even fewer closures. Since November 2018, 314 dispensaries have been approved to commence operations and open their doors to adult-use cannabis consumers in Massachusetts. Only five (5) licensees, or 1.6% have either surrendered or not renewed their license, leaving 309 active and operational Marijuana Retailers in the Commonwealth.”
On investigations …
“Since July 2022, Enforcement staff has made approximately eight (8) investigative referrals to Enforcement Counsel, which reviews findings for possible litigation. During this period, Enforcement staff has completed 900 total inspections, including unannounced inspections, license closure inspections, change of location inspections, structural change completion inspections, post-provisional license inspections, and post-final license inspections. From these inspections, Enforcement staff has issued approximately 450 Notices of Deficiencies to licensees. Enforcement staff have also processed approximately 240 architectural review and structural change applications, and approximately 8 alternative security provisions.”
On screwups …
“In March 2023, the Commission did accidentally release documents that contained information about an active investigation and—separate from that investigation—materials that contained the names, residential address, email address, phone number, date of birth, and, in some cases, reason for ‘deregistration’ of registered agents working in the Massachusetts cannabis industry. The Commission was not the victim of any targeted data breach or attack, and protected Personal Information was not disclosed.”
