“It’s taken so long for us to get the regulatory revisions that we have sought. … It would be very detrimental to end the exclusivity window on April 1st.”
Among the many congregations of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission last week, members held a public hearing to gather feedback and “inform whether to keep delivery licenses exclusive to businesses controlled by Certified Economic Empowerment Priority Applicants and/or Social Equity Program Participants.”
Per the CCC, “The 36-month exclusivity window began in April 2022, but could be extended beyond that.”
Despite the initial exclusivity and other program benefits to boost these businesses, it’s been a tough row for many delivery license holders.
In the past several months, commissioners have made efforts to improve the chances of success for delivery businesses. Most notably, after years of brushing off complaints from licensees about the costly burden of the so-called “two-driver” rule, the CCC recently approved new protocols, “including the elimination of the two-agent rule in most cases, and opening delivery to microbusinesses (still EEA/SEP-controlled only).”
Licensees recall their hardfought efforts
As the CCC explained, “Extending the exclusivity period would allow existing delivery businesses more time to realize the benefits of the end of the two-agent rule.” And that’s not all that it would do. At last week’s hearing, stakeholders put their struggles and stories on the record.
“This has been a long time coming,” Devin Alexander said. A co-founder of Rolling Releaf in Newton, he has been among the most vocal advocates for rewriting state regulations to uplift Social Equity applicants, specifically in the delivery license classes. Recalling how “the first courier license didn’t launch until 2021, and the first delivery license didn’t come until 2022,” he continued, “This is something we’ve discussed for years.”
“It’s taken so long for us to get the regulatory revisions that we have sought,” Alexander said. “It would be very detrimental to end the exclusivity window on April 1st after we worked so hard to change all of these regulations and let everybody else into something that we equity licensees have been on the front lines fighting for all these years.”
How long should the exclusivity extension be?
Alexander called for the exclusivity period to be extended “indefinitely,” or at “bare minimum” for five additional years.
Dan Berger of Grassp Ventures, another person leading the perpetual charge to boost equity licensees, concurred, “I’m here to support extending that exclusivity in perpetuity.”
And Chris Fevry of Dris and Your Green Package said, “The exclusivity window should be extended five years in line with social consumption. Also, this extension is needed as delivery companies have not been able to get their feet under themselves due to the two-driver rule.”
Shaleen Title, an attorney and former CCC commissioner who went on to found the Parabola Center for Law and Policy, agreed that there should be a significant extension, but cautioned others against calling for an arbitrary length of time, like a decade for example. Instead, she pointed to parameters designed for the CCC’s Delivery Exclusivity Working Group to use in “assessing and proposing changes.” Members are tasked with: “Monitoring overall participation from communities disproportionately impacted by cannabis prohibition; Evaluating participation specifically by people of color; and Reviewing the number and performance of delivery license holders, along with other key performance indicators.”
Next steps for delivery exclusivity
The public comment period ended on Dec. 13. For next steps, “Once the Delivery Exclusivity Working Group has reviewed all public comments, it will draft policy recommendations that will be discussed at a future Commission public meeting.”
Furthermore, “Any policy recommendations that may need to be memorialized as regulatory changes will be drafted, voted upon, and published for additional public comment before finalization and promulgation by the Secretary of the Commonwealth, in accordance with state law.”
No one testified at the virtual hearing against extending the delivery license exclusivity period.
