Boston, Massachusetts has its first adult-use cannabis dispensary after the Cannabis Control Commission gave the business final approval last week, according to a CBS Local report. The shop is also the first in the state to be opened by economic empowerment applicants.
The approval for Pure Oasis comes more than three years after voters approved adult-use cannabis legalization. Pure Oasis, located in the Dorchester neighborhood, is co-owned by Kobe Evans and Kevin Hart, who were awarded a provisional license last August.
“We are excited to reach this important moment where we will open our doors as the first retail cannabis business in Boston and as the first economic empowerment candidate in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.” — Evans and Hart, in a statement to Boston.com
Evans is a native of Dorchester, which historically has high cannabis arrest rates — a key requirement for applicants to the state’s social equity program. Requirements for the social program include having a past drug conviction, or being the spouse or child of an individual with a drug conviction, or having lived in an “area of disproportionate impact” for at least five years, and having an income that doesn’t exceed 400 percent of the federal poverty level. Applicants must have lived in Massachusetts for at least 12 months.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D) – who opposed the statewide reforms – warned potential customers that there would be lines, cars, traffic “chaos” and “confusion” associated with the dispensary, but city officials are planning to do the “best job [they] can possible” to limit those issues. According to the Boston Globe, the dispensary expects 1,000 customers per day and has rented a space next door to accommodate up to 100 people waiting in line indoors.
Boston is the capital of Massachusetts and its most populous city.
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