After nearly a year of delays, Massachusetts has made the final approvals necessary for a complete regulated supply chain and sales are expected soon, MassLive reports.
The original launch date for the industry was January 1, 2018. That date was quickly adjusted to July 1, 2018, which also passed without the launch of sales. Frustration among industry hopefuls has been growing for quite some time.
When “commence operations” notices were delivered to two of the state’s future testing labs, CDX Analytics and MCR Labs, the last piece of Massachusetts’ adult-use program has fallen into place. As all cannabis sold in the state must be tested for a variety of issues before going to retailers, the launch of these labs should signal the very near launch of retail sales.
While dispensaries have already received licenses and have signaled they are also ready to start sales, the state has yet to send a final “commence operations” notice to those businesses. That will be the final step.
“[W]e’re going to have these certificates of ‘commence operations’ done in the next week or two.” — Steve Hoffman, Chairman of the Cannabis Control Commission, in the report
Two dispensaries, New England Treatment Access in Northampton and Cultivate in Leicester, have announced they are set to begin once that notice comes down from state regulators. Pharmacannis Massachusetts in Wareham has also received a license, but that business is not as far along in the process as the others.