The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) approved delivery regulations Nov. 30 that create a legal framework for home delivery in the state’s adult-use cannabis market with two new license types that are expected to launch next year, according to an NBC Boston report.
The new rules create “Marijuana Courier” and “Marijuana Delivery Operator” licenses, which will be available only to social equity applicants for the first three years.
The CCC initially agreed on a framework for cannabis delivery regulations in September and approved a set of policy changes to the draft rules last month.
The regulations have faced pushback from some of the state’s lawmakers, who said in an October letter to the CCC that the Marijuana Delivery Operator License, previously referred to as a “Wholesale Delivery License,” is not supported by Massachusetts’ cannabis law.
Last month, a group of the state’s existing cannabis retailers threatened to sue over the delivery rules, which they say unfairly shut them out of the market.
“Put simply, the Commission’s adoption and implementation of the Proposed Regulation would be in direct contravention of its own governing and enabling statute which clearly and unambiguously states that only Marijuana Retailers, as defined in the statute, are permitted to deliver cannabis products to consumers,” Howard Cooper, an attorney with Todd & Weld LLP, wrote in a letter to regulators in mid-November, according to NBC Boston.
Steve Hoffman, chairman of the CCC, has said that regulators are acting within their authority in issuing the new rules to regulate adult-use delivery, the news outlet reported.
