BOSTON, MA (WBZ-AM) -- Just over four months now until a new, billion-dollar industry goes on line in Massachusetts. We're talking, of course, about the sale of recreational marijuana.
However, as that deadline approaches, regulators have scaled back their original proposal.
Cannabis control commission chairman Steve Hoffman says there's still a whole lot to do.
“We have to license to and get people started in cultivation, in manufacturing in independent lab testing, in transportation and research labs,” he said.
Hoffman says the commission is on track to begin accepting license applications April first but not for two types of businesses included in a draft proposal. Home delivery and “social consumption” at cannabis cafes outside the home have been met with a lot opposition. The commission voted 4 to 1 Monday to delay discussion of those proposals until this fall with those business becoming a reality no sooner than next February--if at all.
Steve Hoffman says the commission is trying to balance concerns voiced by the governor and prosecutors with the mission to make marijuana accessible to Massachusetts adults.
WBZ NewsRadio1030’s Kendall Buhl reports.