BOSTON (WBZ News Radio)- Its been a promise since the ballot measure passed in 2016 in Massachusetts, social consumption of legal marijuana. These Amsterdam-style “cannabis cafés” can look like anything from a dispensary, to a yoga studio, even a festival.
The state’s Cannabis Control Commission voted unanimously to pass drafted regulations for public consumption. That doesn’t mean they are going to start popping up tomorrow.
“We are going to be basically writing our own road map going forward,” said Shannon O’Brien, Cannabis Control Commissioner.
They’ve approved three new license types for consumption including temporary event licenses.
Sites will have to serve food and water, and they can’t co-serve pot and alcohol, and they have to have a ride share plan.
“We are focused towards safety, public safety, but also making sure that people can have access to the products they are looking to share,” said O’Brien.
The commission expects these regulations to be formalized on Jan. 2 and then it goes to communities. Towns and cities get to decide whether pot cafés become a local reality.