IN EARLY OCTOBER, President Biden called for a review of whether marijuana should continue to be classified federally among the most dangerous drugs. That review heightened calls for Congress to decriminalize marijuana. Advocates argue that the continuing criminalization of marijuana is nonsensical since 37 states and Washington, DC allow medical marijuana and 19 states and […]
Marijuana
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
Could Massachusetts become a cannabis research hub?
WITH WORLD CLASS medical facilities and universities, and a highly educated workforce, Massachusetts is a national leader in medicine, life sciences, and biotech. Could the state leverage those assets to also become a leading light of cannabis research? As President Biden pledges to explore changing federal restrictions on cannabis, some researchers and policymakers hope to […]
Posted inMarijuana
An opportunity to make cannabis industry more equitable
FOR YEARS, budding marijuana entrepreneurs – particularly those of color – have complained that the legal industry is dominated by Big Pot. Now is the time for those advocates to take seats at the policy-making table. The marijuana equity law Gov. Charlie Baker signed in August created a Social Equity Trust Fund, which will offer […]
Posted inMarijuana
Trulieve defends response to worker’s death
FACING PUBLIC SCRUTINY of its worker safety practices after cannabis worker Lorna McMurrey’s death, multi-state cannabis company Trulieve on Thursday released a lengthy statement defending its practices and explaining for the first time the circumstances surrounding McMurrey’s death after working a shift at Trulieve’s Holyoke cultivation facility. The three-page statement issued by Trulieve spokesperson Rob […]
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Cannabis regulators confirm agency was told quickly of worker’s death
THE STAFF AT the state Cannabis Control Commission was notified of cannabis cultivation worker Lorna McMurrey’s death within days of when it occurred, agency officials said Friday night, despite earlier statements by two commissioners who said they learned of her death from the media. The commission also said it had already been investigating conditions at […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
Cannabis commissioners learned ‘through the media’ about Holyoke death
IT TOOK EIGHT MONTHS after Lorna McMurrey died after working a shift at a Holyoke cannabis cultivation facility for the circumstances of her death to be publicly reported. Comments made by state cannabis regulators Thursday suggest that, astonishingly, they might have been just as in the dark as the public. The company involved, however, says […]
Posted inMarijuana, State Government
Marijuana regulators grapple with chair’s former company ownership
AFTER A LENGTHY discussion, marijuana regulators on Thursday declined to approve a license for a marijuana company that the new chair of the Cannabis Control Commission, Shannon O’Brien, was previously an owner of. Instead, citing confusion about whether the change of ownership was properly done, the commission returned the application to staff for further investigation. […]
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Worker dies at Holyoke cannabis cultivation facility
LORNA MCMURREY, a 27-year-old West Springfield woman, died in January after a shift working at a Holyoke cannabis cultivation facility. The company, Trulieve, was fined $35,200 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which found that McMurrey could not breathe after inhaling ground cannabis dust. McMurrey’s mother, Laura Bruneau, said she is considering filing a […]
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Marijuana delivery companies seek repeal of two-driver rule
EVEN BEFORE Chris Fevry launched Your Green Package, one of the first licensed marijuana courier companies in Massachusetts, he was worried about whether the business model was financially viable. Could a company act as an Uber Eats for marijuana, delivering products from a retailer to a customer, and earn enough from delivery fees to profit? […]
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SJC tells judges to grant marijuana expungements
THE 2018 criminal justice reform law let old marijuana convictions be expunged. But by and large, it hasn’t done much. A 2021 Boston Globe story called that provision an “utter failure,” noting that only a fraction of those with marijuana convictions had petitioned for expungement. One reason may be that most people convicted of marijuana […]