Tag: Massachusetts

High Stakes and Material Changes in the Bay State: Senate Bill No. 2722 vs. House Bill No. 4160

Post author By Blank Rome LLP
Post date November 18, 2025

Lauren Medeiros Forster —

There were several material changes relating to strategy, compliance, and deal‑making advanced by Massachusetts Senate Bill No. 2722 (“S. 2722”) on November 13, 2025. Below is a short summary of what you need to know about the Senate’s rewrite and meaningful reshaping of several House‑backed ideas (under House Bill No. 4160 (“H. 4160”)) for changing the legal regime of cannabis in the Commonwealth.

1. Employee Stock Ownership Plans

Employee stock ownership plans (“ESOPs”) are here to stay. Both bills tell the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (“CCC”) to set up clear procedures to allow the sale of a business to employees via an ESOP and to exclude a trustee acting solely for an ESOP during or after a sale when counting toward cannabis license caps under the Massachusetts cannabis laws. That part did not change, which is a positive result for the Commonwealth. The proposed changes to the current law enable succession planning, retention, and worker‑ownership options for operators and investors without tripping license caps and also improve exit/liquidity paths for owners. This also means there would be no caps on the number of licenses an ESOP can own.

Tags Massachusetts

Legislation Regulatory Compliance

Massachusetts Superior Court Holds That New HCA Law Does Not Apply Retroactively

Post author By Blank Rome LLP
Post date July 18, 2024

Max M. Borg —

On June 10, 2024, Associate Justice Jeffrey Karp, of the Massachusetts Superior Court, Essex (the “Court”), issued an important—and, to many licensed cannabis businesses in Massachusetts, surprising—ruling in the case of Haverhill Stem LLC vs. James J. Fiorentini, that the new Host Community Agreement regulations (See Chapter 180 of the Acts of 2022, “An Act Relative to Equity in the Cannabis Industry” (the “New HCA Law”)) promulgated by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (the “CCC”) do not apply retroactively to the Host Community Agreement (the “Stem HCA”) entered into in 2018 between the City of Haverhill, Massachusetts, (the “City”) and Haverhill Stem LLC (“Stem”), a licensed cannabis dispensary.

Therefore, the Court held that the Stem HCA is governed by the language of G.L. c. 94G and 935 CMR 500 et seq. as in effect at the time of entry into the Stem HCA (the “Old HCA Law”), such that the Stem HCA is not governed by the New HCA Law.

Tags CIF, community impact fee, HCA, host community agreements, Massachusetts

Regulatory Compliance

CCC’s Model HCA & Approval Process

Post author By Blank Rome LLP
Post date July 10, 2024

Lauren Medeiros Forster —

In May, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (“CCC” or the “Commission”) released a bulletin (the “Bulletin”) regarding some administrative license extensions in response to the Commission’s new framework and processes governing host community agreements (“HCAs”) in Massachusetts.

Under the CCC’s new regulations governing HCAs, licensees, and their host communities, licensees are required to submit to the CCC a compliant HCA that is approved by the Commission before the licensee can be granted approval for their final license or an annual license renewal.

Tags Cannabis Control Commission, CCC, host community agreements, Massachusetts

Legislation

CCC in Turmoil? Massachusetts Legislature Urged to Place Cannabis Control Commission in Receivership

Post author By Blank Rome LLP
Post date June 21, 2024

Gustav Stickley V —

On June 18, 2024, the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) addressed a letter to the Massachusetts state legislature (“Legislature”) urging it to take action to correct the poor governance structure of the Cannabis Control Commission (“CCC”) (click here to see the full letter).

The letter states that the CCC’s enabling statute lacks clarity in establishing the leadership hierarchy and defining the duties and responsibilities of its staff and leadership. Despite apparent efforts over the past two years by the CCC, including its commissioners, to establish a clear governing structure, the OIG posits that it is no closer to solving the issue than it was two years ago.

Tags Cannabis Control Commission, CCC, governance, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General, OIG

Legislation Regulatory Compliance

The Future of Hemp-Derived THC

Post author By Blank Rome LLP
Post date June 20, 2024

Marc A. Polito —

Recent state and federal rumblings lead us to believe we may finally have some resolution to the uncertainty surrounding the legality of hemp-derived synthetic THC products, including without limitation, delta-8 THC, as an amendment to the 2018 Farm Bill has been proposed to clarify the loophole allowing for the sale of such hemp-derived products.

When the 2018 Farm Bill was enacted in 2018, it removed hemp, defined as cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) and derivatives of cannabis with low concentrations (no more than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannibinol (“THC”) on a dry weight basis) of the psychoactive compound delta-9-THC, from the definition of marijuana in the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”). Hemp comes from a cannabis plant, just like the delta-9 THC producing marijuana plant, but a hemp-cannabis plant refers to cannabis plant that contains 0.3 percent or less of delta-9 THC. Delta-9-THC is the compound generally responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis that is subject to the CSA. A typical marijuana-cannabis plant on the other hand, can have anywhere from 15 to 30 percent of delta-9 THC.

Tags Farm Bill, hemp, Hemp-Derived THC, Massachusetts, THC