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Massachusetts cannabis tax revenue surpasses Alcohol

by The Real Dirt | Jan 27, 2022 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis News, Culture, Industry News, Legalization

If there’s any doubt about weed’s popularity, just hit the road — billboards are seemingly everywhere advertising recreational marijuana stores. The numbers back it up, too.

Since adult-use retailers opened in Massachusetts in November 2018, gross total sales have now reached $2.54 billion, according to data from the Cannabis Control Commission.

While tax data shows alcohol consumption is hardly plummeting, the meteoric rise in cannabis use speaks to changing attitudes about recreational alcohol and marijuana use.

“I think that people are looking for an alternative to make them feel better,” said Mikayla Bell, community outreach manager for NETA, one of the largest cannabis retailers in the state. “Oftentimes people are turning to alcohol for relief. And now they found another product with without the hangover, without the calories.”

Bell said the general public is becoming more comfortable with the idea of recreational marijuana, even if they’re not using it themselves.

Data obtained by 5 Investigates reveals plenty of people are consuming it. Take excise taxes, which are levied on both alcohol and marijuana.

Alcohol excise taxes have increased slightly in the past five fiscal years. Halfway through the current fiscal year, Massachusetts has collected $51.3 million so far in alcohol excise taxes.

For the first time, marijuana excise taxes have exceeded alcohol’s. At the same midway point this fiscal year, the state has collected $74.2 million as December 2021.

Read Full Story on WCVB 5

Massachusetts Cannabis Company Makes 850 lb Pot Brownie

by Travis C | Dec 10, 2021 | 420 Culture & Travel, 420 News, Blog, Cannabis News, Culture, Legalization, Stranger Than Fiction

massachusetts cannabis company makes world's largest pot brownie

In honor of National Brownie Day on December 8th, a Massachusetts cannabis company has created a record breaking cannabis edible treat.

MariMed, Inc. unveiled the 850-pound brownie infused with 20,000 milligrams of THC on Tuesday as part of its new edibles bakery brand, Bubby’s Baked.

According to USA Today, the brownie was made using 1,344 eggs, 250 pounds of sugar, 212 pounds of butter, 5.3 pounds of vanilla extract, 81 pounds of flour, 2 pounds of baking powder, 3 pounds of salt and 122 pounds of cocoa powder, and came in measuring 3 feet wide by 3 feet long and is 15 inches tall.

The previous world record for a cannabis brownie according to the Guinness Book of World Records was 243 pounds. The Bubby’s Baked brownie destroyed that record.

For a new edible company attempting to bring quality, tasty cannabis edible products to the Massachusetts cannabis industry, this was a great marketing effort.

“For many of us, homemade brownies were our first taste of cannabis-infused edibles. Bubby’s recreates and elevates that nostalgic experience, infusing full-spectrum, craft-quality cannabis into timeless recipes, for a reliable high reminiscent of simpler times,” said MariMed Chief Product Officer and SVP/Sales Ryan Crandall in a news release.

The new edible line will be available in Massachusetts cannabis dispensaries with plans to expand to Delaware and Maryland in 2022.

Connecticut Asks Massachusetts Cannabis Companies to Remove Billboards

by The Real Dirt | Oct 29, 2021 | Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization, Politics

Connecticut is asking Massachusetts to stop displaying cannabis billboards on the state border

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has sent a letter to seven Massachusetts cannabis companies asking them to remove their billboards from along Connecticut highways.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong has sent a letter to seven Massachusetts cannabis companies asking them to remove their billboards from along Connecticut highways, saying that the ads are illegal in the state under its adult-use cannabis law passed earlier this year, Western Mass News reports. Under Connecticut’s legalization law, cannabis advertising is prohibited unless 90% of the audience is 21-or-older.

The Attorney General’s Office clarified to Western Mass News that the letter is a request not a demand.

Erik Williams, chief operating officer of Canna Provisions, which is based in Massachusetts and uses billboard advertising on the highway, said that the company has no intention of removing the ads, despite the letter from Tong.

“If we capitulated to every prohibitionist’s whim or request, I would say that we would not have adult use cannabis in Massachusetts and certainly it wouldn’t be coming in Connecticut. … I believe that this is too far reaching of an insinuation that they have made against our company and other advertisers, against marketing firms, and against the other folks who have also gotten those letters.” – Williams to Western Mass News

In the letter, Tong said the billboards encourage customers to cross state lines with cannabis products, which is a federal crime, but Williams said that was not the case.

“We are continuing to talk to them and I told him that this is an important thing for us to look for,” Williams said in the report, “and we also want to really see that the Connecticut market actually thrives as well.”

Canna Provisions has no intention to take the billboard down, Williams said.

The report does not indicate whether the other six Massachusetts companies with billboards in Connecticut plan to honor the attorney general’s request.

Read Original Story on Ganjapreneur

Massachusetts town charges local cannabis companies “Impact Fees”

by The Real Dirt | Sep 30, 2021 | Blog, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Industry News, Legalization, Politics

The news this week that a small Massachusetts town is charging more than $1.3 million in “impact fees” to the three cannabis companies operating within its city limits has reopened the debate over the true impact of cannabis businesses on local communities.

Those impact fees are being charged despite the fact that myths about cannabis businesses boosting crime have been debunked time and time again. In fact, there’s evidence that cannabis legalization can actually improve local crime clearance rates.

Even as they operate as positive law-abiding forces in their communities, cannabis companies still have to combat the negative stereotypes perpetuated by America’s War on Drugs.

Without any evidence of negative community impact, we’re left to wonder why some towns and cities are allowed to charge cannabis businesses for additional policing.

Cannabiz impact in Massachusetts

Massachusetts’ legalization law allows local communities to charge impact fees that are “reasonably related to the costs imposed upon the municipality by the operation of the marijuana establishment.”

Unlike most other legal states, Massachusetts law forces cannabis companies to sign Host Community Agreements (HCAs) with the town in which they operate. This gives local communities enormous leverage over cannabis companies—which encourages them to tax the daylights out of the local weed stores.

Many Bay State towns use HCAs to create their own mitigation fees based on how they imagine cannabis businesses will impact their townships.

The law was put in place in 2018, when there was little data about the impact of cannabis companies on rates of local substance abuse, intoxicated driving, and crime.

Read Full Story on Leafly

Massachusetts recreational cannabis now a $2 billion industry

by The Real Dirt | Sep 3, 2021 | 420 Culture & Travel, 420 News, Blog, Business, Cannabis Business, Cannabis Law and Compliance, Cannabis News, Industry News, Legalization

Massachusetts recreational cannabis sales top $2 billion

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission this week released numbers revealing sales of recreational marijuana has topped $2 billion dollars in the first three years of legalization.

The first Massachusetts recreational cannabis dispensaries opened for business in November 2018.

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has negatively impacted other businesses, cannabis sales remains strong.

At Seed Recreational Dispensary in Jamaica Plain, which opened in March 2021, Assistant General Manager Bobby Driscoll is not surprised.

“I’m not surprised. It is definitely moving a little quicker than I think some of us in the industry had anticipated,” Driscoll said. “I think it was something we were waiting for, for a long time. A lot of people sacrificed a lot to get us to this point.”

Driscoll anticipates demand will remain strong, even as new dispensaries are approved and open for business.