POT PANEL GIVING LABS A LONG LOOK
OK needed to get retail rolling
Recreational marijuana regulators expect to deal with one of the last impediments to retail pot sales at their next meeting when they consider one or two applications for an independent testing lab.
Executive Director Shawn Collins of the Cannabis Control Commission said yesterday he hoped the ball would be rolling at the next meeting, planned for Aug. 23.
“Hopefully at the next meeting we will be able to bring one if not both for approval,” Collins said.
Applications for two additional independent testing labs have been started but are not complete, Collins told the commission.
So far, 12 applications for provisional licenses brought before the commission have been approved, but none of the retail businesses has been able to open up shop because state law requires everything that is sold to be tested for safety first. The delayed rollout has fueled concerns that the state may not reap the expected $63 million in revenue from the 17 percent tax added to retail pot sales.
Regulators yesterday voted to approve seven more provisional applications: three retail locations, two cultivation sites and two product manufacturing establishments. The applications cover locations in Wareham, Plymouth and Easthampton.
Commission Chairman Steven Hoffman said the staff has been in dialogue with the independent labs — who are already licensed to test medical marijuana — and expects the process to go “pretty much seamlessly.”
“I’m confident that we can turn them around pretty quickly from provisional to final (licenses) based on the fact that they are in business already,” he added.
Hoffman declined to set a time frame for when the labs would be licensed to test the recreational pot.
The commission also took up a discussion about oversight of host community agreements between municipalities and businesses.
Commissioner Shaleen Title said she’s seen about five host agreements that violate state law by seeking more than the allowed 3 percent of revenues from the pot companies. But the commission can’t interfere in the negotiations between the pot companies and the towns, it can only deny a final license if the agreement violated the law.
The commission plans to address at its next meeting how best to nudge applicants and towns toward lawful agreements.