Meredith Freed, a cannabis patient for 10 years, lives near two dispensaries in Swampscott — one within walking distance — but she has to drive to Chelsea to get her medicine tax-free.
Why it matters: The state’s stringent requirements to operate a medical cannabis dispensary, which recreational adult-use cannabis businesses don’t have to meet, have caused the medical market to shrink, advocates and patients say.
Between the lines: It’s the latest example of a flaw in state cannabis laws and rules that have gone untouched for years amid infighting and turnover at the Cannabis Control Commission.
- The landscape has only grown more challenging with declining cannabis prices and increasing operational costs, owners say.
- Freed, who takes cannabis for pain related to post-herpetic neuralgia, and other patients say they travel long distances for cannabis or rely on home-grown flower as medical dispensaries change hands or close.
Flashback: The Department of Public Health launched the medical program in 2014 with several requirements for medical dispensaries.
- These rules remain in place today, even though regulators who later stood up the legal adult-use cannabis market created less stringent requirements for recreational sales.
Zoom in: Medical cannabis operators can only obtain a license in Massachusetts if they open a dispensary, a cultivation center and a manufacturing facility, accomplishing vertical integration.
- They must pay an annual license fee of $50,000. (Adult-use operators pay $10,000 the first year, then $1,500 annually.)
- Applicants must also have at least $500,000 in the bank to prove they can afford to operate.
Threat level: Dispensaries have tightened their belts or closed shop since prices started dropping in 2022, including medical shops.
- At least a dozen medical dispensaries have closed in the past year.
What they’re saying: “My frustration is that these issues have been at the forefront for years,” Freed told Axios. “I have been testifying, emailing, for years, and there’s still nothing happening.”…