MassLive | Opportunities available to veterans in Massachusetts’ $2 billion regulated cannabis industry (Guest viewpoint)

By Commissioners Bruce Stebbins and Kimberly Roy

This Veterans Day, ahead of the three-year anniversary of legal adult-use cannabis sales in Massachusetts, it seems timely to highlight the growing opportunities that the regulated industry offers servicemen and women across our state. In fact, the Act To Ensure Safe Access to Marijuana, enacted by the Legislature and Governor Charlie Baker in 2017, includes specific mandates to ensure veterans can fully participate in this marketplace.

Rightfully so: after all that our veterans have sacrificed for our freedom, they deserve special access to business ownership and good jobs. The Commonwealth’s cannabis industry offers that and more: since the first Marijuana Retailers opened on the East Coast in Massachusetts on November 20, 2018, gross sales surpassed $2 billion this past September, and already eclipsed $1 billion this calendar year alone. Every new company that comes online brings diverse job opportunities, including roles within licensed facilities, and work for ancillary contractors that can provide services to their businesses.

Each new Marijuana Establishment is mandated to submit to the Cannabis Control Commission (Commission) a Diversity Plan to support Massachusetts’ equity goals. Every public meeting, Commissioners hold licensees responsible to ensure those include intentional efforts to hire women, minorities, residents with disabilities, LGBTQ citizens, and, of course, veterans, in accordance with our Commission guidance.

As a result, hundreds of veterans have registered as Marijuana Establishment Agents in Massachusetts so far. And, once they are hired, they receive mandatory training that ensures licensees run safely and effectively, but also opens the door for career advancement in an up-and-coming industry taking root in 18 states nationwide.

Read the rest of the Commissioners’ op-ed here: https://www.masslive.com/opinion/2021/11/opportunities-available-to-veterans-in-massachusetts-2-billion-regulated-cannabis-industry-guest-viewpoint.html