Cannabis Control Commission Approves Draft Social Consumption Regulations

After rigorous debate, changes made to regulations to ensure safe rollout of on-site cannabis consumption businesses and events in Massachusetts

WORCESTER—The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (Commission) voted 3-0 on Tuesday to approve draft social consumption regulations, marking the end of an intensive review period in which Commissioners and staff made crucial changes to ensure a safe, successful rollout of the new license types.

Approval of the draft regulations—which include rules around what will be the first-ever regulated on-site cannabis-consumption events in the Commonwealth—kicks off the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s promulgation process, including a public comment period, public hearing, and final Commission vote in the fall.

Executive Director Travis Ahern, Commissioners Kimberly Roy, Bruce Stebbins, and Ava Callender Concepcion, and General Counsel Kajal Chattopadhyay discuss regulatory changes to the state’s social consumption licenses on Monday, July 28. (Cannabis Control Commission photo)

An internal Commission working group led by Acting Chair Bruce Stebbins and former commissioner Nurys Camargo began its work in 2023, holding a series of public listening sessions on social consumption across the state. Working group members also met with stakeholders – including prospective businesses, equity licensees, law enforcement groups, municipal officials, and state leaders – and studied social consumption establishments in California, Michigan, Nevada, and Colorado, among other states.

The working group in December unveiled three different social consumption licenses:  

• Supplemental, for existing Marijuana Establishments (MEs) to add on-site consumption into their operations;  
• Hospitality, for new or existing non-cannabis businesses to host consumption activities in partnership with qualifying MEs; and  
• Event Organizer, for qualifying MEs to organize and host temporary consumption events.

Following the approval and implementation of Hospitality licenses, the three proposed models will be exclusive to Social Equity Businesses, Social Equity Program Participants, Certified Economic Empowerment Priority Applicants, Microbusinesses, and Craft Marijuana Cooperatives for 60 months.

 “This is a monumental day for the Massachusetts adult-use cannabis industry and is the culmination of years of hard work shaping these new licenses with input from stakeholders across the state,” Acting Chair Bruce Stebbins said. “We look forward to the final steps in this process, including the upcoming public comment opportunities. We want to hear from as many people as possible to make the Massachusetts social consumption model a leader in the nation.”

“This social consumption proposal is a meaningful step forward in fulfilling our mission to create a more equitable cannabis industry that encourages full participation by people harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement,” Commissioner Ava Callender Concepcion said. “These licenses will be exclusive to participants in our equity programs, and we are looking forward to offering entrepreneurs a low-barrier way into the industry with the Hospitality license type.”

“During the last few months, Commissioners have been going line-by-line through the social consumption regulations to ensure we are expanding the cannabis industry in a sustainable, safe way,” Commissioner Kimberly Roy said. “Public safety was an integral part of the deliberative process, and we’ve built in initial safeguards aimed to help prevent over-consumption, including requiring numerous public health and safety SOPs by licensees, special training for employees to help detect impairment, banning alcohol in the consumption areas, and requiring transportation plans for each business, among other rules.”

Since December, Commissioners and staff have held more than half a dozen public meetings as well as an informal public comment period to review social consumption regulations, leading to the following updates to the original proposal:

Marijuana Event Organizer (MEO) License 

• MEO licensees will be required to secure local permits from the host city or town for a given event before seeking Commission approval of an Event Plan; 
• Events will be limited to no more than 24 single days of permitted sales activity during a calendar year and no more than five consecutive days of sales activity at any temporary event; and 
• Municipalities will have authority over time, place, and manner of events, similar to a One-Day Permit issued by municipalities through the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.  

Agent Badging 

• The social consumption regulatory update will also incorporate changes to badging in the Massachusetts cannabis industry. Employees, otherwise known as Registered Agents, will only be required to hold one badge per employer, a change from the previous practice of maintaining a separate badge for every licensee at which they are employed; and  
• Independent Testing Laboratory employees will have the opportunity to renew badges every three years, in line with all other Registered Agents.

Food Service 

• For the first time in the Massachusetts industry, this regulatory update will explicitly permit MEs to sell non-infused food and drink items that are pre-packaged and shelf-stable; and 
• Hospitality Social Consumption licensees may also seek permits from local or state authorities to serve non-shelf stable food alongside shelf-stable items.  

Following Tuesday’s vote, the Commission will implement any ministerial changes from the public meeting, file the approved draft regulations with the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Regulations Division, and publish them on the Commission website. In the coming weeks, the Commission will accept public comments as written testimony and host a public hearing to enable constituents and stakeholders to weigh in. Additional details about the process and deadlines will be announced as part of the August 14 public meeting. After reviewing comments, the Commission will reconvene to vote on final regulations.

Social consumption was part of the ballot measure approved by voters in 2016 legalizing adult-use marijuana and have been incorporated into the agency’s regulations as early as 2019 but critical changes to state law in 2022 were necessary before the latest regulatory process could begin towards ultimately enabling the license type to commence operations.

Information about upcoming Commission meetings and public hearings can be found on the calendar page at MassCannabisControl.com, by contacting the Commission by phone (774-415-0200) or email (Commission@CCCMass.com), or following the agency on Facebook, LinkedIn, and  X.

###