Cannabis community host agreements being exploited by some Massachusetts cities and towns, advocates say
Updated May 12, 2021;
By Matt Murphy | State House News Service
Advocates, lawmakers and former regulators urged a legislative committee on Tuesday to provide more oversight of required contracts between municipalities and marijuana businesses, arguing that the system continues to be exploited by some cities and towns, which creates a barrier for small and minority owned businesses to get started in the industry.
The issue of host community agreements has been one fraught with tension as people in the industry have argued for years that negotiations are often “one-sided,” with the municipalities controlling all the leverage.
A new study that looked at hundreds of agreements between municipalities and marijuana businesses licensed to operate in those cities and towns found that cannabis companies have paid at least $2.46 million more than required under law, and that communities often have no plan for how to spend the money they collect.
The study, which was paid for by the Cannabis Business Association and conducted by Jeffrey Moyer of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, reviewed 460 host community agreements, which are required by law as a condition for licensure. Though the payments to cities and towns are not supposed to exceed 3 percent of a marijuana business s gross sales, researchers found they often do.
A new study that looked at hundreds of agreements between municipalities and marijuana businesses licensed to operate in those cities and towns found that cannabis companies have paid at least $2.46 million more than required under law, and that communities often have no plan for how to spend the money they collect.
The study, which was paid for by the Cannabis Business Association and conducted by Jeffrey Moyer of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, reviewed 460 host community agreements, which are required by law as a condition for licensure.
Though the payments to cities and towns are not supposed to exceed 3% of a marijuana business s gross sales, researchers found they often do.