Martha's Vineyard Dispensary to
Reopen as Commonwealth Reverses Position on Maritime Marijuana
Shipments Between Mainland and Islands of Massachusetts
BOSTON, June 24, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Massachusetts
Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) issued an administrative order
allowing for the first-ever maritime transport of state-legal
marijuana within the Commonwealth. This is part of the CCC's
settlement of a lawsuit Vicente LLP filed on behalf of licensed
marijuana dispensaries located on the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Since legalization, the CCC has
maintained a policy against the transport of marijuana between
mainland Massachusetts and its
islands, forcing island-based dispensaries to produce their own
inventory or buy it from an island cultivator.
Vicente LLP filed the lawsuit on behalf of Patient Centric of
Martha's Vineyard Ltd. d/b/a Island Time and The Green Lady
Dispensary, Inc. against the CCC on May
21 after wholesale marijuana shortages threatened Island
Time's survival as well as Martha's
Vineyard's legal cannabis market at large. Nine days after
Vicente LLP filed suit, the CCC voted to enter settlement
negotiations with Vicente's clients to allow shipment of marijuana
over intrastate waterways—a historic win for state sovereignty and
marijuana access.
"The first-of-its-kind decision will reinvigorate the marijuana
industries on Martha's Vineyard
and Nantucket, opening the door to
more jobs and a wider tax base for the hospitality-driven islands,"
said Adam Fine, Managing Partner of
Vicente LLP's Boston office and
co-counsel for the plaintiffs. "Most importantly, our client Island
Time will be able to reopen its doors with a consistent supply of
cannabis products and provide its customers with access to safe and
tested adult-use products as well as the medicines that patients
rely upon. This settlement ensures that Martha's Vineyard's legal cannabis market will
remain available to island residents and summer visitors alike."
"The legal issue in this case highlights the longstanding
conflict between state and federal regulations regarding cannabis
transportation," explains Vicente LLP Partner and co-counsel for
the plaintiffs, Tim Swain. "Cannabis
companies operate in highly complex business environments and this
case validates a critical right to receive wholesale supply
sufficient to operate a legal business."
"The outcome of this lawsuit will set a new standard for how
cannabis transportation rules are interpreted and enforced and
provide precedent for other businesses in similar situations," said
Swain, who directs Vicente LLP's Litigation Practice Group.
The case is Patient Centric of Martha's Vineyard Ltd. v.
Cannabis Control Commission, case number 2484CV01337 in the Suffolk
County Superior Court for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Vicente LLP Partner
Meg Nash assisted with this
case.
About Vicente LLP
Vicente LLP is the premier cannabis and psychedelics law firm.
Since 2010, the firm has been helping clients navigate laws and
regulations, build and grow businesses, and shape public policy to
advance the legal marijuana, hemp, and psychedelics fields across
the globe. See VicenteLLP.com.
Media Contact: Rebecca
Rutenberg
(617) 934-2121
r.rutenberg@vicentellp.com
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SOURCE Vicente LLP