Massachusetts: In Exchange for Approving Pot Dispensary Applications, Cities Demand Lucrative Cash Perks
Host agreements signed between cities and marijuana dispensaries are supposed to smooth out any issues with the new business opening. But more towns are asking for cash up front and a sales cut in exchange for an essential part of the license application.
Before Worcester’s first medical marijuana dispensary sells one gram, city coffers will be on their way to seeing a lot more green.
That’s thanks to a mostly unintended consequence of one piece of Massachusetts’ dispensary application: a letter of non-opposition. In the letter, dispensary operators must show that the city where they want to open doesn’t oppose their existence. And some cities have been using that requirement as leverage to extract perks in the form of cash, donations and other support.
The head of the group that organized the successful 2012 vote to legalize medical marijuana in the state says the agreements are a form of extortion....
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