The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission (CCC) updated state regulations to allow transportation of cannabis product across waterways to island communities after a Martha’s Vineyard retailer sued the CCC, forcing the agency’s regulatory hand.
The state previously banned transport of cannabis, contributing to a supply problem on Martha’s Vineyard as the island’s sole cultivator announced its impending closure later this fall.
The new regulations, which took effect June 14, allow the transport of cannabis to Massachusetts islands. The transporter does not have to be an agent of the cannabis company transferring the products. Unlike transport along Massachusetts roadways, water transportation routes would not have to be randomized, but departure dates and times will remain random.
The new rules do not necessarily exclude a federal crackdown on transportation, which the CCC warned about when issuing the new rules.
“I’m personally excited, and relieved,” said Geoff Rose, owner of Patient Centric of Martha’s Vineyard Ltd., doing business as Island Time. “I’m excited for the patients. I’m excited for our customers. I appreciate the fact that the commission took the action that they did. This is going to ultimately result in greater product, greater choices and greater value for patients and customers alike.”
Much like road vehicles, seaworthy vessels are not allowed to place logos for their cannabis business on the exterior.
Cannabis businesses on the islands will also no longer be permitted to provide their own in-house lab testing. Prior to the change, businesses on the islands were not able to legally transport samples to the mainland for testing. With no independent labs on the islands, they were allowed to test their own products as long as those test results were certified by an outside lab. With legal transportation, they will now have access to testing labs.
Lawsuit challenged water transport ban
Rose made a deal in early 2024 with a mainland cannabis producer to transport product to his Martha’s Vineyard shop. The supplier sent a vehicle to the island on a ferry, and Island Time immediately began selling the product.
On March 15, the CCC notified Rose that he was in violation of state regulations, which at the time, prohibited transport of cannabis to the islands over water. Rose sued in Suffolk Superior Court, along with Nantucket-based The Green Lady, demanding a court order barring the state from enforcing its ban on cannabis transport to islands.
“The Commission’s arbitrary, unreasonable, and inconsistent policy against transport over state territorial waters and threats of enforcement impermissibly isolate island-based licensees from the Commonwealth’s cannabis industry without any rational basis and subject them to extreme financial burdens not endured by their mainland competitors,” said the 29-page complaint.
In recent weeks, the CCC has taken on the problem with supply on Massachusetts islands, including holding a public hearing on Martha’s Vineyard.
Following the CCC’s vote on June 14, the plaintiffs in Patient Centric of Martha’s Vineyard, et al v. Cannabis Control Commission, notified the court that they had reached a settlement, which effectively ends the case.
