Massachusetts has been slow to roll out Amsterdam-style cannabis lounges, but one city may get to vote on the idea this November.
In Haverhill, cannabis entrepreneur Caroline Pineau announced Thursday she had collected enough signatures to put approval for social consumption facilities, like one she has started building at her Stem dispensary, to voters as a ballot question.
The zoning required for such lounges has yet to be implemented in any towns, though communities have been able to opt in by town meeting or city council vote since Jan 2.
Various cannabis entrepreneurs have invested heavily in social consumption businesses after the Cannabis Control Commission approved regulations for the cafes last December.
Pineau broke ground on a more than $2 million renovation of her dispensary to add a lounge this year, but she said she’s been stymied by local officials who aren’t interested in allowing the cafes to move forward.
“We hope to continue working with the city behind the scenes to develop the ordinance,” she said. “But seeing as the City Council has taken no action we wanted to take this to the voters.”
City officials did not immediate respond to a request for comment Friday.
The city recently certified over 3,500 of the more than 5,000 signatures she submitted, according to a release.
Some towns have reported opting in to the new rules, but the CCC’s zoning tracker shows no communities have put the changes into effect.
The social consumption question is the only local question slated for Haverhill’s ballot, Pineau said.
If approved it would be the first time social consumption was approved by local voter referendum.
Haverhill has four dispensaries, but Pineau’s is the only one that would be eligible to add a cannabis lounge if her measure passes, as she’s the only city business owner in the state’s cannabis social equity program.
The equity program aims to bolster communities disproportionately impacted by marijuana policing, for at least the first three years.
Still, the Cannabis Control Commission has also yet to make such license applications available. Regulators said they are still hammering out the details, while municipal leaders say they are waiting for the licenses to drop before beginning the opt-in process.
The local question will appear alongside nine statewide ballot questions, one of which aims to repeal recreational marijuana sales across Massachusetts. That question would supersede Pineau’s measure if passed.
“We are beyond happy that so many Haverhill voters made their opinion known by signing our petition to bring safe, regulated social consumption to the city,” Pineau said in the release. “They recognize the basic fairness of giving cannabis consumers similar options as those going into a restaurant or café for a cocktail.”
Social consumption was technically legalized in 2016 along with recreational sales, but didn’t have the framework to start rolling out until 2022, when lawmakers passed additional reforms.
Bryan Hecht can be reached at bryan.hecht@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @bhechtjournalism.
