WE ARE A group of owner-operators of minority-owned, women-owned, social equity, and economic empowerment cannabis businesses from across the Commonwealth and have deep concern about our ability to survive under the currently outdated laws and regulations.  

Massachusetts once stood at the forefront of cannabis equity reform. We were the first state to create a social equity program. However, businesses like ours urgently need relief and support to survive in an incredibly challenging market. 

We’ve built businesses that hire from our communities, reinvest locally, and model what social equity and economic empowerment can look like, but we’re barely surviving due to oversaturation and oversupply. We need laws and regulations that enable us to thrive —not just survive — and give us a fair shot at growth and sustainability. 

With the current limit of three licenses for any owner, we cannot structure models for growth or provide financial security for small owner-operated businesses. We also cannot raise capital based on the negative narrative around the market. The numbers don’t work unless you’re a vertically integrated or multi-state operator with better profit margins in neighboring states. 

That’s why we support the recent redraft legislation, titled An Act Modernizing the Commonwealth’s Cannabis Laws, released by the House members of the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy. We commend House leaders for recognizing the harsh reality that many of us operating businesses in Massachusetts are closing, and for putting forth changes that will give us breathing room and a future. 

This bill offers something we have not seen in a long time — a policy that actually reflects the realities of running a cannabis business in today’s market. 

One of the most important reforms it includes is the gradual increase of the retail license cap from three to six. Lacking the ability to scale, we’re permanently disadvantaged in every negotiation with landlords, investors, and suppliers. The current cap stunts our businesses before they can grow. 

Without bankruptcy protections, some of our businesses will need to go into receivership, and some may even need to file for personal bankruptcy — losing homes and livelihoods. Increasing the license cap gives struggling businesses the option to sell and protect personal, family, and community assets.  

The bill also embraces equity joint ventures and employee ownership, paving the way for new investment dollars to come back into the local cannabis market. This gives social equity businesses a path to new sources of capital to stabilize and scale their businesses while traditional sources are still out of reach. 

Critical guardrails requiring audits of business ownership and strict enforcement of the license caps are also included in the bill. These reforms ensure that changes to the licensing structures will uplift the people and communities they were meant to benefit. 

The legislation also increases the adult-use possession and purchase limits from one ounce to two — which is seemingly small, but incredibly impactful. It is a necessary step that will help consumers access safe, tested products, boost legal sales, and chip away at the illicit market that undercuts us. 

Finally, this bill ends the mandatory vertical integration requirements in the medical cannabis program. We need to allow all small and disadvantaged businesses to participate in the medical market without requiring them to control the whole cannabis supply chain or demonstrate that they have capital resources of at least half a million dollars.

For medical patients in cities like Boston and Springfield, vertical integration requirements are a huge barrier to access to medical cannabis, which is sold tax-free. This change opens the door for those purchases for those with medical needs in communities with large populations with limited disposable income. 

This legislation is not a perfect bill, but it delivers meaningful, immediate, and enforceable reforms that will help small, minority-owned cannabis businesses survive today and grow tomorrow. 

We didn’t enter this industry to be shut out from realizing the original intent of the first social equity and economic empowerment programs in the nation. We entered it to lead and build businesses that reflect our communities and repair decades of harm. This bill gives us a chance to do that.

Payton Shubrick is CEO of 6Bricks, a family-owned adult-use dispensary in Springfield. Gyasi Sellers is founder of Treevit, a licensed delivery operator based in Athol. Tito Jackson is CEO of Apex Noire, an adult-use dispensary in Boston. Dennis Benzan is co-owner of Western Front, which operates three adult-use dispensaries across Chelsea and Cambridge.