Massachusetts 2025-2026 Regular Session

Massachusetts House Bill H171 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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2	2	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2544 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
3	3	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 171
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Dawne Shand
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act to modernize the cannabis regulatory environment.
13	13	_______________
14	14	PETITION OF:
15	15	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Dawne Shand1st Essex1/16/2025 1 of 8
16	16	HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2544 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
17	17	HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 171
18	18	By Representative Shand of Newburyport, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 171) of
19	19	Dawne Shand relative to the cannabis regulatory environment. Cannabis Policy.
20	20	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
21	21	_______________
22	22	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
23	23	(2025-2026)
24	24	_______________
25	25	An Act to modernize the cannabis regulatory environment.
26	26	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
27	27	of the same, as follows:
28	28	1 SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 94G of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
29	29	2amended by inserting before the definition of “Cannabinoid” the following definition:-
30	30	3 “Agent registration card”, the identification card currently and validly issued by the
31	31	4 commission to a marijuana establishment or laboratory employee or agent, but not to a
32	32	5licensee, which shall entitle the holder to perform services marijuana establishments or
33	33	6laboratories.
34	34	7 SECTION 2. Section 1 of chapter 94G of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby
35	35	8amended by inserting after the definition of “Mycotoxin” the following definitions:-
36	36	9 “Owner”, any person or entity owning directly or indirectly through parent or holding
37	37	10company, or otherwise, 10 percent or more of the interest in a licensee, 2 of 8
38	38	11 “Person or Entity Having Direct Control”, any person or entity having direct control over
39	39	12the operations of a marijuana establishment, which satisfies one or more of the following criteria:
40	40	13 (a) An owner;
41	41	14 (b) A person or entity that possesses a voting interest of 10 percent or greater in a
42	42	15marijuana establishment;
43	43	16 (c) A close associate;
44	44	17 (d) A person or entity that has the right to control or authority, through contract or
45	45	18otherwise including, but not limited to: (1) To appoint more than 50% of the directors or their
46	46	19equivalent; (2) To appoint or remove corporate-level officers or their equivalent; or (3) To earn
47	47	2010 percent or more of the profits or collect more than 10 percent of the dividends.
48	48	21 (e) A court appointee or assignee pursuant to an agreement for a general assignment or
49	49	22assignment for the benefit of creditors; or
50	50	23 (f) A third-party technology platform provider that possesses any financial interest in a
51	51	24marijuana delivery licensee including, but not limited to, a delivery agreement or other
52	52	25agreement for services.
53	53	26 “Person or Entity Having Indirect Control”, any person or entity having indirect control
54	54	27over operations of a marijuana establishment. It specifically includes any person or entity having
55	55	28direct control over an indirect holding or parent company of the applicant, and the chief
56	56	29executive officer and executive director of those companies, or any person or entity in a position
57	57	30indirectly to control the decision-making of a marijuana establishment. 3 of 8
58	58	31 SECTION 3. Section 4 of chapter 94G subsection (a1/2)(xxix), as so appearing, is hereby
59	59	32amended by inserting in subsection (a1/2)(xxix)(6) after the word “marijuana” the following
60	60	33words:-
61	61	34 ;provided that the commission shall not prohibit advertising, marketing and branding of
62	62	35sales, discounts, and customer loyalty programs within a Marijuana Establishment, through a
63	63	36Delivery service, on an internet website maintained by a Marijuana Establishment, or through an
64	64	37opt-in email marketing campaign;
65	65	38 SECTION 4. Section 7 of chapter 94G, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking
66	66	39paragraph 1 of subsection (a) and inserting in place thereof the following words:-
67	67	40 (1) possessing, using, purchasing, processing and/or manufacturing not more than 3
68	68	41ounces or less of marijuana, except that not more than 15 grams of marijuana may be in the form
69	69	42of marijuana concentrate and not more than 1.5 grams of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) may be
70	70	43contained in a single or multiple edible, beverage or other ingestible products.
71	71	44 SECTION 5. Section 12 of chapter 94G, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting
72	72	45the following subsection:-
73	73	46 (i)(1) Any employee, agent, volunteer or other person must register with the commission
74	74	47prior to engaging in any on-site services to a marijuana establishment or independent testing
75	75	48laboratory. The commission shall issue a single agent registration card to an individual, which
76	76	49agent registration card shall entitle the holder to provide such services at one or more marijuana
77	77	50establishments or independent testing laboratories. An agent registration card shall be valid for
78	78	51six years from the date of issuance. An agent shall be required to sign and submit a self-
79	79	52attestation form to the commission every 2 years from the date of issuance to verify the agent’s 4 of 8
80	80	53compliance with all agent registration card requirements. A licensee shall verify the validity of
81	81	54the agent registration cards.
82	82	55 (2) The commission shall not require a fee for agent registration card requests made by
83	83	56any social equity program participants and/or verified employee(s) of any social equity
84	84	57businesses.
85	85	58 SECTION 6. Section 15 of chapter 94G, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting
86	86	59in the first sentence of subsection (a) paragraph (1) after the word “resources” the following
87	87	60words:-
88	88	61 ;provided that the maximum batch size required by the Commission shall not be smaller
89	89	62than 40 pounds.
90	90	63 SECTION 7. Section 15 of chapter 94G, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting
91	91	64in the last sentence of subsection (a) paragraph (1) after the word “ingredients.” the following
92	92	65words:-
93	93	66 The commission, in collaboration with Independent Testing Labs and Marijuana
94	94	67Establishments, shall review such regulations and testing protocols, including, but not limited to,
95	95	68its testing batch size requirements, residual and pesticide limits, and “Total Viable Aerobic
96	96	69Bacteria (CFU/g)” and “Total Yeast and Mold (CFU/g)” tests, on an annual basis to ensure
97	97	70compliance with the most recent industry standards, research, data, and typical microbial
98	98	71composition in an outdoor grow in New England using best cultivation practices. The
99	99	72commission shall report its findings and plans to update such regulations and testing protocols to
100	100	73the relevant appointing authorities and the state legislature on a bi-annual basis. 5 of 8
101	101	74 SECTION 8. Section 15 of chapter 94G, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting
102	102	75in the first sentence of subsection (a) paragraph (1) after the word “ingredients.” the following
103	103	76words:-
104	104	77 “The commission shall not require testing of environmental media (e.g. soils, solid
105	105	78growing media, and water) beyond finished marijuana and marijuana product testing.”
106	106	79 SECTION 9. Section 16 of chapter 94G of the General Laws is hereby amended by
107	107	80striking out the existing language in its entirety and inserting in place thereof the following
108	108	81section:-
109	109	82 Section 16. (a) No Person or Entity having Direct or Indirect Control may become a
110	110	83licensee or Person or Entity having Direct or Indirect Control of more than 6 marijuana retailers,
111	111	843 medical marijuana treatment center licenses, 3 marijuana product manufacturer licenses and 3
112	112	85marijuana cultivator licenses; provided however that any licensee or any person or entity having
113	113	86direct or indirect control may become a person or entity having direct or indirect control of up to
114	114	874 additional marijuana retailer licenses or medical marijuana treatment center licenses if (i) such
115	115	88marijuana retailer licenses are majority owned by a social equity business, economic
116	116	89empowerment business, a Massachusetts Minority Business Enterprises (MBE), Women
117	117	90Business Enterprises (WBE), or Veteran Business Enterprises (VBE) with valid certification
118	118	91from the Supplier Diversity Office of the Massachusetts Operational Services Division as a
119	119	92Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE); and (ii) such person or entity owns directly or
120	120	93indirectly through a parent or holding company, trust, or otherwise, no more than 35 percent of
121	121	94the interest of the business; provided however that until 1-year from the passage of this Act, no
122	122	95Person or Entity having Direct or Indirect Control may become a Person or Entity having Direct 6 of 8
123	123	96or Indirect Control of more than 4 marijuana retailers, and until 2-years from the passage of this
124	124	97Act, no Person or Entity having Direct or Indirect Control may become a Person or Entity having
125	125	98Direct or Indirect Control of more than 5 marijuana retailers.
126	126	99 (b) The commission shall adopt regulations to establish requirements that a Person or
127	127	100Entity seeking to have Direct or Indirect Control of more than 3 marijuana retailers must
128	128	101purchase a marijuana establishment or medical marijuana treatment center license authorized to
129	129	102commence operations by the commission; provided that priority consideration is given to the
130	130	103purchase of such marijuana retailer licenses that are majority owned by a social equity business,
131	131	104economic empowerment business, a Massachusetts Minority Business Enterprises (MBE),
132	132	105Women Business Enterprises (WBE), or Veteran Business Enterprises (VBE) with valid
133	133	106certification from the Supplier Diversity Office of the Massachusetts Operational Services
134	134	107Division.
135	135	108 SECTION 10. Chapter 94G of the Massachusetts General Laws shall be amended by
136	136	109adding after Section 22, the following section:
137	137	110 Section 23.
138	138	111 (a) The Commission shall collect, compile, and make available to the public on its Open
139	139	112Data Platform, the following data from independent testing laboratories as defined in Section 15
140	140	113of this Chapter:
141	141	114 Industry average for,
142	142	115 1) Failure rates for Pesticides
143	143	116 2) Failure rates for Heavy metals 7 of 8
144	144	117 3) Failure rates for Microbiological contaminants
145	145	118 4) Failure rates for Residual solvents
146	146	119 5) Failure rates for Mycotoxins
147	147	120 6) Total THC for flower
148	148	121 7) Total THC for Marijuana Vaporizer Devices
149	149	122 8) Total THC for concentrates
150	150	123 Per licensed Independent Testing Laboratory, their average for
151	151	124 1) Failure rates for Pesticides
152	152	125 2) Failure rates for Heavy metals
153	153	126 3) Failure rates for Microbiological contaminants
154	154	127 4) Failure rates for Residual solvents
155	155	128 5) Failure rates for Mycotoxins
156	156	129 6) Total THC for flower
157	157	130 7) Total THC for Marijuana Vaporizer Devices
158	158	131 8) Total THC for concentrates
159	159	132 (b)The initial data report shall include all prior Independent Testing Laboratory data
160	160	133submitted to the Commission. The initial report shall be published per Independent Testing 8 of 8
161	161	134Laboratory per quarter inclusive of reports. Subsequent data reports shall be updated and
162	162	135published on a quarterly basis detailing information from the preceding quarter.
163	163	136 (c)The Commission shall investigate and publicly report the reason for the discrepancy
164	164	137for individual Independent Testing Laboratories that are statistically significant outliers in terms
165	165	138of their testing results.
166	166	139 (d)The Commission shall promulgate regulations in accordance with this section no later
167	167	140than one year after the effective date of this act.
168	168	141 SECTION 11. Section 34 of Chapter 94C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
169	169	142Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking the words “one ounce of marihuana” in line 18
170	170	143and inserting in place thereof the following words:- “three ounces of marijuana”.
171	171	144 SECTION 12. The commission shall promulgate or amend regulations as necessary to be
172	172	145consistent with Section 1-11 not later than 365 days from the effective date of this act.