The Commonwealth Dispensary Association (CDA) is working collaboratively with adult-use dispensaries to reclassify, with restrictions, adult-use cannabis sales as an essential business for residents of Massachusetts during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Given the nature of the cannabis industry and its already extensive regulation, our shops are particularly well-suited to embrace and adhere to the social-distancing guidelines set forth by the CDC, WHO and Massachusetts Department of Public Health. For example, prior to the non-essential designation, shops, including ours, were already limiting the number of customers in stores, regularly sanitizing surfaces and utilizing reserve-ahead pickups.
Additionally, adult-use cannabis shops operate within the only industry currently ineligible for any federal aid or loan programs and rely entirely on the leadership and support of Massachusetts decision-makers and constituents to survive. Shuttering this entire revenue stream for a prolonged period of time could ultimately lend itself to the extinction of an industry we have done so much to support. Already, an estimated 2,000 jobs have been lost, adding to unemployment and further taxing Mass Healthcare.
If you are a Massachusetts state resident, please consider signing the petition on the CDA’s website below.
