Regulators are eyeing a three-year extension to the period that cannabis delivery licenses are restricted to social equity applicants, but businesses and advocates want a lengthier extension to make up for the program's shortfalls.
"We're struggling, we're fighting to stay open," Ruben Seyde, founder and CEO of Delivered Inc., said during a public hearing Monday. Social equity applicants are those who have been disproportionately affected by previous marijuana prohibition and enforcement activities.
If the delivery exclusivity period ends "sooner than later," Seyde said, then many licensees wouldn't have an opportunity to stay open past the period's end "because we haven't had a chance to solidify our businesses."
Seyde and other license holders suggested the period be extended for at least another five years to allow businesses to get a better foothold in the industry. The exclusivity period was established in 2022 and is set to expire April 1. In 2025, the Cannabis Control Commission extended the period by one year and in January, the CCC took an initial vote to extend the period by another three years — until April 2029.
Read more at The Boston Globe
