In Rhode Island, there could soon be a pot shop in a former Pizza Hut, an abandoned dry cleaners, or even where Benny's used to be. One business owner hopes to open a cannabis store in a historic building in Providence's financial district, while another is pitching an old bingo hall in Pawtucket.
The 97 applicants who want to open Rhode Island's first adult-use only marijuana shops are eyeing locations from Woonsocket to Westerly, hoping to cash in on a lucrative industry that, until now, has been open to few.
But nearly four years after the state legalized marijuana and set the wheels in motion to open 24 stores, state officials are considering changing course by potentially licensing fewer retailers — at least at first — as some fear Rhode Island could face the same problems as Massachusetts if too many stores open too fast. Massachusetts, which currently does not limit the total number of licenses issued for selling or growing, is considering a licensing freeze amid over-saturation and price drops of 70 percent.
"It's the last thing I want to happen in the Rhode Island market," said Edward Dow, chief executive of Solar Therapeutics, which has three dispensaries in Massachusetts and one in Rhode Island. "Don't do what Massachusetts and every other state has done."
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