Massachusetts
About the Data: Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission’s (CCC) Municipal Tracker identifies the zoning and bylaws of adult-use cannabis for the state’s 351 cities and towns. Thirty-eight percent of Massachusetts cities and towns ban either all cannabis businesses or just retail operations.
The breakdown:
- 119 cities and towns (34% of all municipalities) ban all cannabis businesses
- 13 specifically banned retail; these 13 plus the 119 overall bans totals the 132 municipalities (38%) that ban retail sales
That number could be slightly higher, however, as 10 cities/towns are noted as having no zoning in place to regulate businesses, so there are no active businesses there. (“Zoning in place” means “the municipality has enacted zoning ordinances or bylaws governing the operations of Marijuana Establishments,” according to the CCC’s tracker. And 23 cities/towns are marked "no response,” which means “the municipality in question did not respond to the survey or follow-up communications.”
Many municipalities also capped the number of licenses that are allowed within their jurisdictions.
Data Source: CCC
About Massachusetts’ Adult-Use Cannabis Program: Massachusetts became the seventh state to legalize adult-use cannabis when voters approved ballot Question 4 in the November 2016 election. Adult-use sales began Nov. 20, 2018.