CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) — Harvard and MIT’s hometown will consider applications for recreational marijuana businesses after all.
Officials in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced late Thursday that they won’t hold off on accepting and processing applicants seeking host community agreements with the city.
The city didn’t elaborate on why it reversed its position from last Friday, when it said it would no longer consider the agreements until a court challenge over its new marijuana permitting process was resolved, a process that could take months.
Cambridge is appealing a state judge’s decision temporarily overturning a key part of the new approvals process meant to prioritize black and minority-owned businesses.
Specifically, the permitting process creates a two-year period in which only marijuana businesses approved under the state’s equity programs are eligible.
The programs are designed to give those disproportionately affected by the war on drugs, such as minority communities, priority in the marijuana licensing process.
Black and Latino groups have voiced their frustration at the slow pace of approvals for minority-owned businesses in Massachusetts and nationwide.
But a company hoping to open a recreational marijuana store in the city sued, arguing the provision violated the state’s cannabis law.
Massachusetts has more than 30 retail pot locations, but none are in Cambridge or neighboring Boston.
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