MEREDITH, N.H. — Martha’s Vineyard was the pot is running outjust as thousands of summer vacationers began to arrive.
But on Thursday, Massachusetts regulators averted a cannabis drought by issuing an administrative order allowing pot to be shipped to the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket for the first time.
On Martha’s Vineyard, one dispensary temporarily closed in May after running out of marijuana, and another said it would close in September.
The Island Time dispensary had filed a lawsuit against the state Cannabis Control Commission. The other dispensary, Fine Fettle, was the only cannabis grower on the island and had all the cannabis available for sale. But Fine Fettle had said the small farm was no longer economically viable and was closing.
There are more than 230 registered medical users and thousands of recreational users on Martha’s Vineyard. The year-round population of 20,000 people grows to more than 100,000 in the summer, as many wealthy people move to vacation homes.
although Massachusetts voters chose to legalize marijuana more than seven years ago, the state commission had previously not allowed the transport of cannabis to the islands. It had taken the position that transporting marijuana across the ocean — by boat or plane — risked running afoul of federal law.
To avoid any federal complications, the commission stipulates in its administrative decision that the route by which the pot is to be transported to the islands must remain entirely within the territorial waters of the state. That means the marijuana cannot be transported by ferry, but must instead be shipped on alternative, approved boats.
Island Time owner Geoff Rose said he was nothing short of ecstatic.
“I can’t wait to open again. My staff is excited,” Rose said. “It’s okay.”
He said he was still working out the details of the delivery, but hoped his pharmacy doors would reopen sometime next week.
Adam Fine, an attorney for Vicente who is representing the pharmacy, said they were prepared to drop the lawsuit once Island Time’s delivery boat was inspected, which he said would happen on Friday.
Three of the five commissioners visited Martha’s Vineyard last week to hear directly from affected residents.
The commission’s acting chairwoman, Ava Callender Concepcion, said Thursday that she had heard from users on Martha’s Vineyard about how they might be forced to buy the drug on the black market.
‘I only speak for myself. It wasn’t a question of if, but how we would do it,” she says. “You never want to put consumers and patients in a place where they don’t have access to medicines.”
She said the committee also didn’t want the pharmacies to close, especially with the busy summer season approaching.
“That is detrimental to our entire mission and the way we operate,” she said.
She said the committee had contacted federal authorities and no one opposed the proceedings.
The tension between conflicting state and federal regulations is playing out across the country as states have legalized marijuana. California lawfor example, expressly allows cannabis to be transported to stores on Catalina Island Hawaii last year has addressed its own difficulties in transporting medical marijuana between islands by changing a law to allow it.
Federal authorities have also changed their position. The Department of Justice last month moved to reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug, but still not legal for recreational use.
Meanwhile, New Hampshire remains New England’s only backer against legalizing recreational marijuana.
Legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in New Hampshire died in the House of Representatives on Thursday, though efforts in the state went further than ever before.
Previously, the State House passed several legalization bills, but these were blocked in the Senate. This year, both chambers passed bills, but the House of Representatives rejected a compromise on the chambers’ individual bills.