Cannabis Market Profile – Massachusetts

Each week the EDGE Briefing will report on the market conditions in key cannabis markets across the country as we assess opportunities of interest to our investors in those markets.

This week’s focus…Massachusetts

While voter approval for opening the state for recreational cannabis use occurred back in 2016, dispensary and delivery options are now open, as of March, throughout the state. At a daily sales rate at the beginning of the year at over $2.8 million, when illegal sales are deducted that still puts the state, with its 700,000 potential users, on a path to become a $1 billion sales market this year. A major development in the state is that Massachusetts’ largest cannabis operator, NETA, and parent company Parallel, are preparing to go public after entering a SPAC agreement with Ceres Acquisition Corp.

In 2019, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission enacted new legislation that expanded cannabis business opportunities dramatically in the state.  As a result 724 licenses have now been awarded including 298 retailer, 221 cultivator, 170 manufacturer, 17 microbusiness, 9 transporter and 9 testing licenses.  One potential drawback is now under examination by the state.  That is, that medical marijuana operators are required to be completely vertically integrated.  Easing this requirement along with the other favorable conditions in the state mentioned here evince the fact that cannabis is rapidly becoming a major player in the state’s economy.