PROVIDENCE – The Cannabis Control Commission on Friday voted to proceed with a draft regulation that will govern the selection process for new dispensaries.
The CCC has been finalizing regulations according to topic in a "piecemeal" fashion, approving packaging and labeling regulations in August.
Chairwoman Kim Ahern said the commission hopes to prevent "further delay of the industry," acknowledging growing criticism from some corners that regulators have been slow to roll out the rules.
“We are trying to learn what we don’t know," she said.
CCC Chief Legal Counsel Mariana Ormonde presented the draft proposal for consideration that would employ a "hybrid randomized selection process" rather than a comprehensive merit-based structure, which the office said would help prevent some of the challenges, legal and economic, that have hamstrung other states.
Ormonde said lawsuits, many without merit, have stalled cannabis industries from New Jersey to Alabama.
“Litigation can stop the entire licensing process,” she said. “This can lead to months or years of delay.”
The draft regulation includes prescreening applicants and have viable candidates placed into a pool for a randomized selection.
To address a concern over having too many dispensaries, these lotteries would be “only in zones where the demand for retail licenses outweighs the supply of available licenses,” according to Ormonde's presentation, referring to the six established regions carved out in state law.
"Rapid expansion of licensing is taking place in many of our states,” she said. “We want to make sure, hopefully, we don’t have some of those same pitfalls.”
However, though he voted to approve, commissioner Robert Jacquard questioned the proposal, arguing instead for a completely merit based system to ensure market competitiveness and prevent an inflated number of applicants.
The Rhode Island Cannabis Act, passed in May 2022, allowed for retail sales of marijuana at seven medical dispensaries and promised an eventual expansion through the issuance of 24 additional retail licenses.
But the act left how this would be determined up to the CCC, a point made by Commissioner Layi Oduyingbo.
“I interpret it that the commission will make the decision on the best process,” he said.
Jacquard said that if the General Assembly wanted a randomized test system, they would have spelled it out in the law.
"The legislative intent is not to have a lottery system,” he said.
Meanwhile, many of the 60 licensed cannabis cultivators in the state say they are struggling and need more than seven retailers to sell to.
Karen Ballou, chief financial officer at CultivatingRI, reiterated the cultivators frustration.
"The cost of everything is going up," she said. "The only place we have seen deflation is in the cannabis industry."
Christopher Allen is a PBN staff writer. You may contact him at Allen@PBN.com.
