As cannabis shops begin to come down from high, buffer zones and social consumption draw looks

For Cambridge business owners looking to exit the cannabis industry, the steps remain hazy.

Now that Cambridge has 18 current or imminent pot businesses, “the landscape has really changed significantly,” mayor E. Denise Simmons said last month. Among the problems owners describe: an oversaturation of sometimes aging and middling product that must be priced down – yet may still be beaten in price by street sellers who don’t need to pay rent or taxes. 

One way entrepreneurs could get a return on investments of several years and hundreds of thousands of dollars is to sell their businesses. In Cambridge, that exit could be complicated by a zoning law that prevents cannabis retailers from opening within 1,800 feet of one another unless both have an economic empowerment designation or are eligible for the social equity program – distinctions that let Cambridge residents who face socioeconomic business barriers jump the state Cannabis Control Commission’s licensing queue.

“The 1,800-square-foot rule is now having unintended consequences. It limits the ability of existing cannabis business owners, many of whom took great financial risk and were among the first to step into the industry, to sell their businesses to other Black-owned, women-owned or veteran-owned businesses,” Simmons said. “Unlike other industries, where owners have the flexibility to exit or transition their businesses in a way that preserves its value, these entrepreneurs are shackled.”

A meeting March 20 served as an open forum for canna-retailers to come together and debate the best ways to allow healthy competition in the city without stifling established businesses.

Sieh Samura, the chief executive and owner of Yamba Market in Central Square, Cambridge’s first recreational dispensary, described a journey to launch that was “unforgivable” and “like quicksand.” Yamba opened five years after Massachusetts legalized recreational marijuana.

“It’s clear something needs to be done,” Samura said.

Samura said he supports the removal of the buffer zone only if Cambridge enacts marijuana retailer license caps to limit the amount of cannabis competition. The move would support already open businesses, he said.

Christina DiLisio, the city’s economic development specialist for cannabis, agreed that at one time buffer zoning made sense for “concerns that without it we would have clustering, we would have saturation.” It was a time, she said, that there wasn’t “an appetite for a cap.”

Some support for rule removal

Residents and business owners delivered mixed public comments. Some expressed support for removing the buffer zone, pointing to the opportunity for businesses to franchise; others feared Cantabrigians’ businesses would quickly face competition from national retailers.

“As an economic empowerment priority applicant, we’ve endured significant bureaucratic hurdles, including special permits and host community agreements, which new entrants will not face. Allowing larger entities unrestricted access to retail space severely disadvantages equity applicants like us,” said Michael Latulippe, a partner at Blue River Terps, a locally owned cannabis dispensary in Cambridge. “We have navigated over five years of regulatory challenges and need protections to ensure our survival.”

The majority of business owners at the meeting supported the removal of the buffer zone, citing difficulty leaving the industry after getting licenses as economic empowerment or social equity program applicants.

“I don’t think back then [Cambridge was] thinking collectively about the exit strategy,” said Richard Harding – the last person who is looking now for an exit: On Friday he opened the Green Soul dispensary at 759 Massachusetts Ave., near City Hall, with partner Taba Moses. 

The shop is elaborately designed with murals by local artists and different sections recognizable from urban life such asT-themed waiting area and bodega-themed area with exotic noninfused snacks – Candy Apple Faygo and what appear to be steak-flavored Lay’s potato chips – and laundromat, check-cashing and pizza areas, all tied to different aspects of a cannabis business. This cannabis Disney was put together painstakingly and a massive investment in a number of ways, Harding said.

Still cause for concern

Vice mayor Marc McGovern disagreed with the removal of the buffer zone, making the case that a national retailer who doesn’t fit the city’s criteria shouldn’t be allowed to move next door to a locally owned Cambridge business.

“If we remove that 1,800 feet, [national retailers] could open right next door to you, right?” he said. “We heard some folks in public comment say removing it would be an advantage to minority applicants. I see that as a disadvantage.”

“In many ways this 1,800-foot buffer rule, if it’s only limited to those people who are fortunate enough to get a state license, it’s really keeping out a lot of smart, capable business owners who would love to keep the businesses going,” said Sean Hope, founder of a private cannabis social group called Diaspora. 

As business owners balanced consumer costs and increasing business costs, Hope said, councillors should try to find a way to keep criteria in place that could “further the goals of Cambridge.”

Social consumption stagnation

Also discussed at the meeting was social consumption – places where cannabis lovers could come together. While indoor smoking is banned in Cambridge (there are cigar clubs in Boston and Charlestown and some grandfathered hookah lounges), the city could host cafes with pot brownies or other edibles or even establishments serving multicourse gourmet meals infused with cannabis.

Having places where marijuana can be consumed on-site was legalized by voters with recreational marijuana in 2016. The Cannabis Control Commission approved a pilot program in 2019 to let eight communities, including Somerville, host marijuana consumption establishments with a few caveats, then scrapped it in 2023 after a 2022 law mandated the commission create statutes for social consumption establishments to operate in.

The state’s rules around the practice remain unclear; the CCC proposes a priority period for economic empowerment applicants to have exclusive access to social consumption licenses with strict rules in place. 

These establishments would be required to have noninfused food and water for patrons, help find transportation for customers who are impaired when they leave and let qualifying patients bring their own medical marijuana. 

Buffer zones first

The officials proposed dealing with buffer zones first and coming back to social consumption sites after more research. “We’re too early to make any decisions,” councillor Sumbul Siddiqui said, while Simmons proposed holding a roundtable: “Rather than rushing to figure it all out,” she said, “let’s have the conversation before we need to have a conversation.”

If the city’s buffer rule is eliminated or state social consumption regulations are adopted, Cambridge’s cannabis industry would grow, many business owners said. 

“This is a game – particularly if the federal laws change, the laws around banking change, it’s a game that’s evolving,” Harding said, “and businesses would be smart to understand that and be ready in case that happens.”

Councillor Paul Toner suggested the participants continue the discussion after gathering more data and public opinions.

“We all want to make sure we support the people who jumped into the game early, and whether you’re planning on staying in the game or you’re looking for your off-ramp, how can we help and support you?” Toner said.

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