State marijuana regulators this week considered ways to preserve access to cannabis on Martha’s Vineyard after the Island’s lone commercial growing facility announced plans to close later this year.
The Cannabis Control Commission plans to hold a meeting on the Vineyard sometime next month to talk about transportation issues and regulations that make it difficult to get medical and recreational marijuana to Islanders.
The Island’s regulated supply of marijuana — grown at state approved facilities — is dwindling after Fine Fettle this month said it had shuttered its grow operation and planned to close its West Tisbury storefront when its supply runs out.
The closure will leave about 230 medical marijuana patients on the Vineyard with few options due to overlapping jurisdictions with the federal government, prompting concerns about the growth of a black market.
“If we do nothing, you are going to have 234 patients with no medical access on the Island,” said commissioner Kimberly Roy at a commission meeting Thursday. “That’s the reality of it.”
Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level and the federal government oversees the waters around the Island, as well as the air space, making transportation of mainland marijuana aboard the Steamship Authority or plane illegal. That means the marijuana in Vineyard dispensaries is supposed to be grown on the Island.
The commission planned to reach out to Island officials about the current supply chain issues as well as investigate how other states that legalized marijuana have navigated transportation.
New York allows marijuana to be transported on ferries and California has special carve outs for Catalina Island. Maine, which has several coastal islands, is also undertaking the issue.
After medical marijuana was legalized in Massachusetts in 2012, the state did consider the obstacles facing Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. In response, the state eased testing requirements.
But much of the state’s regulations around transporting marijuana is geared towards motor vehicles. People transporting marijuana are supposed to use vehicles compliant with the state Registry of Motor Vehicle requirements, need to take randomized routes and have contingency plans with GPS monitors checking in every 30 minutes.
Commission staff said all of these requirements could run into issues if marijuana was transported on a ferry, which isn’t licensed by the RMV and runs on a set schedule and route.
The commission has looked into ways to make it easier on the Vineyard in the wake of Fine Fettle’s planned closure, including setting up waivers, emergency regulations and fast-tracking Vineyard applications.
“I think we can take steps to prioritize review of new applications from Dukes County, we could also prioritize any change of ownership,” said commissioner Bruce Stebbins.
But the commission hasn’t come up with a plan on what to do, and an exact meeting date on the Vineyard has not yet been set.
Commissioner Roy noted that there is an irony to the Vineyard’s plight and concern about breaking some laws given that the state’s entire cannabis industry is illegal under federal statute. But she and the other commissioners vowed to deal with the matter fast, as the high season approaches and supply dries up.
“I think we need to engage the county,” Ms. Roy said. “They need to be aware that there’s a supply chain issue.”
