Mass. vote on legal pot lounges becomes a waiting game
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Cannabis regulators have less than a month to prove that creating a legal pot lounge market in Massachusetts wasn't just a pipe dream in 2025.
The big picture: The prospect of a final vote on the market, known as social consumption, felt close to reality this year as regulators finalized draft rules, but the votes have been rescheduled multiple times.
- Meanwhile, would-be lounge owners in Massachusetts are playing the waiting game — and, in some cases, paying rent and other startup costs on a market that has yet to materialize.
The latest: Cannabis Control Commissioner Shannon O'Brien has stated she wants a vote before Christmas.
- The commission has one last meeting, Dec. 11, before the holiday.
Catch up quick: The commission planned to vote during a meeting in September, then later in the fall, and again last week, before stalling again.
- The first time was due to the return of Commissioner Shannon O'Brien after she successfully fought to keep her job.
- Subsequent delays have happened as commissioners welcome a new member, Carrie Benedon.
- Commissioner Bruce Stebbins said he hopes to get the vote done by Christmastime.
State of play: The commission is back down to four members after Commissioner Ava Concepcion resigned in November.
Context: The most controversial conflict facing the commission — O'Brien's future there — may have been resolved in September, but regulators are grappling with several other hurdles.
- An increasing number of lawsuits that don't name the commission have questioned its authority when it comes to reigning in local governments' agreements with dispensaries.
- A bill that could reshape the commission's governance is moving through the Legislature, albeit slowly.
- That same bill stands to usher in long-awaited improvements, ranging from an anonymous tip line to more scrutiny over lab testing and worker safety.
And all this is playing out while a campaign is trying to land a statewide proposal repealing legal cannabis on next year's ballot.
What we're watching: If the reformed commission under O'Brien sends eager cannabis businesses an early present next week with a vote on final regs, or if they kick the issue into 2026.