Cannabis Clubs Could Be Coming to Massachusetts

In some cannabis-friendly countries, enjoying some green in a designated public establishment is fairly typical. Cannabis cafes or smoking lounges where you can purchase and consume flowers, edibles and extracts is an activity enjoyed by tourists and locals from Vancouver, British Columbia to Amsterdam. Massachusetts may be one of the first American states to allow for the public consumption of cannabis. Pretty soon, students attending Harvard that are over the age of 21 may be able to leave campus to consume cannabis off-campus cannabis clubs.

But how likely is this utopian cannabis fantasy to come true?

In November of 2016, voters in Massachusetts voters decided to legalize recreational cannabis in their state. As it stands, legalization will officially roll out in Massachusetts in mid-2016. Legislators have been hammering out the details on how to make legal recreational cannabis in Massachusetts work. Shaleen Title is one of the folks tasked with trying to establish sensible laws regarding legal cannabis in Massachusetts. Title is a commissioner on the Cannabis Control Commission, and authored the policy calling for legal cannabis consumption in public in the state. The commission voted to allow the policy unanimously.

Title has been outspoken in her desire to treat cannabis like alcohol, and allow for the growth that a safe, regulated public environment can bring. “If we give people a place that’s regulated, that’s overseen by trained staff, and where you can use in a responsible way and don’t have to hide, I think that can only be good,” Title told The Boston Globe.

“The idea of on-site consumption is that people who are using cannabis would have a legal place to do it other than their own home,”Title stated in another interview with local NPR affiliate WBUR. “I think that with cannabis use, having been so underground as part of prohibition, it was something that had to be kept secret and as a result, there wasn’t as much opportunity for education and awareness and the sharing of information about responsible use, so that’s the part I’m excited about.”

With an increasing number of states legalizing recreational cannabis, it’s heartening to see a state break some new barriers. Being able to buy safe, high-quality cannabis products for an affordable price legally, is pretty hard to complain about. Still, for those of us in states without this kind of logical yet groundbreaking policy, enjoying cannabis in public, at a specified establishment, in the light of day without scrutiny, is one freedom that we can’t enjoy. As for Massachusetts’ cannabis club future, it’s looking on track to happen in mid-2018. Looks like a trip to Boston may be in store for many of us.