More Rhode Island adult-use cannabis stores coming, new regulator says

More adult-use marijuana stores could open in Rhode Island as soon as 2024 now that the state’s Cannabis Control Commission has been confirmed.

Kimberly Ahern is the commission’s new chair, The Boston Globe reported, and Robert Jacquard and Layi Oduyingbo will be members.

Ahern currently serves as deputy chief of staff to Gov. Dan McKee, but it’s anticipated she will resign from that role.

Rhode Island launched adult-use sales in December in the state’s existing medical marijuana dispensaries.

Local cultivators, grappling with a glut of inventory, have been pressuring local government to open more stores.

Ahern told the Globe that new stores could open as soon as 2024.

Before that happens, though, she wants to collect feedback from stakeholders, including those who have been impacted by prohibition.

“We need to listen to those who are most closely affected by this,” Ahern told the Globe.

Rhode Island legalized adult-use cannabis in May 2022.

According to the legislation, four new stores can open in each of six regions in the state.

One store in each region must be a worker-owned co-op, and one must be owned by a social equity applicant.

It’s up to the commission to decide how and to whom licenses will be allocated.

Source: https://mjbizdaily.com/more-rhode-island-adult-use-cannabis-stores-coming-new-regulator-says/