Adam McKeagney would rather not pack marijuana products in his carry-on luggage on his way back from work trips to Colorado, but he says it's simply easier to buy them there than back home, where it's also legal but largely unavailable.



“The South Shore is underserved,” McKeagney said. “I’d say that it’s a nuisance there is nothing nearby.”

More than 2½ years after Massachusetts voters approved the sale of recreational marijuana in the state, there are now 21 legal pot shops across the state, but none on the South Shore. Marijuana advocates and industry professionals say the region's dearth of pot shops is largely the result of prohibitions on recreational marijuana operations adopted by many towns on the South Shore, as well as a shortage of municipal officials willing to make the kinds of deals that operators need to open shop. And marijuana businesses across the state continue to face what they say is a slow regulatory process and other complications that come with dealing in a business still seen as illegal by the federal government.

Several companies are seeking approval to sell marijuana for recreational use on the South Shore, where it is available legally only for medical use, but it's still not clear how soon any of them could open. For now, the closest stores to the South Shore are in Wareham and Fall River to the south and Brookline and Newton to the north. For someone sitting at home in Scituate, for example, it could take about an hour to drive to the closest recreational store, while a drive to the closest liquor store would take only minutes.

At NETA, a Brookline marijuana store that opened in March, six of about 100 customers who streamed into the store from 5:15 p.m. until 6 p.m. Tuesday were from the South Shore. All said they would like a store closer to them.

“It’s frustrating there’s none nearby,” said Matt Cutter of Weymouth, who was visiting a Boston hospital.



People working in the nascent marijuana industry blame locally adopted bans on recreational sales for keeping pot shops out of the South Shore, where voters came out against the 2016 ballot measure that legalized them in much higher numbers than elsewhere in the state.

Under change made to the law by the Legislature, cities and towns where most voters opposed the state ballot question can ban the operations through an act of a town council or board of selectmen. In municipalities where most voters supported the ballot question, a voter referendum is required to impose a ban.

As a result, only Quincy, Rockland, Marshfield, Plymouth and Halifax will allow recreational marijuana stores, with other towns on the South Shore saying no. In Abington, a moratorium will end at the end of June, meaning the town will join the handful of towns in the area that allow it.

The state Cannabis Control Commission said municipalities have the leeway to make their own determinations on recreational pot.

“Cities and towns are permitted to govern the time, place and manner of marijuana establishment operations,” the commission said in a statement. “In general, municipalities have the authority to develop their own bylaws or ordinances in compliance with state law and are encouraged to work closely with their town counsel or city solicitor.”

Adam Fine, a managing partner for the Boston office of the marijuana law firm Vicente Sederberg, said that when municipalities ban recreational marijuana stores, it pushes people toward the black market.

“The towns on the South Shore lose because their citizens are getting less safe marijuana,” Fine said.

Fine worked on the ballot question and said the intention was always to make it as easy as possible for stores to get licensed so they can compete with the convenience and cost of illicit sales and attract customers to the legal market.

Jim Borghesani, a spokesman for the 2016 ballot initiative and a marijuana communications specialist, called the lack of South Shore stores disappointing.

“It's disappointing from a consumer viewpoint that consumers of cannabis don't have a legal option on the South Shore for purchase. It's disappointing from a revenue viewpoint that towns are not getting the extra revenue that other towns are from these establishments,” Borghesani said. “And from a public safety viewpoint, it's disappointing because the only cannabis that South Shore consumers can buy is street cannabis, and you don't know what's in it.”

Recreational marijuana sales are subject to a 10.75 percent state excise tax, a 6.25 percent state sales tax and up to a 3 percent local tax, which is typical for most marijuana retailers. Depending on a recreational store’s host agreement with a municipality, stores may also be subject to a 3 percent community impact fee intended to mitigate issues specific to the marijuana store.

In an analysis of marijuana sales from February and March of this year, Andrew Livingston, director of economics and research at Vicente Sederberg, said towns with one store and a 3 percent local tax rate stand to make an estimated $740,000 in tax revenue in a year. That number could double with a 3 percent community impact fee.

To open a shop in Massachusetts, would-be marijuana retailers must submit applications, including a community host agreement reached with local officials, to the state’s cannabis commission for consideration. If the commission votes to approve a retailer, it is given a provisional license and then after further inspections and state requirements, the retailer is eligible for a final license to operate.

There are two proposed South Shore recreational marijuana stores that are further along in the state's licensing process: Triple M in Plymouth, which has received a provisional license, and Health Circle in Rockland, which is under consideration for a provisional license.

Triple M has a medical dispensary in Plymouth. The recreational side of its business was scheduled to open earlier this year after final inspections but was put on hold after sales of medical marijuana there and in its Mashpee location were halted by the state’s board of health in December due to an issue over a pesticide used with its products. It opened again in April.

The company’s chief operating officer, Kevin O'Reilly, hasn’t indicated when recreational sales will begin there and did not respond to requests for comment.

Rockland’s Health Circle also did not respond to a request for comment.

More retail marijuana businesses are beginning application processes in Abington, Rockland, Quincy and Plymouth.

The South Shore does have three medical marijuana stores, where a state-issued card is required for purchases: Triple M in Plymouth, Curaleaf in Hanover and Ermont in Quincy, which has announced it has begun applying for a recreational license as well.

Fine said that when he was working on the ballot question a few years ago, recreational marijuana didn’t poll well on the South Shore. When it came time to vote, much of the South Shore voted against the provision. Fine said he thinks host agreements have been easier to hammer out for towns in Western Massachusetts.

A majority of voters in Weymouth, Braintree, Sciutate, Norwell, Hanover, Milton, Pembroke, Whitman, Duxbury, Hingham and Cohasset opposed recreational pot in 2016 and have since banned it. Hanover voters opposed the ballot by the largest margin on the South Shore, with 58 percent voting against it. Weymouth had the smallest gap with 50.3 percent voting to oppose.

A majority of Marshfield voted against the ballot, but a local measure to ban recreational sales failed at town meeting. Hull voted for recreational pot in 2016, but later banned its sales in a townwide ballot.

Braintree and Weymouth town councils voted unanimously to ban recreational marijuana in March 2018. Milton's town meeting voted 138 to 37 to ban recreational marijuana in October 2017.

Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan said this week that most voters in his town came out against recreational marijuana in the 2016 ballot question, and he thinks they made the right decision.

“The approach a lot of communities was one of caution,” Sullivan said, adding that the marijuana industry was never part of his town’s recreational plan.

Other officials have reluctantly embraced marijuana businesses. Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch opposed the 2016 ballot measure that legalized recreational marijuana use for adults, but his chief of staff says the mayor's administration is working to fulfill the will of city voters, who approved the ballot question by about 51.1 percent.

“We have had an excellent community partner in Ermont so far,” Christopher Walker, Koch's chief of staff, said, referring to the medical marijuana dispensary.

Despite the lack of recreational stores, Fine thinks it’s only a matter of time before people on the South Shore will have access to a closer recreational pot shop.

“It’s slow everywhere,” Fine said. “Things do take time.”