Public comment period will include Sept. 8 hearing in Worcester
STATE HOUSE, BOSTON, AUG. 14, 2025…..Massachusetts is one step closer to legal marijuana use at events and in social settings across the state, as it begins accepting written public comments to allow people to weigh in on regulations that have been months in the making.
The Cannabis Control Commission voted 3-0 Thursday to publish a memo on its website by Aug. 20 detailing the public comment period, though the CCC has already begun receiving comments. The Secretary of State’s website will post the regulations publicly on Friday. The CCC also scheduled an in-person hearing on the proposed rules for Sept. 8 at its Worcester office.
CCC Acting Chair Bruce Stebbins said they plan to review the public comments and regulations at the end of September. The schedule moves the agency toward considering making the sites legal almost a decade after social consumption of cannabis was first contemplated in the 2016 ballot law that legalized non-medical marijuana.
Supporters of social consumption say adults should be allowed to purchase a marijuana product and use it in the same location, like buying alcohol at a bar or a cigar at a cigar bar. Allowing on-site consumption would provide legal locations for marijuana consumption to tourists staying in hotels and renters who are prohibited from smoking in their apartments. Officials have also said the sites could give parents a place to smoke or consume cannabis without ever bringing it around their children.
Massachusetts would become the 11th state to allow social consumption of cannabis, joining Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York. There’s also a push in Oregon to get the measure on the 2026 state ballot in that state.
The draft regulations in Massachusetts allow for three social consumption license types: a “supplemental” license for existing marijuana establishments like retail stores to offer on-site consumption; a “hospitality” license at new or existing non-cannabis businesses like yoga studios or theaters; and an “event organizer” license for temporary on-site consumption at events like rallies and festivals.
“We have already seen some comments and some questions back from stakeholders that have been watching our deliberations on these topics,” Stebbins said.
He added that they’re inviting feedback on key topics such as the language around requiring “cool down areas,” for those who react negatively to marijuana, and the bans on alcohol and tobacco in the cannabis consumption sites.
“[This] is just to get input, which I think is critical for us as policymakers,” Commissioner Kimberly Roy said. “We may not agree as regulators. So it’s so important to hear from stakeholders and licensees and patients and consumers.”
