<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1rtJXt_0kMRkuua00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1rtJXt_0kMRkuua00" width="1280" height="854" ></figure>Northampton city councilors <a href="https://www.masslive.com/cannabis/2023/01/northampton-sets-limit-on-cannabis-shops-a-first-for-this-dispensary-hub.html">voted late Thursday night</a> to place a new limit on the city’s collection of cannabis dispensaries — effectively an upper ceiling for how many pot shops the city allows to do business.The vote, coming after <a href="https://www.masslive.com/cannabis/2023/01/northampton-proposed-cannabis-dispensary-limit-brings-dispute-over-possible-effects.html">months of deliberation</a>, represented a significant step for a city <a href="https://www.masslive.com/cannabis/2022/07/northampton-has-emerged-as-the-retail-cannabis-capital-of-massachusetts-but-can-a-city-of-29000-sustain-12-dispensaries.html">known as a hub</a> of Massachusetts’ retail cannabis industry. In 2018, Northampton became <a href="https://www.masslive.com/news/2018/11/history_made_with_1st_purchase.html">one of the first two Massachusetts towns</a> with a recreational cannabis dispensary. Today, it has 11 operating dispensaries, a collection comparable to the much larger cities of Boston and Worcester.Unlike many other communities, Northampton never elected to set a limit on its number of pot shops — until Thursday.As the new measure goes into effect, here are a few things to know about what it means — and doesn’t mean — for the city and the local cannabis market. Have a question that isn’t answered below? Send it to <a href="mailto:wkatcher@masslive.com">wkatcher@masslive.com</a>.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1HEgG5_0kMRkuua00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1HEgG5_0kMRkuua00" width="1280" height="855" ></figure><h2>What does the cannabis dispensary cap do?</h2>The regulation passed Thursday night will hold the city to a dozen dispensaries — sort of.The city council voted 6 to 3 to set the limit at 12 cannabis retailers, but there are exceptions that will allow the city to exceed that number. Any business is exempt if it already has a host community agreement in place — essentially a required sign-off from the city before the business can apply to the state for a dispensary license.Northampton has signed 14 host community agreements with business owners. Twelve of them have led to operating dispensaries, though one of those shops — the Source, on Pleasant Street — <a href="https://www.masslive.com/news/2022/12/northampton-marijuana-shop-closing-first-shutdown-for-the-states-cannabis-industry.html">closed in December.</a>It was the first dispensary in Massachusetts to shutter. If the Source’s owners were to sell their Northampton shop, it could reopen as a new dispensary.There is also an exception for social equity dispensaries — participants in a state assistance program for business owners from backgrounds most affected by the War on Drugs. Northampton currently has one such dispensary — Enlite, on Damon Road. There is no limit on how many more social equity dispensaries could open in the city.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2rSwYj_0kMRkuua00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2rSwYj_0kMRkuua00" width="1280" height="853" ></figure><h2>What doesn’t the cannabis cap do?</h2>It doesn’t mandate that any dispensaries close. Northampton has one of the largest populations of cannabis retailers in the state — and this measure will not change that.<h2>When does it go into effect?</h2>The regulation went into effect upon passage. Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra has the power to veto it, but she can be overridden with a two-thirds majority of the city council.After two-thirds of the councilors voted in favor of the dispensary limit Thursday night, it would appear they have the votes to keep the measure in place even in the event of a mayoral veto.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0ePkxF_0kMRkuua00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0ePkxF_0kMRkuua00" width="1280" height="853" ></figure>How will it affect the current dispensaries? Will it be tougher to get cannabis in Northampton?“I didn’t even hear about it,” said Dave Dumas, manager of the Pleasant Street dispensary Resinate, when asked on Friday about the new regulation.“For the people already in the game, I think it’s business as usual,” he said. “Nobody else was coming in [to Northampton] anyways. This market was already saturated. It’s kind of a no-brainer that they would go somewhere else. Or should.”Northampton’s dispensaries will still have to compete with each other — a strenuous task when customers can walk 50 feet down the block to another pot shop if they don’t like one location’s products or prices.With one exception, Northampton hasn’t had an application for a new host community agreement since the summer of 2021. The one exception was for a shop in the city’s Florence village. But <a href="https://www.masslive.com/cannabis/2022/10/northampton-rejects-cannabis-shop-for-first-time-after-florence-uproar.html">Sciarra rejected</a> that proposal after vocal opposition from residents.The new measure is not likely to limit access to cannabis in Northampton. There are still 11 open dispensaries that will continue selling pre-rolls, edibles, vapes and other products — as some of them have done for more than four years.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0uOYc9_0kMRkuua00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0uOYc9_0kMRkuua00" width="1280" height="853" ></figure><h2>Why is this cap in place?</h2>A number of reasons, though one central argument was that the city simply had enough cannabis sellers and that it was within the city council’s authority to reel in the market.Multiple city councilors also said they were swayed by warnings from area public health officials of the risks correlated with having a high number of dispensaries in a community — particularly the impact on young people. In council meetings, public health representatives suggested that data showed having more dispensaries led to higher cannabis use among teenagers.Some city leaders opposed to the cap, as well as outside experts, raised doubts about the credibility of this data. But in the end, they were not able to convince a majority of the council to reject the proposed dispensary limit.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2psXg6_0kMRkuua00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2psXg6_0kMRkuua00" width="1280" height="853" ></figure>Some councilors said this was a social equity measure: Will it help social equity dispensaries open in Northampton?It won’t hurt social equity dispensaries. But it may not help them.Any dispensaries that are part of the state’s social equity program are exempt from the new limit, an effort to ensure they don’t miss out on Northampton’s market.But beyond that exemption, the measure does not actively aid social equity dispensaries hoping to open in Northampton. Social equity applicants have faced significant roadblocks to opening in Massachusetts, namely <a href="https://www.masslive.com/cannabis/2021/08/why-the-massachusetts-cannabis-industry-remains-primarily-white-and-male.html">access to funds.</a> This measure is not likely to change that.Have other questions about the new limit on dispensaries? Send your queries to wkatcher@masslive.com.</div></body>

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What to know about Northampton’s new cannabis dispensary limit

Northampton city councilors voted late Thursday night to place a new limit on the city’s collection of cannabis dispensaries — effectively an upper ceiling for how many pot shops the city allows to do business. The vote, coming after months of deliberation, represented a significant step for a...