Boston Cannabis Board rejects Baystate Herbal's application for Hanover Street pot shop

The Boston Cannabis Board voted unanimously today to reject Baystate Herbal's application for a recreational, adult-use marijuana license without prejudice. "Without prejudice" means that the applicant can come back to the board at any time if they feel they have worked through the problems the Board saw with their application. Licensing Board Chair Joyce expressed her doubt that she would change her vote even if they did that though.

The board specifically called out the location, lack of public support, and the employment plan as problematic.

Regarding the first two items, Chairperson Joyce didn't feel that the business had made an effort to work with the neighborhood (Baystate declined an invitation from the Neighborhood Ciouncil to attend and present at one of their meetings):

It's not our job to broker a deal between the businesses and the neighborhood

The board noted that they want to see applicants succeed and that they have resources to help. But in the end, there were just too many problems with the application.

The hearing on Baystate Herbal starts at 5 minutes 10 seconds in the video below: