Mass. marijuana regulators fine Acreage Holdings $250,000 for attempting to exceed license cap

Cannabis Control Commission also cites two operators for using banned pesticides

National marijuana operator Acreage Holdings has agreed to pay Massachusetts $250,000 to resolve charges that it attempted to control more dispensaries than allowed by law.

The state Cannabis Control Commission at its monthly meeting on Thursday voted unanimously to approve the agreement, which was reached after Acreage pressed ahead with questionable contracts that were the subject of a 2019 Spotlight Team report.

Commission investigators in January warned Acreage that its management services contracts with two seemingly independent marijuana operators — Patient Centric of Martha’s Vineyard, which is seeking recreational pot licenses in West Tisbury and Framingham, and Health Circle, which is working to open marijuana stores in Rockland and Marshfield — gave Acreage so much leverage over the smaller firms it technically controlled them.

With Acreage already pursuing several dispensary licenses through its directly owned Botanist subsidiary, regulators said, the management deals threatened to put the conglomerate in control of five or more marijuana retailers — well over the legal maximum of three.

But the company asked the commission to process its license applications anyway, while promising to reform any problematic clauses. That attempt didn’t work: The commission in February refused to approve the applications, tabling them pending a staff recommendation on disciplinary action. [Read More @ The Boston Globe]

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