MA cannabis business applicant rejected for lack of diversity, inclusion plans

Be at the forefront of cannabis and psychedelics science and innovation. Register by March 14 & Save $100 on tickets to The Emerald Conference by MJBiz Science, April 1-3 in San Diego.


Massachusetts regulators denied Pittsfield-based Mass Yield Cultivation a marijuana license for not sufficiently showing in its application a commitment to diversity and inclusion plans.

The news underlines why marijuana firms in the state must carefully outline their diversity plans as they apply for a permit.

This appears to mark the first time the state’s Cannabis Control Commission voted down a license for that reason, the Boston Business Journal reported.

The company was looking to build a 5,000-10,000-square-foot indoor cultivation operation.

Among the state stature requirements, applicants must demonstrate how their businesses would have a positive impact on one or more groups of people who have been disproportionately affected by cannabis prohibition.

License applicants also must show plans to include diversity with clearly defined objectives and ways to measure the achievement of those goals.

Commissioners said Mass Yield Cultivation needed to overhaul its application to better identify how it would address those and other diversity issues.

The commission will notify the business of the permit denial and then the firm can reapply.

For more on the marijuana license rejection, click here.