Massachusetts reopening plan for recreational marijuana calls for curbside delivery to start May 25

After being shuttered during the COVID-19 pandemic, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced recreational marijuana stores can reopen on May 25 for curbside delivery only as part of a comprehensive statewide reopening plan unveiled Monday.

Massachusetts is the only state with legal marijuana that ordered adult-use stores to close during the pandemic. Shops have been shut down since March 24, when Baker issued an order requiring businesses considered non-essential to cease operations in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Even though they’ll be able to sell marijuana again, the financial losses are significant for the state’s small cannabis companies. Many of the state’s marijuana businesses have laid off or furloughed workers during the pandemic.

Baker said in March that he believed recreational stores staying open would attract customers from outside of Massachusetts to drive in and purchase marijuana. Though stores were already implementing social distancing and other health and safety measures, and though some argued that the majority of customers come from within miles of the store, Baker did not budge.