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Ideally, as the federal government moves to relax marijuana-related restrictions, federal agents would de-prioritize seizing state-sanctioned marijuana being transported from one part of the state to the other.
Barring that, the Cannabis Control Commission should find a solution to let cannabis be transported between the islands and mainland, since there appear to be potential water routes to both islands that don’t leave state water.
As Commissioner Kimberly Roy said at a May 9 Cannabis Control Commission meeting, there are 234 medical marijuana patients on Martha’s Vineyard who are about to lose all access to the drug they rely on.
Unlike residents of other towns without marijuana shops, Martha’s Vineyard residents cannot drive to another store. There is no legal way for them to import cannabis to the island, which can be reached only by boat or plane.
State law has until now required cannabis operations on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket to be self-sustaining, with cultivation and sales on the islands. Regulators crafted alternative requirements for testing products, recognizing that marijuana could not be sent to mainland labs.
The problem on Martha’s Vineyard is that Fine Fettle is the only grower. Recently, Fine Fettle stopped supplying to Island Time and announced plans to close. Chief operating officer Benjamin Zachs told the Martha’s Vineyard Times that Fine Fettle was losing money on island operations. (The company also owns dispensaries in Connecticut, Georgia, and Rowley, Mass.)
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Island Time, along with The Green Lady Dispensary in Nantucket, on Tuesday sued the Cannabis Control Commission in Suffolk Superior Court.
According to court briefs, when Island Time owner Geoff Rose sought permission to transport marijuana from the mainland, the Cannabis Control Commission told him it was illegal because it would violate federal law by crossing into “territorial seas” under federal jurisdiction. Rose did not interpret that as a state prohibition — since possessing and selling marijuana is always federally illegal — so he imported supply by ferry. The Cannabis Control Commission then cited him for violating state laws regarding marijuana transportation by using a Steamship Authority ferry (the Authority says it does not allow marijuana on board) and ordered Rose to stop selling the products.
Rose’s lawsuit seeks to force the commission to invalidate its policy and let him transport marijuana from the mainland. He believes this could be done under current regulations by loading a vehicle onto a boat on a route that doesn’t leave state waters.
The lawsuit also involves The Green Lady Dispensary, one of two marijuana shops operating on Nantucket. Green Lady argues that it should not be prevented from transporting marijuana it grows on Nantucket to sell at mainland retailers and should not be required to conduct its own testing.
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“When voters legalized marijuana for medical and adult use, they intended for it to apply to the entire Commonwealth and not just the mainland,” said attorney Adam Fine, who represents Island Time and Green Lady. “The right to access cannabis safely and legally does not end at the harbor.”
Deciding the legality of Island Time’s claim is up to a judge. The way state marijuana regulations are written are car-specific. They require a vehicle transporting marijuana to comply with Registry of Motor Vehicles requirements, be operated by someone with a driver’s license, and be owned or leased by the marijuana company.
But it may be time for state regulators to update those regulations to account for boat transportation. As regulators said at their May 9 meeting, this isn’t straightforward. Regulations would have to consider things like how to randomize routes and ensure security and proper licensing. Enforcement staff would need training. This may not be done quickly enough to let Island Time operate this summer, and the commission will have to decide whether emergency regulations are warranted to help that store short-term. But updating regulations would help address long-term concerns about how to have a sustainable island cannabis industry.
The simplest way to allow transportation would be to confine it to state waters.
As commission staff noted at their public meeting, turning a blind eye to violations of federal law, while necessary for the entire industry, carries additional risk when it comes to transporting marijuana through water under federal jurisdiction and could open marijuana business employees who accompany a shipment up to federal criminal charges.
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In theory, the federal government could announce that it will not prioritize enforcement, similar to the Cole memo under former president Barack Obama that pledged not to prioritize cracking down on state-legal marijuana businesses that met certain standards.
But the US Coast Guard, in a statement, gave no suggestion that it would back down from seizing marijuana and penalizing anyone caught with it. “Under the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act, the transportation of a significant amount of a controlled substance, regardless of its form, is illegal,” the Coast Guard said.
Other states deal with this issue differently. California prohibits the transport of marijuana via aircraft, watercraft, or drone, and there are no operating dispensaries on Santa Catalina Island.
Hawaii initially prohibited the transportation of medical marijuana between islands, but Marijuana Moment reported that a 2023 law change allowed interisland transfers between dispensaries without specifying how.
In Washington, cannabis operators can use Washington state ferry routes. New York also lets businesses transport marijuana via state ferry.
(Flying is not a good option because federal laws govern airspace. In Alaska, a federal appeals court upheld the revocation of a pilot’s license for flying marijuana to state-legal cannabis stores.)
Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard are part of Massachusetts. If island residents want marijuana, they should have the same access as anyone on the mainland.
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Editorials represent the views of the Boston Globe Editorial Board. Follow us @GlobeOpinion.
