By the time this summer ends, tourists, day trippers, and residents living on the island of Martha’s Vineyard may lose access to legal marijuana.
The Bay State’s Cannabis Control Commission, on Thursday, joined the concerned residents of the island during a meeting held in Oak Bluffs — where they discussed the impending closure of the Vineyard’s only marijuana cultivation facility and the potential for the return of questionable black-market products.
Marijuana production, possession, and consumption is legal for adults living on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, just as it’s legal for anyone over the age of 21 standing anywhere else in Massachusetts.
However, the federal government still considers marijuana a Schedule I controlled substance, which as far as they’re concerned makes it as bad as heroin or LSD. That distinction means moving any amount of pot from the mainland to the island and across U.S. controlled waters is a crime.
That also means all of the cannabis sold and consumed on the Vineyard must be grown and tested according to state standards without crossing Buzzards Bay or Vineyard Sound. Real estate prices being what they are on Martha’s Vineyard, only a single growing facility — Fine Fettle — has opened on the island since marijuana became legal in Massachusetts.
In May, the company announced they had stopped producing marijuana in Martha’s Vineyard and would shut their doors in September, removing the only legal source of cannabis from the island market. That will leave the Vineyard’s more than 200 medical marijuana patients and the thousands who simply enjoy relaxing with cannabis in a bit of a bind.
Commissioners, according to their opening statements, seem to realize there is already a growing supply problem on the Vineyard.
“We take the supply chain issue facing the island very seriously,” Commissioner Kimberly Roy said, while “acknowledging that there are challenges presented due to federal prohibition and the current regulatory scheme.”
The commission spent more than an hour hearing from dozens of island residents, many of whom explained the positive effect medical marijuana has had on their lives, the lives of family members and neighbors, or quality of life for their patients.
Dr. Terry Kriedman told the commission that, as far as she knows, she’s the only authorized cannabis certification doctor on the island. She said that finding a way to get marijuana to the island’s residents is a matter of “health equity.”
“Living on the island presents problems, and we all accept that, but getting your medication shouldn’t be one of them,” she said.
Some speakers warned that black-market marijuana has continued to be an issue on the island, due to the small number of dispensaries and short supplies, with some illicit weed testing positive for fentanyl contamination.
The commission took no action to address the issue on Thursday.
