RI Recreational Cannabis Sales Begin Dec 1: Five retail venues licensed to open

Recreational cannabis sales begin Thu, Dec 1, under a new state statute signed into law on May 25. “Five licensed medical marijuana compassion centers have been approved for hybrid retail licenses, which allow them to sell both medical and adult use marijuana products in retail settings,” the office of RI Gov. Daniel McKee said in a statement Nov 22. The governor’s office confirmed to Motif that as of Nov 30 the venues expected to commence retail sales of recreational cannabis to the public on Dec 1 are:

• Aura of Rhode Island, 1136 Lonsdale Ave, Central Falls
• Thomas C. Slater Center, 1 Corliss St, Providence
• Mother Earth Wellness, 125 Esten Ave, Pawtucket
• Greenleaf Compassionate Care Center, 1637 W Main Rd, Portsmouth
• RISE (formerly Summit), 380 Jefferson Blvd, Warwick

These venues have been granted “hybrid retail licenses” allowing them to add recreational sales to their existing medical sales. Buyers must be adults at least 21 years old.

“This milestone is the result of a carefully executed process to ensure that our state’s entry into this emerging market was done in a safe, controlled and equitable manner,” McKee said in the statement. “It is also a win for our statewide economy and our strong, locally based cannabis supply chain, which consists of nearly 70 licensed cultivators, processors and manufacturers in addition to our licensed compassion centers. Finally, I thank the leadership of the General Assembly for passing this practical implementation framework in the Rhode Island Cannabis Act and I look forward to continuing our work together on this issue.”

“We were pleased with the quality and comprehensiveness of the applications we received from the state’s compassion centers, and we are proud to launch adult use sales in Rhode Island just six months after the Cannabis Act was signed into law, marking the Northeast’s fastest implementation period,” Matt Santacroce, interim deputy director of the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation (DBR), said in the statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with the state’s cannabis business community to ensure this critical economic sector scales in compliance with the rules and regulations put forward by state regulators.”

Part of DBR, the Office of Cannabis Regulation issues four classes of cannabis licenses to retail sellers such a dispensaries, to cultivators, to handlers of industrial hemp, and to sellers of non-psychogenic cannabidiol (CBD) products.