Braintree Alters Cannabis Ordinance To Allow For Cultivation, Delivery

BRAINTREE, MA — Braintree's Town Council officially voted at a recent meeting to allow some marijuana businesses inside the town's border, but non-medical retail sales are still prohibited.

Councilor David Ringius Jr. explained that this move is to change language in the town's general cannabis ordinance to allow for cultivation and delivery businesses in the Town of Braintree.

Throughout late spring and summer, Ringius said, meetings were held to discuss changing the town's zoning ordinance to allow for these businesses, and the council voted to officially update the ordinance at an Aug. 2 meeting.

For that ordinance to take effect, the general ordinance also needs to be changed, to allow for those businesses, as the original ordinance banned all businesses.

The ordinance continues to prohibit all non-medical retail sales of marijuana but would allow for the cultivation and delivery of marijuana, Mayor Charles Kokoros Chief of Staff Nicole Taub said at the meeting.

Councilor Joseph Reynolds said he believed the decision to change the ordinance, and the vote held on Oct. 18, which effectively put that ordinance in motion, should have been done by the town voters, not the council. Reynolds voted no on the item.

The measure passed regardless, by a vote of 6-3, likely clearing the way for Flower Xpress to open on a parcel of land on Ivory Street near the Braintree MBTA station, according to an August Boston Globe report.

According to a presentation given to the council by Flower Xpress in May, the company is owner fully by people of color, and the majority of the ownership group are women.

Founded in 2021, the company says their mission is to "create a bridge between adult sales cannabis and medical grade quality cannabis by growing medical grade cannabis in a consistent, hi technology environment. We want to partner with the growing cannabis medical research sector and life sciences sector and be their 'primary' supplier of cannabis for the purposes of medical research."

Watch the discussion in the video below: