INESSENTIAL

Numerous states and cities have given “essential” status to cannabis businesses. Massachusetts, which has denied it to REC shops, is the most important exception.

• Despite protests from the industry, Gov. Charlie Baker (R), a legalization skeptic, called reopening REC shops a “non-starter.” He says his main concern is out of state buyers carrying the virus into Massachusetts. He’s been unmoved by appeals to only let state residents shop.
  Boston Globe
• Without being able to operate or collect federal aid, REC businesses in the state are “staring down insolvency.”
  Boston Globe
• Several cannabis businesses in the state have started to produce hand sanitizer.
  Boston Globe
• In a Boston Globe op-ed, a physician called for alcohol sales to be banned during the crisis to protect victims of domestic violence.

Two employees tested positive for Covid-19 at New England Treatment Access, one of the state’s biggest cannabis companies.

• Several workers told the Globe they were not satisfied with the protection they were receiving from the company.

In California, not everyone is thrilled with dispensaries’ essential status. ????WW California has more.
L.A. Times

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, decided REC shops aren’t essential and shut them down.
CTV

Quick Hit

1. President Trump called for escalating counter-narcotics operations. Critics said he was trying to distract from his administration’s handling of the coronavirus.
   Drug Policy Alliance