The property at 405-409 Middlesex Road remains vacant. The site is one of two locations approved by the Select Board for a cannabis dispensary. (Telegraph photo by Christopher Roberson)

TYNGSBORO, Mass. – Cannabis giant Jushi Holdings has shown no signs of relenting in its efforts to keep family owned cannabis dispensary MJs Market out of town.

After establishing a location in Grafton, Massachusetts, two years ago, MJs began exploring the option of opening a second location at 405-409 Middlesex Road in Tyngsboro.

“It’s an underserved market,” said Attorney Michael Duffy, counsel for MJs. “There’s a desire for more of these services and products.”

Duffy said the Select Board designated the properties at 405-409 Middlesex Road and 420 Middlesex Road as the town’s only locations for cannabis dispensaries.

The site at 420 Middlesex Road is occupied by Nature’s Remedy, a subsidiary of Jushi. Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Jushi has 36 locations across the country and produced a gross profit of $29.9 million during the first quarter of 2023.

Upon learning that MJs was considering the location at 405-409 Middlesex Road, Jushi paid Nature’s Remedy $10 million to keep MJs out of town with another $5 million offer pending, according to Duffy. The specific role of Nature’s Remedy remains unclear.

Duffy said that in November 2021, Jushi filed a “frivolous lawsuit” in Massachusetts Superior Court claiming that a dispensary at 405-409 Middlesex Road would dramatically increase traffic volume. However, Jushi never provided the court with a traffic study. Duffy said that in addition to the claim being completely false, a warehouse generating 3,500 trips per day opened behind Nature’s Remedy.

In an attempt to avoid further conflict, Duffy said MJs requested that the Select Board designate a third property for cannabis operations; however, the board never entertained the request.

“The Select Board wasn’t interested in shifting MJs to a different location,” Duffy said.

The process of opening a dispensary in Massachusetts is. In addition to a myriad of land-use approvals, a company must successfully negotiate a Host Community Agreement with the municipality and be approved by the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. Although MJs has met these requirements, the current litigation is preventing MJs from moving forward.

“It’s good, old-fashioned greed,” Duffy said of Jushi. “They want to control that market.”

It is estimated that MJs has lost $45 million in revenue as a result of the two-and-a-half year delay. In March of this year, MJs filed a $60 million lawsuit against Jushi in U.S. District Court for lost revenue, out-of-pocket costs and damages.

Because 405-409 Middlesex Road remains vacant, expert estimates indicate that Tyngsboro has lost $2 million in property tax revenue.

Duffy maintained that his client was the first to have an agreement with the owner of 405-409 Middlesex Road. Yet, unbeknownst to MJs, the property owner also had reached a separate agreement with a larger cannabis company, Sanctuary Medicinals.

“MJs is going to put up some resistance to that,” Duffy said. “MJs has been backed into a corner.”

Duffy said that despite being opposed to competition from MJs, Jushi has not taken any action to prevent Sanctuary Medicinals from opening.

The parties will return to court in August.

Tyngsboro officials and Jushi declined to comment for this report.