New Bedford, MA Cannabis Regulations: Dispensary Zoning (2026)

Section 4130B confines marijuana establishments and medical marijuana treatment centers to Industrial Districts A, B and C, and bars them from within 500 feet of any K-12 school, licensed daycare, nursery or preschool, campus building, playground, park, public library, church, or another marijuana facility or substance-abuse treatment facility, and within 200 feet of any dwelling, measured property line to property line. Facilities can't be located inside a building containing a dwelling unit or transient housing like a hotel or dormitory, must operate entirely within an enclosed, secured building invisible from outside, and a retailer or dispensing treatment center is capped at 5,000 square feet of gross floor area.

c. 94G, § 3(b), and requires ventilation that keeps odor from reaching neighboring properties. Section 4140B requires a Planning Board special permit before any facility may operate, plus a security plan filed with the police department and an emergency response plan filed with police, fire and health, both updated whenever they change. c. 138, § 15, and, apart from one pre-2017 host-agreement holder, bars any new medical marijuana treatment center from dispensing to the public at all.