Cannabis in MA has unquestionably been a revenue booster for cops both active and retired (and some that were ousted from the force first) https://twitter.com/theyoungjurks/status/1299825135625658368

Beyond the extensive municipal payments for parking details etc cops have inflated value to cannabis businesses as employees and consultants in part because of how extensive the security requirements are, in part to reassure neighbors and locals

Cops project a high level of authority to cannabis skeptical groups and their supporting presence can go a long way to aggress concern at community outreach meetings and interviews.

And security planning and actual using is not easy in MA - there are multiple layers of hard infrastructure that need to be purchased, assembled and integrated. ERP, surveillance, data storage, ID verification, access control, motion detection - all cost time and money.

Getting people trained is a process. It can’t be handwaved because compliance violations often cost six figures. The deterrence factor is real. That increases pressure to hire on cops. And cops can collect a pension and pull in mid five figures from a cannabis company no problem.

It is what it is. The economic incentive to pay cops is extremely real and extremely strong. That’s not purely a regulatory phenomenon - it’s cultural too. And because of that cops are an established and increasingly indispensable layer of this new industry in MA.