I came to using cannabis very late in my life. I didn’t try it until it was legal.

Yes, I know, I’m a freak. Snicker amongst yourselves.

After all, I went to college from 1972 to 1976 and one of my best friends had a roommate who was actually growing cannabis in a dorm at UMass.

Pot, although illegal, was everywhere in those days.

If you went to college in the ’70s it’s assumed that you indulged. I didn’t, as I had trust issues. Since I didn’t know where the cannabis was coming from, I felt I shouldn’t risk trying it.

Once it was legal, I tried edibles and found that they helped me sleep in a way that prescription medicines had not. Now, I’m a believer.

I’m certainly a believer in the positive financial impact of legal cannabis sales. What is missing from this picture, though, is the fact that while much money is being made, the legislation passed by the state did not create a situation for cannabis to be a start-up business for entrepreneurs.

Massachusetts made cannabis a product that required huge amounts of money for legal sales. Those requirements have kept a lot of people out of the business.

Now a new bill that was passed by the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy to address some issues that have been glaringly apparent and it’s about time.

Colin A. Young of the State House News Service reported, “All 16 members of the committee who weighed in on the legislation (H 174/S 72) in the poll that closed late last week were in favor of advancing the bill to put tighter restrictions on the legally-required contracts between marijuana businesses and their host communities, establish a Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund and lay the groundwork for cities and towns to allow on-site cannabis consumption establishments. And all 14 committee members who registered an opinion on a bill (S 73) relative to the expungement of convictions for marijuana possession voted to advance it favorably.”

Young quoted state Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, co-chair of the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy, who said, “The gap between the law’s stated commitment to equity and the on-the-ground reality of the industry shows just how much work we have left to do. There’s universal agreement about the problems: high costs of entry and lack of access to capital create a near-impossible barrier for many talented entrepreneurs. This bill addresses both sides of that coin. I’m thrilled we’re finally advancing it.”

The bill would address the Host Community Agreements that are required for local approval of a cannabis license.

It’s amazing to me that legislation that was supposed to help entrepreneurs has wound up preventing many of them from entering the industry.

The bill would also further the idea of having cannabis smoking lounges, for lack of a better term. This end of the cannabis industry would indeed open up more opportunities for local businesspeople as well as create additional jobs.

As Young reported, “More than two years ago, the CCC (Cannabis Control Commission) approved regulations that paved the way for establishments where adults could use marijuana together in a social setting. But the agency says the pilot program it has designed for up to 12 communities ‘would not be able to begin without a change in state law or the passage of legislation that will first allow cities and towns to authorize social consumption in their communities.’”

Again, this has been a major stumbling block for the legitimate cannabis business.

I realize that some people still look at cannabis as harmful. There have been decades worth of propaganda about cannabis as well as repressive federal and state government policies that still have influence about cannabis in the public arena.

The voters of Massachusetts had the common sense to understand the policies of the past were unrealistic. Now we need to make those policies fair for everyone.