Eight years after Massachusetts voters passed a ballot law legalizing the adult use of marijuana, state legislators are exploring whether there are ways to make the cannabis regulatory system work better for businesses, consumers and others involved in the industry.
Lawmakers on the Cannabis Policy Committee, prompted by months of internal drama at the Cannabis Control Commission and a call from the state inspector general to put the CCC into receivership, held a hearing Wednesday to help inform a path forward for the agency and the potential for legislative changes.
The State House hearing featured testimony from groups representing medical marijuana patients, equity advocates, and the owners of different types of cannabis businesses. One question lawmakers drilled into with various speakers was whether the way the CCC is set up makes sense.
The CCC’s leadership structure includes an executive director and a five-member commission. The governor, the treasurer and the attorney general each appoint one commissioner, and the trio of elected officials jointly choose the remaining two commissioners.
“It strikes me that the agency, while independent, is a bit of an orphan because the governor’s not looking at that agency every day, the two other appointing authorities are not looking at that agency every day and holding it accountable,” said David O’Brien, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association. “To my knowledge, they’re not calling each commissioner and saying hey, do this and fix this. I think from the legislators’ point of view, from the legislators I’ve spoken to, the fact we’ve made so much negative news over the past couple years when it comes to the drama and the sort of Game of Thrones that goes on at the agency, it’s not helpful to anybody.”
Former Cannabis Control Commissioner Shaleen Title told lawmakers that she believes the existing structure, with five commissioners appointed by three authorities, “is vital to the agency’s independence.” Title is founder and director of the Parabola Center for Law and Policy, a nonprofit focused on racial justice and preventing monopolies in the cannabis industry.
Title outlined other areas where she’d like to see changes. She suggested a system of monthly reports of all disciplinary actions, like those published in Michigan, so commissioners can ensure regulations are consistently enforced, and said that commissioners “must be able to exercise proper oversight of investigations.”
“During my time there, I had some concerns about commissioners being kept in the dark about ongoing investigations,” she said.
Kevin Gilnack of Equitable Opportunities Now urged the committee to preserve “the quasi-independent nature of the CCC.”
“While the CCC deliberations are often very slow and messy, they also prioritize debate, including different perspectives from different commissioners of different backgrounds, and they encourage stakeholder input,” Gilnack said. “The lack of interference from appointing authorities gives the commissioners freedom to make policy decisions they think are best for preserving public health, safety, equitable participation and the success of the industry.”
Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro wrote to lawmakers over the summer – before the CCC had chosen a new executive director to fill the vacant post and with since-fired CCC Chair Shannon O’Brien then on paid suspension over misconduct allegations – asking them to revisit the state law that lays out the commission’s structure.
Shapiro flagged “unclear” language defining responsibilities of the commissioners and CCC staff, and encouraged the Legislature “to clearly delineate the role of the chair and the executive director so that the agency can properly function and avoid working at cross purposes, ensure that the agency can maintain the budgeted revenue stream, and provide clarity and certainty to its stakeholders.”
The CCC responded with its own message to lawmakers, touting the agency’s work to stand up a new industry defending the agency’s structure, and asking for “continued partnership and support” from the Legislature as the CCC prepares for a new chapter under a new executive director.
Ava Callender Concepcion, who at the time was acting chair of the CCC and is now out on medical leave, wrote in her letter that the system of five commissioners appointed by three people is a “regulatory structure that shared power.”
“In total, the division of power protects the public interest by sharing in decision making, reducing the potential for public corruption,” she wrote.
The Cannabis Policy Committee plans to hold additional hearings this fall to further gather public input on the CCC, with the potential for legislative action after the new term begins in January.
