Massachusetts business owners, industry trade groups, and advocates ask lawmakers to reform the Cannabis Control Commission
The lead-up to the legislative hearing
The runway heading toward Wednesday’s hearing of the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy was cold and bumpy for the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission. So bumpy, apparently, that CCC members weren’t invited to testify. A series of unfortunate events involving everything from processing delays to human resources challenges even drew attention from the state inspector general, who earlier this year called for the CCC to be placed into receivership.
Lawmakers passed on an opportunity to fully rein in the embattled agency, but they’re still keeping a close eye on the commission. This Wednesday, those responsible for overseeing canna regulators at the state level invited delegates from trade associations and stakeholder alliances to speak about the various dramatic issues that are causing such commotion. The Beacon Hill hearing was intended to help ascertain “how structural deficits are reflected in the industry the [CCC] is regulating.”
Rep. Daniel Donahue, who co-chairs the joint cannabis committee with Sen. Adam Gomez, said the “legislature understands the importance of a well-functioning regulator”—and wants to see more of those traits at the CCC. In July, following the IG’s call for receivership, the committee sent a memo to House Speaker Ron Mariano stating, among other things, that “of chief concern to the Committee are the matters of (1) responsibility for agency operations and (2) proper channels of accountability within the agency structure.”
Calling out “vague” testing regulations and for a moratorium
Ryan Dominguez, the executive director of the Massachusetts Cannabis Coalition, spoke first on behalf of more than 70 licensees his group represents. “We continue to have productive conversations with the commissioners and staff,” he said, “but there is a disconnect between their many [public] meetings and the implementation of its many proposals.” Dominguez said he is primarily interested in seeing more regulatory efficiency, which could help keep smaller operators alive in an increasingly competitive region. He also asked lawmakers to act quickly and analyze the current market in order to improve the fate of business owners moving forward.
Megan Dobro, the founder and CEO of SafeTiva Labs in Westfield, directly addressed what she called a “testing crisis that stems from vague regulations and market pressures.” Potency inflation and other issues in this realm are coming to a head, with the CCC calling an upcoming hearing on Nov. 7, and the agency’s Cannabis Advisory Board’s Research Subcommittee zooming in. Dobro spoke about how three labs have gone out of business this year, while those that are still running wrestle with a daily Sophie’s Choice between maintaining scientific integrity and keeping clients happy.
Dobro also advocated for the loosening of senseless over-regulations pertaining to advertising and employee badging, and called for a moratorium on new licenses. She wasn’t alone. Payton Shubrick, the CEO and founder of 6 Brick’s dispensary in Springfield, said there is currently way too much cannabis canopy, especially if you consider nearly five-million square feet more that is currently in the provisional licensing phase. She stressed the importance of a supply-chain study, and asked legislators to consider putting a moratorium on new cultivation licenses until it’s done.
Rep. Aaron Saunders asked how the legislature could justify a statutory change to cap licenses. To which Shubrick explained that the current oversaturation has a lot of operators scraping barrel bottoms, likely jeopardizing consumer trust in the industry as a result. “I am voicing the voiceless concerns of countless operators,” Shubrick said. She added that the industry would benefit from companies being able to promote via raffles and deals, like every other kind of business can do.
Who runs the Cannabis Control Commission anyway?
Speaking from the questioning committee side, Rep. Michael Soter said that it appears the CCC warrants some changes around leadership appointment protocols, specifically to make it clearer who is the executive board, so to speak, and who is the executive director. In other words, who is in charge? The same point was raised by David O’Brien, the president and CEO of the Massachusetts Cannabis Business Association; in addressing potentially hurdlesome interoffice CCC politics, he said the appointed commissioners essentially function as a board of directors for the agency.
Jeremiah MacKinnon, the president and executive director of the Massachusetts Patient Advocacy Alliance, also said clarification is needed around pecking order. He suggested that the lack of clear leadership at the CCC, among other problems, is allowing for the decimation of the state’s medical cannabis program in plain sight. MacKinnon brought numbers. The agency has had zero new medical-side applicants this year, while seven medical dispensaries in Mass have gone under in 2024. Three of those were in Boston, where the number of med shops resultantly went from six to three, therefore making the Hub markedly underserved.
For years, MacKinnon’s group and others have advocated for a change that would allow adult-use facilities to get in on the dwindling medical market. On Wednesday, he said “patients should never be burdened with having to pay more for their medicine because the commission” is addressing other priorities. In Boston, for example, any number of more than 30 adult-use dispensaries could be serving patients, but they’re not currently allowed to because they aren’t vertically integrated, meaning they don’t also cultivate crops and make products. MacKinnon implored the committee to advance An Act Relative To Vertical Integration Of Medical Marijuana Businesses, which is currently before the legislature, emphasizing the urgency requested and the hardships endured by MPAA members.
Progress at the CCC, but still not enough “predictability”
Many who testified, including MacKinnon, addressed the apparent CCC deficiencies, but also acknowledged the agency’s progress in the past year. Kevin Gilnack, the policy co-chair for Equitable Opportunities Now, which advocates for Social Equity applicants, spoke in support of keeping the foundational structure of the CCC intact. “While the CCC deliberations are often slow and messy,” he said, they do tend to solicit the perspectives of multiple stakeholders. Addressing legislators, Gilnack added, “I urge you to fully fund the Cannabis Control Commission.”
One prevailing notion centered around the commission having way too much responsibility and oversight. Matt Allen of MA Craft Cultivation questioned the seed-to-sale system of tracking every last piece of flower, while Chris Fevry, the co-founder of Dris Brands, which holds three different classes of cannabis delivery licenses, said the commission is improving in many ways, but still takes forever to execute. He wished the state could more easily enact small regulatory adjustments that would have big impacts—for example, allowing delivery businesses to deliver to towns that do not have their own cannabis businesses.
In their own way, even the guardians of prohibitionist towns—the Massachusetts Municipal Association—agreed. Like cannabis business owners, they’re pining for decisiveness. Shaun Suhoski, the town manager for Athol, said, “What the industry needs and what municipalities need is predictability.”
Shaleen Title knows a lot about bureaucratic restraints challenging Mass cannabis companies. Though she testified on Wednesday as a founder and director of the Parabola Center, which is focused on thwarting monopolies in the industry, prior to that Title served as a state cannabis commissioner from 2017 to 2020. Her testimony was direct, touching on three areas—investigations, oversight, and human resources. During her time at the CCC, Title said, commissioners were largely in the dark about investigations; Michigan, by comparison, publishes a monthly list of enforcement actions.
Some solutions seem that simple; also representing Parabola, Laury Lucien of CamiFlower pointed out how hard it is for businesses to obtain basic operating information from the state. She recommended a hotline.
Cannabis industry stakeholders are “hurt”
Batting last, members of the Sungrown Cannabis Alliance delivered some of the afternoon’s most impassioned testimony. Jesse Duncan said that “internal issues within the CCC do impact the livelihoods of growers,” and questioned if the agency operates fairly. Allen of MA Craft Cultivation called the current climate a “regime” in which only well-funded large businesses can thrive, and said most fellow farmers he knows in the space live in fear of an FBI-like raid by the commission, followed by a fine that puts them out of business. Adding the final dollop, Goldie Piff identified concerns about the state’s Social Equity Program—specifically, it’s not adequately geared toward those who actually cultivate cannabis, but rather focuses on business and compliance.
There were a lot of common threads tying the words of Wednesday’s speakers together, with one resounding message being that the CCC does an increasingly good amount of listening, but is seriously lacking in its actions. “They are listening much more,” said David O’Brien of the Mass CBA, “but we have to turn that listening into action.” Similarly, Dru Ledbetter of Zeb Boutique approved of the CCC’s efforts to “address communities” through public hearings and site visits, but emphasized the ultimate disconnect between regulators and licensees. Jeremiah MacKinnon of the MPAA said, “We do have conversations with [commissioners], but we don’t get too much dialogue from them.”
Danny Carson hasn’t had much conversation or dialogue with commissioners. A former supervisor at the Trulieve facility in Holyoke where 27-year-old Trulieve employee Lorna McMurrey died in January 2022 after going into cardiac arrest, he started the Coalition for Cannabis Worker Safety after his friend and co-worker’s death to get answers. He’s still waiting; among Carson’s gripes, he said that in many circumstances, workers in the weed biz are instructed to follow basic OSHA guidelines, which aren’t cannabis specific. He’s submitted recommendations to the CCC regarding employee safety on three occasions, and said that none of them have been put into place.
“How many people are going to get needlessly sick,” Carson said. “Or die?”
Rep. Donahue, the co-chair, said this week’s hearing won’t be the last chance for stakeholders to testify.
