On Thursday, members of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission voted on a final order and stipulated agreement between the agency and Highminded, LLC, a company doing business as Farnsworth Cannabis, a manufacturer and retailer out of Great Barrington.
Critical for context is a January 2025 CCC memo on “pennying out,” which is commission slang for “distributing Marijuana and Marijuana Products in [a company’s] inventory to Registered Agents, Consumers, and other Licensees far below market price, for example a penny, five cents, or a dollar.”
At the time, the agency wrote, “Oftentimes these distributions are falsely attributed to a Vendor/Quality Control Sample or Employment Discount Program and used by Licensees to provide free samples at trade shows, other industry events, or to Consumers; this practice is incompatible with Commission law and in certain circumstances may be considered diversion.”
The offense
It’s one of those practices that countless companies engage in. But in this case, it looks like Farnsworth got nabbed and singled out. The triggering incident was on Feb. 7, 2024, when a burglary occurred at an office location with company signage, where a large quantity of marijuana products kept for “staff appreciation samples” was stolen.
Highminded reported the burglary to local police but failed to notify the CCC within the required 24-hour window. Apparently, products had been stored off-site at two locations, neither of which were licensed or approved facilities. A resulting investigation found that between February 2021 and January 2026, there were 2,376 instances of discounted sales—including 1,502 transactions under $1.00—that were not properly tracked in Metrc or governed by formal Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Basically, staff and owners bought products under an undocumented “cost plus 20% off” policy or “discretionary courtesy discounts” up to 99% off, including close-to-expiration items.
Regulatory actions
The CCC issued an Order to Show Cause on March 31, 2026, seeking monetary penalties due to systemic noncompliance. In their settlement, both parties negotiated an informal disposition resulting in a Final Order and Stipulated Agreement, signed by the Farnsworth owners on Oct. 1, 2026, and presented for ratification on Oct. 8, 2026.
Corrective terms include a 14-day license suspension. Operations at the Great Barrington retail and manufacturing locations must cease completely from Nov. 1 through Nov. 14, 2026. Highminded must also pay a $30,000 civil fine to the state’s Marijuana Regulation Fund in five scheduled installments between late 2026 and October 2027 ($10,000 initially, followed by four $5,000 payments).
Furthermore, the company must donate $5,000 to the Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund by Nov. 1, 2027. And Farnsworth must submit and receive approval for written SOPs governing employee discounts, vendor samples, and quality control before running any discount programs. Following ratification, owners are capped at purchasing no more than two ounces of marijuana/concentrate equivalent per month at a discount.
