Commission digs into delivery, microbusiness, telehealth, and patient-access regulation changes
There is no way to write this without the appearance of shamelessly coddling the Cannabis Control Commission, and that may be alright for a change. It is the job of independent press people to impugn other media, which sometimes means highlighting happenings that get far less attention due to most outlets tending to pile on to another much sexier story.
In the case of the CCC, the hot headlines have touched on its very public organizational struggles, culminating recently in an excoriation by the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General. In comments to the media and in testifying before lawmakers on Beacon Hill, OIG Jeffrey Shapiro called for the agency to be placed in receivership for a litany of well-documented embarrassments.
But while those many warts and wounds do need attention—some are truly outrageous, like the secrecy around the suspension of Chair Shannon O’Brien—it’s also true that the grind of state cannabis regulation chugs on in Worcester, where agency staffers are actively processing new applications and re-ups alike. They’re also tackling a range of other issues outside of the licensing routine, and on Friday the four current commissioners and supporting attorneys and others got down to business.
Meeting for the primary purpose of reviewing proposed regulation changes on specific issues that have been bandied about since last year or in some cases earlier, acting Chair Ava Callender Concepcion spent most of the nearly eight-hour redlining session guiding the group through discussions about delivery and microbusiness licenses, as well as telehealth access and letting nurse practitioners certify medical patients.
The summary below covers a mere sample of the tedious material advanced, much of it now heading into a state bureaucratic gauntlet that involves passing proposed adjustments through a public notification process before being held up for written and in-person scrutiny, and then fiddled into legally tenable policies by careful attorneys.
Again, none of this dismisses the obvious institutional flaws at the CCC. Nevertheless, even an independent industry outlet like Talking Joints Memo has published more of the dirt than the details. And since the CCC spent the entire working day addressing the latter last week—with scant recognition in the press for their efforts, since members did not start yelling and insulting one another—here’s a deeper look at what was actually accomplished …
One notable tangential topic tackled pertained to “Delivery repackaging.” While dispensaries can currently purchase bulk flower and break it down into small sacks to retail, delivery operators don’t have that option. The proposed changes allow them to get in on that action, which opens up a new and needed artery in the statewide supply chain, according to business owners we have interviewed. Of course, a Delivery Operator will have to “comply with the labeling and packaging requirements contained in [Mass General law] and Requirements for Handling of Marijuana.”
Licensees in the Microbusiness category, which has long been overlooked and underutilized, are also getting thrown the car keys. Per the proposed language, if a microbiz is “in receipt of a Delivery Endorsement issued by the Commission,” it “may deliver Marijuana or Marijuana Products produced at the licensed location directly to Consumers in compliance with established regulatory requirements for retail sale as it relates to delivery.”
It’s unclear whether that model is actually sustainable for the smallest Mass ops, but the idea of getting your favorite boutique brand to drop off in its cool custom van sure is enticing. Of course, that’s not possible with the current prudent vehicle-branding restrictions, but use your imagination. Meanwhile, there’s also promising news for this category regarding microbiz licensing fees. “To the extent a Microbusiness Licensee is engaged in cultivation or product manufacturing activities, the annual license fee shall be 50% of all applicable annual license fees.” Also, the new language reads: “Seed-to-sale SOR monthly program fees are waived for … Microbusiness Licenses.”
As for telehealth, the big development relates to allowing more kinds of medical professionals and nurse practitioners—as opposed to only medical doctors, certain nurses, and osteopaths—to “establish a Bona Fide Healthcare Provider Patient Relationship and conduct a full assessment of [a] Patient’s medical history,” during a “Clinical Visit … in-person or [via] telehealth,” in order to qualify medical patients.
There’s also interesting and important nitty gritty stuff about ownership percentages on the microbusiness side, and regarding the hours that deliveries can be made, among other things. We will update readers on Talking Joints Memo about them as more information becomes available, posting links, analysis, and summaries as the commission makes its relevant announcements. In the meantime, commissioners and their colleagues went back and forth on every letter during the marathon meeting, often taking ten or more minutes to iron out small creases and arrive at common understandings.
At a dinner-hour media availability after the Friday meeting, Commissioner Bruce Stebbins explained how some of the changes they visited, like expanding delivery hours, link back to conversations that members including him began having with operators last year. The bad rap on the CCC tends to include a condemnation of how long the body takes to get shit done; but from the agency-side looking out, emerging from a 450-minute meeting, the perspective more resembles sunlight at the tail end of a red-tape tunnel.
In some cases, commissioners asked for simple clarifications on the record. Commissioner Nurys Camargo, for example, asked the group about how these changes will eventually be voted on. After all the state compliance boxes are checked and public-comment periods wrap, CCC members will yay or nay them as a package, not section by section.
Camargo expressed disappointment during the meeting over the proposed timeline to make the new adjustments final. According to the dates posted on a shared screen, they will “finalize draft regulations” in “Early August,” with the cleaned-up language heading to the Secretary of the Commonwealth on Aug. 30, followed by a window for written testimony.
But while the commissioner was initially skeptical about having to “wait another 45 days before we even start public comment,” Camargo and others ultimately seemed relieved to cross another mile marker. Commissioner Kimberly Roy was especially pleased with their moving along changes about the number of delivery drivers that have to be on the road at one time, as well as regs regarding nurse practitioners. “My hope is that this will increase the number of certified providers and increase access,” Roy said after the meeting.
It’s fair to ask—How much of this is happening because the inspector general lit a fire under the agency’s ass? As a close observer of the CCC, I don’t think that the heat and pressure hurt, and it likely spurred some broad general movement toward a better light. At the same time, it is well-documented, by us and others, that commissioners and staffers have researched, debated, and discussed these topics for months before getting to this point. You just don’t read about it as much as you read about their failures.
