Once upon a time at the commission: Endless investigations, ‘concerns regarding behavior,’ and deleted texts
At this point, even many Massachusetts residents who don’t consume weed or care about the cannabis industry have caught some wind of the drama smoking between former Cannabis Control Commission Chair Shannon O’Brien and Mass Treasurer Deb Goldberg. It’s not as much of a nail-biter as the Karen Read trial, but the story has its own seductive elements, and thanks to recent developments more people will likely soon feast on its wildest details.
A few of us at Talking Joints Memo have spent the past week combing through thousands of pages of newly-released documents from the ongoing legal feud stemming from O’Brien’s reported behavior while heading the CCC for a year starting in September 2022 (Goldberg suspended O’Brien from the post a year later, then fully fired her in September 2024). We’re plumbing the materials and publishing new pieces regularly about revelations therein, and more granular and topical analysis of the files will follow in the coming days, with perspectives from regular as well as guest contributors.
For now, though, my initial big thought and response to the new trove is that the CCC’s musical chairs saga reminds me of the saga of the storied Wu-Tang album Once Upon a Time In Shaolin. It was the taste crime of the decade. In 2015, abhorred pharma nerd Martin Shkreli purchased the purported solo copy of the unreleased project. Instinctively, media glommers and cosplay Clan fans expressed outrage with the sheer audacity of his buying exclusive access; but for those of us who actually worship the deep catalog, the cries rang hollow. There are literally thousands of Wu tracks that most casual heads haven’t heard, begging the question: If they’re not already digging through the deep cuts, why do they suddenly care about 25 elusive songs?
I’m not calling people posers for tracking the O’Brien proceedings. It’s important for direct industry stakeholders, pot smokers, and Mass taxpayers alike to follow along. Rather my point is more self-critical in that while we are paying extra attention to the new documents at this moment, lots of them have been out there in bits and snippets for several years, often with fat black marker lines hiding some juicy parts. In other words, many of these disclosures or at least parts of them shone through the stupor of systemic bureaucratic opacity prior to this new release. You just had to know where to look.
Apropos of all of the above but nothing we were keyword-searching for specifically, in light of everything that’s rising to the surface, these five threads from the O’Brien files highlighted below seem particularly pertinent.
Interviews and transcripts by the numbers
One thing that seems worth relaying in the scope of all that’s come from this yearslong ordeal is how much damn time and resources it has devoured. The following merely accounts for the agreed-upon meetings between the involved parties (that seemingly fostered little or no compromise) through last September: “Meeting sessions totaled approximately 19 hours, more than twice the time allotted for the Meeting by the court-approved Protocol. In connection with the Meeting, I [Goldberg] submitted into the record 22 exhibits, including four videos; Chair O’Brien submitted 44 exhibits … including seven video and audio files.”
And that is just a snapshot of the time suck. There were also the much-contested investigations which buttress the plotline. Imagine you’re trying to do your job regulating cannabis startups in Mass and this kind of shit is happening in your office: “The First Investigator interviewed nine witnesses during her investigation. Four of those witnesses the First Investigator identified in the First Report by name, including Chair O’Brien. …
“The remaining five witnesses, all commission employees, requested to remain anonymous because they feared Chair O’Brien would retaliate against them for participating in the investigation and sharing their complaints about Chair O’Brien’s conduct. … The First Investigator found the employees’ concerns ‘to be credible and compelling,’ and therefore agreed not to disclose the identities of these witnesses in the First Report.”
Those names, some more relevant to allegations leveled against O’Brien than others, are now in the public record. But more importantly, these tallies show the all-consuming nature of this situation.
A perpetual impugnment
Speaking of investigations, it turns out that O’Brien came under immense scrutiny even before the investigations we previously knew about. The following is from a formerly confidential report furnished by contracted CCC attorneys almost two years ago: “In August 2023, 1 Morgan, Brown & Joy, LLP retained this firm on behalf of its client, the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission to investigate concerns raised by Shawn Collins, the Commission’s former Executive Director, and Grace O’Day, Executive Assistant, about the Cornmission’s Chair, Shannon O’Brien. The allegations characterized Chair O’Brien’s behavior and workplace interactions as hostile and/or unlawful.”
It’s like a formulaic intelligence agency show on TBS where all the characters are spying on each other: “Before this engagement, CCC had conducted (or caused to be conducted) other investigations into·the behavior of Chair O’Brien and others at the Commission. There was some overlap among the witnesses interviewed for this investigation, and witnesses sometimes referred to matters that fell within the scope of other investigations.”
‘Concerns regarding behavior’ at the commission
Perhaps most importantly, a lot of the supporting evidence and exhibits included in the files shows what was actually texted and written between parties, as well as explicit formal complaints, etc. There’s a lot less filling in of blanks left to do now. And on that note, the following excerpt comes from an email that former CCC Executive Director Collins sent to the agency’s HR director in July 2023. The rift between O’Brien and Collins is central to the chronicle of events.
“I am writing to share my serious concerns with respect to the hostile, toxic, and coercive behavior I have experienced from Commission Chairwoman Shannon O’Brien since her arrival, throughout her tenure, and especially its escalation as of late. She has become increasingly hostile toward me with respect to what she describes as insubordination of others, and her perception of my lack of management.”
Collins continued, “Unfortunately, [O’Brien’s] escalating toxicity toward me has had an adverse effect on my health such that I must now take necessary steps to protect myself and my family by immediately taking any remaining parental leave I have available. It was my intention to commence my leave once my wife returned to work, however, given my health and uncertain status, I am compelled to protect myself and my family immediately and not wait any further. This, of course, has a detrimental effect on our family’s financial planning, especially with respect to childcare.”
According to a current commissioner
CCC Commissioner Kimberly Roy hasn’t been silent about her many concerns about the agency. In April, for example, she testified in front of lawmakers on Beacon Hill that she “has consistently [and unsuccessfully] advocated for a tip line and greater transparency to respond to industry concerns and uphold the law.” But when it came to individuals and topics she discussed with the people investigating O’Brien, she expressed certain concerns about speaking up. Just like O’Brien …
On her belief “that the Commission has a ‘toxic internal work culture,’; and that licensees ‘are fearful of retribution from CCC staff,’” O’Brien “asked the First Investigator not to interview a former commissioner as part of the investigation because ‘if anything got out that she might be making comments about staff, it could be used as [a] reason to harm her professionally [since] Industry people remain fearful of retribution for bringing issues up the food chain at the Commission.”
Roy also “refused to identify [some of the CCC employees she referenced in an interview] and demanded Chair O’Brien’s counsel not ask her about who on the CCC staff held [certain] belief[s] because she wanted to ‘protect them.’”
A ‘pattern’ of ‘asking me to delete our text messages’
It’s worth checking out the May 2024 written testimony of Ed Farley, a former officer of the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission who worked on multiple campaigns for Deb Goldberg including her successful run for treasurer in 2014. There’s a lot to unpack from his account of discussing CCC appointments and things of that nature with Goldberg, who he considers a friend.
For now, though, there’s one line—from the very end of Farley’s testimony—that especially pops out: “Treasurer Goldberg has a pattern and practice of asking me to delete our text messages.”
We’d sure like to learn more about that alleged behavior, but for now we have our hands full with the latest release.
