Body’s Ways and Means Committee advances version with some shifts from House bill on ownership, medical, other key points
In June, after lots of handwringing and backroom wrangling, the Massachusetts House of Representatives voted in favor of a bill that could have a seismic impact on the commonwealth’s cannabis industry and its regulating agency—from the structure of the Cannabis Control Commission, to the fate of licensees that fail to pay their invoices.
In the months since the measure moved to the Senate, lawmakers in that chamber gave few clues about how they might proceed, but today, the body’s Ways and Means Committee advanced a version of the controversial package.
According to the State House News Service, the move is “the first concrete step suggesting Senate leaders intend to align with the House in overhauling the conflict-ridden agency that oversees Massachusetts’s cannabis industry.” And it “represents a significant step by Senate leaders to engage on an issue that has been a priority for House Speaker Ronald Mariano, who has pushed to restructure the CCC eight years after the launch of the legal marijuana market.”
WBUR reported on late Thursday afternoon that the Senate will debate the bill next week.
There’s still a lot up in the air. When the full Senate takes up the so-called Act modernizing the commonwealth’s cannabis laws, members will address a number of amendments that came with the Ways and Means endorsement.
Regarding ownership and market structure, a major sticking point, the amended version would push the retail ownership limit from three to four, not to six as outlined in the House version. Also, the threshold for minority equity stake would increase to 12% (rather than 30%, as in the House plan), and it defines a “controlling person” as “an officer, board member or other individual who has a financial or voting interest of 10 per cent or greater in a marijuana establishment.”
Whereas the House bill aimed to cut the number of Cannabis Control Commission members from five to three, with just one full-timer, the Senate spin keeps three on full time. It would also eliminate the Cannabis Advisory Board and require the CCC to “study and report on mental health outcomes of cannabis use in the commonwealth.”
Other features of the Senate version include vertical de-integration for medical cannabis companies with some stipulations, and allowing medical cannabis cardholders from any state to purchase in Mass. The bill would also create a list of licensees who are delinquent on their payments to vendors for more than 60 days. The State House News Service is also reporting that the “Senate CCC reform bill also doubles marijuana possession limit.”
This story is developing.
