“To gather input on the Medical Cannabis Industry in Massachusetts, including challenges, best practices, need for changes, recommendations [and] regulations changes needed.”
While the Cannabis Control Commission has gotten some heat over its management issues and some other inconsistencies (to put it mildly), the agency has also had some big accomplishments. And a lot of those advancements are at least in part due to the hard work of the CCC’s Cannabis Advisory Board (CAB) subcommittees and their members.
In March, the CAB’s Research Subcommittee published draft recommendations related to lab testing and product labeling “based on its evaluation of existing reports, qualitative data collected through the solicitation of feedback from industry and consumer stakeholders, and best practices utilized in other legal cannabis states.”
In June, after several months of fielding input “via email, social media, and other in-person networking events,” they issued and approved those recommendations for the CCC to officially consider. The language includes:
- Recommendation #1: Expand the currently existing Open Data Portal to include Open METRC Data Related to Lab Testing.
- Recommendation #2: Define THC (Total THC, THCA, THCV, THC etc) and provide clear guidance for both labs and operators on how to appropriately and consistently test for, calculate and label THC for the benefit of consumers. CCC to consider adopting a range for the percentage of THC for flower based products and review other states’ models.
- Recommendation #3: Convene an ongoing working group similar to the model in Colorado to review and make ongoing recommendations on rules and regulations related to the testing and labeling of cannabis and cannabis products. Advise on revisions necessary to the current testing protocols and labeling.
- Recommendation #4: Utilize the Secret Shopper Program that is part of the existing CCC regulations. CCC to consider ways to report to the public for transparency and consumer safety, explore other models in other States.
- Recommendation #5: The CCC to commence a feasibility study around the implementation of a cannabis standards lab in Massachusetts based on lessons learned from other states that are implementing cannabis reference/standards labs. Other states include: California, Michagan and Maryland.
With their Sept. 15 follow-up meeting coming up in which they will discuss medical cannabis and vertical integration—and with Massachusetts lab-testing controversies making national news as outspoken lab-side voices ask state lawmakers for more standardization and transparency (see video above)—Research Subcommittee Chair Marion McNabb from the Cannabis Center Of Excellence is hoping to get more info from the public. According to the solicitation:
This survey is being administered by members of the MA Cannabis Advisory Board who are participating in a Research Subcommittee.
This committee is tasked with developing recommendations related to the medical cannabis industry in MA and the next five years of the adult use industry to inform the changes in the adult use and medical cannabis regulations that are ongoing with the MA Cannabis Control Commission.
This survey is intended to gather input on the Medical Cannabis Industry in Massachusetts, including challenges, best practices, need for changes, recommendations, regulations changes needed.
You can fill out the online form here.
