Cannabis regulators debate again over CCC chair role, begin process to loosen two-employee delivery rule
Photo | WBJ File
The Cannabis Control Commission occupies the second floor of Union Station.
Massachusetts marijuana regulators spent most of Thursday discussing a number of issues facing the Cannabis Control Commission, with the meeting beginning with another discussion of which of the four active members of the commission would be its active chair as the suspension of chair Shannon O’Brien drags into its fourth month.
Thursday’s discussion was necessary because the commission voted in November to name Ava Callender Concepcion as the active chair until Dec. 14, with the expectation the dispute over O’Brien’s suspension would be resolved. However, the battle between O’Brien and State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg continues to play out in the courts, leading to another fight over who would chair the agency in the meantime.
Commissioner Bruce Stebbins started the discussion surrounding the active chair role by reiterating a proposal made at a previous meeting to have the agency rotate the responsibilities of the acting chair each quarter based on alphabetical order, but commissioners Nurys Camargo and Concepcion once again voted against this proposal, leading to the motion failing 2-2.
Camargo then told her fellow commissioners Concepcion should stay on as active chair, saying that the agency needed consistent leadership.
“The industry needs some predictability, some stability. Our internal teams need stability and predictability,” she said, asking Stebbins why he felt that Concepcion should not be re-nominated as active chair.
Stebbins replied by saying he sought a collaborative approach where the burdens of being chair could be shared between the four members of the board while the disagreement between O’Brien and Goldberg plays out in court. He pushed back against the claim his motion would disrupt the stability of the agency, saying all of the current commissioners had been in the role long enough, so stakeholders are familiar with working with them.
Commissioner Kimberly Roy then requested a 15-minute recess so she could receive a legal opinion from the commission’s counsel. Following the recess, Camargo asked Stebbins to put a motion forward to name Concepcion as the active chair, asking him what was preventing him from nominating her. Stebbins replied by saying it wasn’t incumbent on himself to make the motion.
Concepcion then said she would like to continue as active chair.
“It’s not about us, it’s not about me,” she said, “I know from speaking to staff what would be helpful, and for that reason, I do welcome the opportunity to continue in this role.”
Camargo then put forward a motion to appoint Concepcion as active chair until the agency receives notice on the status of O’Brien from the commission’s appointing authorities.
Roy then put forward a point of inquiry. She questioned whether the commissioners were on sound legal footing to move forward, referencing concerns she had raised at an October meeting that a delegation memo was improperly and illegally executed by Shawn Collins, the agency’s now-former executive director.
The memo had been issued following Collins’ departure for family leave in September. Roy said the state’s Office of the Comptroller had contacted the commission to notify them that Collins did not have the authority to issue the memo and she had similar concerns about the legality of the motion to reappoint Concepcion.
“I don't know if the motion is on sound legal footing,” said Roy.
After receiving confirmation from the commission’s counsel it was the legal department’s opinion the board was free to move to appoint an active chair, Concepcion quickly moved to seconded Camargo’s motion to reappoint to the role. This vote passed 3-1, with Roy in opposition.
Later in the meeting, the board moved to address a number of policy topics on the agenda, with particular focus on a regulation requiring two employees to be in any vehicle delivering cannabis products. Multiple operators of cannabis delivery companies were in attendance for the meeting, with the hope the agency would take concrete steps towards eliminating this rule they claim is a major roadblock to the success of this license type.
Following a presentation from Matt Giancola, CCC director of government affairs and policy, outlining regulations and security incidents surrounding deliveries in other states, commissioners discussed the pros and cons of eliminating the two-agent rule. This included commissioner Roy reading a letter into the record from Newton Police Chief John Carmichael Jr. supporting eliminating the two-agent rule. Carmichael serves on the state’s Cannabis Advisory Board and was an opponent of the ballot initiative to legalize cannabis for adult use in 2016.
After the discussion, Stebbins was the lone vote against motion language to instruct agency staff to draft regulations that would allow delivery operators to operate with a single employee in a vehicle, citing safety concerns.
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