Legislators hold off on cannabis agency overhaul
Photo | Courtesy of Regenerative
Plants grow at Regenerative, an outdoor cannabis farm in Uxbridge.
House leadership took one issue off the table ahead of the term's final day of formal sessions, announcing plans for autumn hearings on the structure of the Cannabis Control Commission rather than attempting a late-session push to reshape the controversy-plagued agency.
Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro last month pleaded with lawmakers to intervene by appointing a receiver to manage day-to-day CCC operations at the "rudderless agency" and then restructure it by amending the "unclear and self-contradictory" enabling statute that legislators wrote in 2017.
The Cannabis Policy Committee heard from Shapiro at a hearing in early July and House chair Rep. Daniel Donahue said Tuesday that the committee thinks receivership is not the way to go, but "recognizes the need for clarity in structure and accountability at the Cannabis Control Commission" and "foresees a legislative path forward addressing the sources of concerns about the CCC’s administrative function."
"The CCC has released a new governance charter, which is now available for a public comment period. The Committee will continue its careful, measured, and diligent approach to rectifying the structural problems at the CCC. Given the ongoing comment period and need to hear from stakeholders in response to incoming information, we do not plan on having a legislative solution by the end of the full formal session," the Worcester Democrat said. "The Committee drafted a memo highlighting topics of legislative concern and will hold public hearings throughout the fall in an effort to engage all interested parties in identifying the best path forward."
A memo that Donahue drafted for Speaker Ronald Mariano identifies three areas of the CCC's enabling statute that the committee would like to revisit, including two potentially contradictory sections delineating powers of the CCC chair and the agency's executive director, and the definition and use of "commission" throughout the law.
"Further, the Committee has identified broader opportunities for reconsideration, including appointment and removal powers, as well as the structural model of the agency itself," Donahue wrote.
CCC officials pushed back on Shapiro's recommendation for a receiver, with Acting Chair Ava Callender Concepcion telling legislators that while the "challenges at the Commission are far from secret," following the inspector general's recommendation "is ill-advised."
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