There’s buy-in across the branches now on the topic of overhauling the Cannabis Control Commission, and increasing the amount of marijuana that a person can legally possess.
The Senate budget committee on Thursday advanced a bill (S 2722) that would reorganize and shrink the regulatory commission, update limits on retail licenses, and double the amount of marijuana adults can legally possess. In doing so, Senate leaders are showing then intend to join the House in reshaping the agency.
The bill cleared the committee on a 16-0 vote, indicating it is poised for full Senate passage next week. The House in June voted 153-0 vote for a bill (H 4187) backed by House Speaker Ron Mariano of Quincy.
The Senate plans to consider the bill on Wednesday, Nov. 19, the last day for scheduled formal sessions this year under joint legislative rules.
The bill would shrink the Cannabis Control Commission from five members to three — the same size as the House proposed — but with a different power structure. Two members, including the chair, would be appointed by the governor, and one would be appointed by the attorney general. The chair’s term would match the governor’s, while the other two members would serve four-year terms.
The House bill would give the governor full control over the agency, allowing the executive to appoint all three commissioners and the chair. Senate leaders said their proposed structure “solidifies the commission’s public accountability.”
The reorganization effort comes after years of turmoil at the CCC. The commission has been dogged by public infighting, long delays in rulemaking, and the high-profile suspension and legal battle involving Chair Shannon O’Brien and Treasurer Deborah Goldberg. O’Brien won that battle with Goldberg and serves as chair again.
Under the Senate Ways and Means plan, the CCC chair would directly appoint the agency’s executive director, who would wield “independent authority over the agency’s enforcement and operational units.”
Both chambers are responding to the same root problem: a Cannabis Control Commission that’s been mired in confusion about who’s in charge.
Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro warned last year that the agency’s structure was “unclear and self-contradictory,” a legacy of the 2016 ballot law that legalized marijuana and the 2017 legislative rewrite that expanded the CCC’s membership and divided appointment power among three constitutional officers.
The Senate Ways and Means bill also makes several changes aimed at strengthening the business side of the industry. It would allow cannabis retailers to hold up to four store licenses — one more than the current cap. The House bill goes further, proposing to raise the cap to six over three years.
The Senate version also tightens financial accountability in the marketplace.
It creates a “delinquent list” for licensees that fail to pay debts to other operators within 60 days, blocking those companies from buying new products or transferring ownership until their debts are cleared. Lawmakers say the goal is to curb instability and protect smaller businesses that have struggled to stay solvent in a crowded market.
Adults would be allowed to possess up to two ounces of marijuana — double the current limit — “in response to the fact that recreational cannabis use has been a common practice for more than seven years,” the Ways and Means fact sheet says. The House bill also doubles the possession limit from one ounce to two ounces.
Medical marijuana rules would also loosen. The Senate committee’s proposal would end the requirement that medical licensees grow, process and sell their own product — a long-criticized vertical integration mandate that has squeezed out smaller operators. The House bill has similar language.
It would also allow patients with valid medical marijuana cards from other states to purchase cannabis in Massachusetts dispensaries.
Where the House bill sprawls into other areas — such as regulating hemp-derived beverages — the Senate version stays more narrowly focused.
The Senate committee’s proposal also directs the CCC to study the mental health outcomes of cannabis use, an acknowledgement of growing concerns about the impacts of long-term use. The report would be due by January 2027.
