State representatives outlined their vision of a more efficient and accountable Cannabis Control Commission as they passed a bill Wednesday that would overhaul the embattled agency and make other changes to the way marijuana is regulated in Massachusetts.
The bill won unanimous support in the House, though advocates for equity in the marijuana industry cautioned some provisions could threaten the survival of small, local businesses.
The House’s vote comes almost a year after state Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro asked lawmakers to take charge of a “rudderless agency.”
Since then, former commission chair Shannon O’Brien was officially fired by state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg, who suspended her from the job in 2023.
O’Brien is challenging her removal in court, and the five-seat commission is operating with just three members as it continues its work to shape the relatively new marijuana industry, including an ongoing effort to license social consumption for businesses like cafes where people can use cannabis on-site.
House Speaker Ron Mariano said Wednesday that he does not believe the challenges that have plagued the CCC in recent years are rooted in personnel problems.
“No, it was a structure problem,” Mariano told reporters. “They had no accountability.”
After Massachusetts voters legalized recreational marijuana use in 2016, the Legislature passed a law in 2017 that created the CCC in its current makeup — a five-person commission whose members are appointed by the treasurer, attorney general and governor. The treasurer picks the chair.
Under the House’s bill, the governor alone would appoint a full-time chair and two part-time associate commissioners.
“It’s important to note these changes still protect the commissioners’ independence in policymaking and in investigations and adjudications of violations,” said Rep. Daniel Donahue, a Worcester Democrat and House chair of the Cannabis Policy Committee. “The cannabis industry, with its complexities and challenges, requires a nimble and efficient regulator.”
Apart from reshaping the regulatory commission, the bill would raise the cap on the number of retail licenses an individual or entity can hold, increase the daily purchase limit from one ounce of marijuana flower to two ounces, and newly regulate hemp-related beverages and consumable products.
The bill would remove from state law the requirement that medical marijuana businesses cultivate, process and sell their own cannabis under one license, creating the possibility for new retail-only medical dispensaries.
Mariano said the bill demonstrates “the House’s commitment to ensuring that the cannabis industry in Massachusetts is regulated in a manner that bolsters economic opportunity, especially for communities that were disproportionately impacted by the criminalization of marijuana.”
The advocacy group Equitable Opportunities Now raised concerns with the structural changes to the CCC and said that raising the cap on licenses could make way for large, multi-state companies to move in at the expense of small, local businesses.
“This bill is a gift to corporate cannabis and a death sentence for local and social equity businesses. How is someone with one, two, or three stores supposed to compete with someone buying for six or more stores?” Shanel Lindsay, the group’s cofounder, said in a statement last week. “It will undermine everything Massachusetts has worked so hard to achieve in building the most equitable cannabis industry in the country.”
Equitable Opportunities Now said its members appreciated some parts of the bill — like the higher purchase limits and changes for medical marijuana businesses — but would rather lawmakers “do nothing than pass a flawed bill that gives control of the market and policymaking to the largest, most profitable businesses.”
The House’s bill next moves to the state Senate for consideration. Senate leaders have so far not indicated any specific preferences for overhauling the CCC or the state’s marijuana industry.
