Lawmakers on an influential marijuana policy committee criticized the state’s Cannabis Control Commission in a nearly three-hour hearing Tuesday, comparing the agency to a “train wreck” and the “Wild West.”
The commission, which regulates the state’s $7 billion marijuana industry, is under scrutiny for a series of high-level personnel suspensions, allegations of a toxic work environment and regulatory delays.
Members of the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy called this week’s hearing to learn more from state Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro about his call to appoint a receiver to oversee the embattled commission.
“If the need were not urgent, I would not have approached the matter in this manner,” Shapiro told committee members. “The longer the CCC flounders, the less certainty and stability for applicants and licensees, patients and caregivers, investors, consumers, and host communities.”
Lawmakers largely agreed with Shapiro’s criticisms of the agency, whose chair, Shannon O’Brien, remains suspended following allegations she made racially insensitive comments, and whose acting executive director was recently stripped of day-to-day oversight responsibilities by the remaining commissioners.
“I’m afraid we’re kind of running like the Wild West down there,” said sate Rep. Michael Soter, a Bellingham Republican.
“It’s a train wreck,” said state Rep. Aaron Saunders, a Democrat from Belchertown. “What’s going on right now is not fair to the public. It’s not fair to the members of the industry. It’s not fair to the employees of the commission.”
But lawmakers had questions about the inspector general’s call for a receiver.
“I would argue it’s the nuclear option, hence why we’ve heard today that it’s never been done on a state agency,” said state Rep. Rob Consalvo, a Suffolk Democrat and the committee’s vice chair. Consalvo noted he opposes calls to appoint a receiver for the Boston Public Schools.
Shapiro argued a receiver would be a short-term solution while legislators consider deeper reforms. He said the underlying state law that set up the commission is inconsistent in how it delegates authority between the commission’s chair and executive director, which creates a power struggle.
“I do think it’s an agency that thinks they’re beholden to no one, that there’s no oversight, and that they can kind of do as they please,” Shapiro said.
The lawmakers’ remarks add to a growing chorus of harsh words about the commission. Gov. Maura Healey last month said she has “concerns” about the ongoing turmoil at the agency; state Sen. Michael Moore, a Worcester Democrat and a vocal critic of the commission, called it “a black eye on the legal cannabis industry in Massachusetts.”
Following Tuesday’s hearing, a commission spokesperson said they take “seriously the concerns that have been identified.”
They said the agency is “proud of its track record of standing up and regulating a safe, effective, and equitable medical- and adult-use cannabis industry.”
The commission’s acting chair has also pushed back on these characterizations, pointing to the hundreds of millions of dollars of tax revenue the agency brings in for the state each year.
“I think it’s clear to anyone that the industry continues to thrive, it continues to do well, we’ve been effective in our regulation,” Acting Chair Ava Callender Concepcion said in an interview with WBUR last month.
Lawmakers have only weeks to act if they want to appoint a receiver for the cannabis commission this year. The legislative session ends July 31, and lawmakers are already facing a pile-up of major legislation, including the annual budget.
Sen. Moore this week filed an amendment to the Senate’s economic development bill that would allow the governor to appoint a receiver.
Debate on that bill is expected to begin Thursday.
