Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
In the closing days of August, the three constitutional officers charged with choosing the five members of the new Cannabis Control Commission announced their appointments, kicking off the process of regulating recreational marijuana in the Commonwealth.
The marijuana law enacted over the summer stipulates that the governor, attorney general and treasurer are to make one appointment each to the CCC, and are to jointly appoint the other two members.
The CCC is charged with regulating both the recreational and medical marijuana industry.
Under the law, Treasurer Deborah Goldberg appoints the chair of the commission, and she selected Steve Hoffman, a former Bain and Company partner. Hoffman, who will serve a five-year term, has an extensive business background, which Goldberg cited as an asset. Hoffman opposed Question 4, the ballot initiative that legalized recreational marijuana, last November.
Attorney General Maura Healey appointed Britte McBride, an attorney who has worked for the Attorney General’s Office, the Massachusetts Senate, and the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security.
Gov. Charlie Baker recruited Sen. Jen Flanagan of Leominster. Sen. Flanagan was part of a 119-member group of state legislators from both chambers and both sides of the aisle that officially opposed Question 4 last fall. Since being elected to the House in 2004, Flanagan has worked on several drug-related pieces of legislation.
The three constitutional officers jointly appointed Kay Doyle and Shaleen Title to fill the final two positions on the CCC. Doyle is a former deputy general counsel for the Department of Public Health. Title is co-founder of the cannabis firm THC Staffing Group, which focuses on staffing for marijuana businesses, and was one of the authors of the ballot question that passed last November.
The CCC already faces numerous challenges. The first is time; the CCC is charged with “promulgating regulations, guidelines and protocols necessary for the issuance of licenses” no later than March 15, 2018, and to begin accepting license applications by April 1, 2018. These deadlines leave little time for the commission to find office space (the commissioners are currently working out of space borrowed from the Human Resources Division in Boston), set up a technology system, and hire staff.
While citing these difficulties, Hoffman nonetheless signalled that he intends to do his best to meet the deadlines.
“My understanding is that it is an expectation – but not explicitly part of the law – that retail establishments open July 1 of 2018, and that’s our intent at this point,” Hoffman said. “If the reality is it can’t be done, it can’t be done. But I don’t accept that right now.”
The CCC also must contend with scarce resources. In testimony before the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy this spring, Treasurer Goldberg said her office estimates that the commission would need an annual budget of about $10 million. The budget currently available is $2.3 million ($300,000 provided as a special appropriation last year and $2 million in the fiscal 2018 state budget).
Rep. Mark Cusack, House chair of the Joint Committee on Marijuana Policy, said that he and the other members of the committee are “waiting for the commissioners to get in place” and to hear their recommendation regarding funding needs. He said the current appropriation is sufficient to “get them off the ground.”
The CCC held its first meeting on Sept. 12. Among the items discussed were the commission’s financial needs, the steps needed to hire staff and create an IT infrastructure, and the tasks that would be assigned to each commissioner.
The CCC will operate with the advice of the Cannabis Advisory Board, which was appointed in August. Auburn Town Manager Julie Jacobson is the municipal designee, appointed by the president of the MMA.