Search For New Massachusetts Cannabis Commission Boss Could Be Undermined By Lawmakers’ Review, Treasurer Says

“I’m not being cute here. We don’t have oversight. We have no way of really knowing what goes on over there.”

By Gintautas Dumcius and Bhaamati Borkhetaria, CommonWealth Beacon

Massachusetts Treasurer Deborah Goldberg (D) plans to begin a search for a new chair at the Cannabis Control Commission, but raised a concern about finding quality candidates as state lawmakers weigh changes to the management of the troubled state agency.

“We’ve made a commitment to begin looking. It might prove to be more challenging because those who might consider it might be concerned about changes that could take place,” Goldberg said in reference to the Legislature. “But we’ll address this as we move forward.”

Goldberg fired the previous chair, Shannon O’Brien, for “gross misconduct” on September 9 after a year of hearings and review during which O’Brien was suspended. O’Brien is expected to challenge her firing in court.

Goldberg spoke with reporters after giving a talk to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, where the commission went unmentioned.

State lawmakers are holding a hearing October 30 to discuss the commission’s organizational structure after the state inspector general sent a letter to Senate President Karen Spilka (D) and House Speaker Ron Mariano (D), among others, calling the commission’s enabling statute “unclear and self-contradictory” about who oversees whom within the agency.

The inspector general urged lawmakers to appoint a receiver to oversee the agency until the organizational structure is clarified, but the Legislature’s Cannabis Committee chose to hold a hearing later this month instead. The commission has been plagued by high employee turnover and was described by the inspector general as a “rudderless ship.”

The appointment of chair gives Goldberg some measure of control over the agency, as well as influence over two joint appointments to the commission.

The Cannabis Control Commission currently has three working members: Bruce Stebbins, the current acting chair; Nurys Camargo, who was jointly appointed by the governor, attorney general and Goldberg in 2020 and 2021, respectively; and Kimberly Roy, who was appointed in 2021 by the governor. A fourth member, Ava Callender Concepcion, appointed by the attorney general in 2021, is out on medical leave.

Voters backed the legalization of recreational marijuana in 2016 through a statewide ballot measure, though Goldberg was among those who cast a “no” vote. The measure’s proponents pitched regulating pot shops like liquor stores, which fall under the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. The ABCC, as it’s known, is housed within the state treasurer’s office.

But lawmakers rewrote the law passed by voters, taking away some of Goldberg’s powers and structuring the Cannabis Control Commission like the five-member Gaming Commission, which oversaw the introduction of casinos to Massachusetts.

Asked whether the legislative rewrite was a mistake, as indicated by the inspector general, Goldberg said, “I can’t really speculate on that because [the original law] didn’t happen. So we don’t know what would have happened moving forward.”

She added, “I think the industry overall is so new, and I think every state has had its own set of glitches.”

Goldberg was also asked about whether the agency has taken a turn for the better. “I don’t know,” she said. “We don’t have oversight of the agency.”

Pressed on whether the agency has turned a corner, Goldberg responded, “I’m not being cute here. We don’t have oversight. We have no way of really knowing what goes on over there, so I have absolutely no idea if they’ve turned the corner. And I don’t know what ‘turned the corner’ actually means because I have no oversight.”

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