{"id":76770,"date":"2024-07-10T13:48:45","date_gmt":"2024-07-10T21:48:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/07\/10\/massachusetts-lawmakers-weigh-proposal-to-place-troubled-marijuana-regulatory-body-under-receivership\/"},"modified":"2024-07-10T19:45:52","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T03:45:52","slug":"massachusetts-lawmakers-weigh-proposal-to-place-troubled-marijuana-regulatory-body-under-receivership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2024\/07\/10\/massachusetts-lawmakers-weigh-proposal-to-place-troubled-marijuana-regulatory-body-under-receivership\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts Lawmakers Weigh Proposal To Place Troubled Marijuana Regulatory Body Under Receivership"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

\u201cI would argue it\u2019s the nuclear option, hence why we\u2019ve heard today that it\u2019s never been done on a state agency.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

By Bhaamati Borkhetaria, CommonWealth Beacon<\/strong><\/p>\n

Lawmakers on Beacon Hill said they are frustrated with the dysfunction at the Cannabis Control Commission, but they were wary of what they called the \u201cnuclear option\u201d\u2014following Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro\u2019s advice to place the agency under a receivership.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to underscore, as someone who has been in the government for a long time, that receivership is a really big deal,\u201d said Rep. Rob Consalvo (D) of Boston, one of the vice chairs of the Joint Committee on Public Policy. \u201cI would argue it\u2019s the nuclear option, hence why we\u2019ve heard today that it\u2019s never been done on a state agency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Daniel Donahue (D) of Worcester, the chair of the committee, said he wasn\u2019t surprised by Shapiro\u2019s proposal. \u201cThis letter, though its timing might have been surprising, was not a shock and echoes concerns we have heard from other avenues,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rep. Michael Soter, a Republican from Bellingham, was far more blunt. \u201cThis is a $7 billion operation,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cThe problem I have is that I\u2019m afraid we are running like the Wild West down there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Consalvo and Donahue pushed Shapiro to explain why he landed on receivership as the correct option as opposed to other fixes to the Cannabis Control Commission\u2019s problems. Consalvo even brought up alternative options \u2013 bringing in someone from outside to review personnel issues or bringing in a human resources expert to advise the agency.<\/p>\n

Shapiro argued in his testimony and in his response to questions from legislators that there is an unclear chain of command currently at the commission that needs an immediate fix in addition to a long-term legislative solution to clarify what he says are ambiguities in key leadership roles.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The problem] has much to do with the commission\u2019s governing statute, which is self-contradictory and provides no clear guidance on who is responsible for leading the agency,\u201d said Shapiro in his testimony.<\/p>\n

Shapiro pointed to a lack of clarity in how authority is distributed between the commission\u2019s chair and the executive director. He didn\u2019t blame individuals, but said the ambiguity in the statute is at the root of the problems at the commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respectfully suggest appointing a receiver this session will steady the ship while the Legislature takes time next session,\u201d said Shapiro. \u201cTime is of the essence. The longer the CCC flounders, the less certainty and stability for applicants and licensees, patients, and caregivers, investors, consumers, and host communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even Shapiro admitted that the recommendation to place a state agency under receivership is unusual.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly is a big decision to get there and to make that recommendation. It\u2019s highly unusual and these are a highly unusual set of circumstances,\u201d said Shapiro. \u201cIt goes back to the structural piece of who\u2019s in charge and what the roles are.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his testimony, Shapiro pointed out that the past two chairs of the commission have left under murky circumstances \u2013 the inaugural chair, Steven Hoffman, resigned five months before his term was up with no explanation, and the current chair, Shannon O\u2019Brien, was suspended back in September 2023 by the treasurer. This led to multiple commissioners arguing<\/a> about who should get to occupy the seat of acting chair.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien is still suspended and has participated in closed-door meetings with the treasurer to defend herself against allegations of racial insensitivity and workplace toxicity, which O\u2019Brien denies. She is now awaiting the treasurer\u2019s decision on whether she will be fired from the position.<\/p>\n

There has also been high turnover at the CCC with a high vacancy rate, particularly among leadership positions. Shapiro said that the commission has over 20 vacancies, six of which are top jobs.<\/p>\n

This article<\/a> first appeared on CommonWealth Beacon<\/a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

GOP Congressional Panel Directs Biden Admin To Explain Marijuana Rescheduling Decision, Saying It\u2019s \u2018Concerned\u2019 About \u2018Deviations\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The post Massachusetts Lawmakers Weigh Proposal To Place Troubled Marijuana Regulatory Body Under Receivership<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n


\n
\nRead More: Massachusetts Lawmakers Weigh Proposal To Place Troubled Marijuana Regulatory Body Under Receivership<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI would argue it\u2019s the nuclear option, hence why we\u2019ve heard today that it\u2019s never been done on a state agency.\u201d By Bhaamati Borkhetaria, CommonWealth Beacon Lawmakers on Beacon Hill said they are frustrated with the dysfunction at the Cannabis Control Commission, but they were wary of what they calledContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":457,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76770"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/457"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":76771,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76770\/revisions\/76771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}