Massachusetts Senate to Consider Reforming Cannabis Control Commission

The Massachusetts Senate Committee on Ways and Means unanimously voted last
Thursday to advance a proposal to reorganize the Cannabis Control
Commission (CCC), among other changes to the state’s adult-use cannabis
program, WWLP reports.

The bill, S. 2722, proposes a three-member commission with two
commissioners appointed by the governor and one by the state attorney
general, while the Commission Chair would appoint the agency’s executive
director.

Other changes in the bill include:

- Doubling the personal cannabis possession limit from one ounce to two
ounces,
- Increasing the maximum number of licenses cannabis retailers can
possess from three to four,
- Modifying criteria for cannabis license ownership, and
- Removing provisions to steer medical cannabis licensees into
vertically integrated business practices.

The proposal comes after CCC Chair Shannon O’Brien was fired from the role
by the State Treasurer in September 2024. But O’Brien filed a lawsuit over
her firing, and a Superior Court judge ruled after about a year that she
had been wrongly terminated and should be reinstated.

The full Senate is scheduled to consider the bill on November 19.

In August, Massachusetts Auditor Diana DiZoglio released an audit of the
CCC, claiming to have uncovered violations and mismanagement issues at the
commission.

Meanwhile, advocates for a campaign to repeal Massachusetts’ adult-use
cannabis legalization laws have started collecting signatures — although
petitioners for the campaign were recently accused of deceiving voters to
fraudulently collect their signatures.