State lawmakers discuss cannabis agency overhaul as regulators pass long-awaited delivery rule reforms

As lawmakers met on Beacon Hill Wednesday to discuss potential reforms of the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission, the agency’s commissioners were meeting in Worcester to vote on long-awaited changes to the rules governing cannabis deliveries.

State senators and representatives on the Joint Committee on Cannabis Policy held a hearing at the State House to hear stakeholders’ thoughts on the agency’s structure and its impact on the industry, amid serious problems with the commission’s culture and other dysfunction which has hindered its ability to properly regulate the struggling industry. The committee heard from trade associations, business owners, and other advocates, who largely described a commission slow to adapt to the needs of the industry.

“In July, following calls from the inspector general for receivership of the CCC, the House members of this committee released a memo to Speaker [Ronald] Mariano, identifying an opportunity to statutory reform and clarify the CCC’s structure,” Rep. Daniel Donahue (D-Worcester), House chair of the joint committee, said during his opening remarks. “This informational hearing will add that review.”

Speaking after the meeting in response to a question about WBJ’s investigation, which found issues ranging from human resources problems to science-focused staff being unable to access testing data to investigate for potential fraud, Donahue said he believes there could be a legislative fix to these issues. 

“We’re reviewing everything we can structurally,” Donahue said. “There’s things within the legislative’s purview that can affect culture or effectiveness in the agency. That’s why we had today’s hearing and we’re going to have more of them moving forward.”

With the CCC-focused legislative hearing beginning just after 11 a.m., the commission was already underway with its third meeting regarding potential regulatory reforms, mostly pertaining to rules governing delivery and transportation of cannabis products.

The commission first voted 3-1 in December to move forward with reforming rules governing deliveries, with much of the focus on the so-called two-driver rule, which requires two employees to be with any vehicle transporting cannabis. 

The rule has been the focus of complaints for delivery operators, a type of business license set aside for participants in the state’s social equity program, since before they were even allowed to begin operating in the summer of 2021. Delivery companies and other cannabis businesses involved in transporting products say the rule does little to help public safety while increasing operational costs and difficulties.